Reader's Comment
Joel L. Friedlander
Plainview, New York
One fellow says to restore Glass-Steagall. He is of course correct. There is an idea running around America that it is our unrestricted market that promotes creativity in American Science, American Business, American Medicine, and American Industry. This is of course baloney. Our scientists, who are not really well paid at all, work primarily because of their innate curiosity, their intellectual drive, their altruistic motivation to make the World a better place, and their interest in improving the condition of humanity. A true free marketeer would argue that those motivations are not what runs America, but he or she would be wrong. The great discoveries that have come from America have come from the freedom to act upon your talents and skills, not upon your ability to make fortunes of money. Those who say otherwise are dancing around the golden calf.
The rigid insistence of the financial system in America to have its pound of flesh in financing any new scientific idea is what has driven the production and distribution of the products of those ideas out of America to China, Japan, and elsewhere. We discover and then the products are made elsewhere. They are made elsewhere because our "Bankers" will only finance a new idea by sucking the future blood out of it. Our greed, avarice, and cupidity do not drive our system of creation and production, they drive it out of our country.
America is not great because of unrestricted capitalism, it is great in spite of unrestricted capitalism, and the tide is turning.
Mark my words, if we allow the continuation of the past 40 years we will be living in a banana republic and when it all comes crashing down the very rich will become expatriates; the rest of us will be left to pick up the pieces. Capitalism cannot be unrestricted because greed and stupidity are always uncontrollable.
Bill Pieper
Taiwan
Robert Reich is also not at all impressed with the proposed bill in either the House or Senate. From his blog Professor Reich states “More fundamentally, neither bill begins to rectify the basic distortion in the national economy whose rewards and incentives are grotesquely tipped toward Wall Street and financial entrepreneurialism, and away from Main Street and real entrepreneurialism.”
This issue requires more than mere reform. It goes to the heart of how work and effort are rewarded in the modern economy. The enormous leaps in worker productivity we have witnessed over the past two decades have had little or no positive effect on the incomes of the workers responsible for the gains. It is precisely this “financial entrepreneurialism” that is responsible for funneling the corresponding rewards to a tiny number of uniquely advantaged people - a privileged class who seem to have no limit to their cynical contempt of people struggling to contend with the mess they have made.
And why are we like that ?
Bill Pieper
Taiwan
Robert Reich is also not at all impressed with the proposed bill in either the House or Senate. From his blog Professor Reich states “More fundamentally, neither bill begins to rectify the basic distortion in the national economy whose rewards and incentives are grotesquely tipped toward Wall Street and financial entrepreneurialism, and away from Main Street and real entrepreneurialism.”
This issue requires more than mere reform. It goes to the heart of how work and effort are rewarded in the modern economy. The enormous leaps in worker productivity we have witnessed over the past two decades have had little or no positive effect on the incomes of the workers responsible for the gains. It is precisely this “financial entrepreneurialism” that is responsible for funneling the corresponding rewards to a tiny number of uniquely advantaged people - a privileged class who seem to have no limit to their cynical contempt of people struggling to contend with the mess they have made.
And why are we like that ?
Dr Wong Wee Nam
Big Rats and Fat Cats
Exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful is innate in human nature. It has existed ever since human beings became civilized. It existed more than 3000 years ago and it is still present today. It is, therefore, to be expected that the poor will continued to be bullied by the rich, the weak to be oppressed by the powerful and the workers will be exploited by the unscrupulous employers in the future.
Confucius, the wise man, saw this flaw in man. Thus in his compilation of poems known as the Book of Songs 诗经, he had included a folk poem that carries a desperate cry of the human heart against the callous injustice of the inhuman greed. He felt that man needs to be educated and be constantly made aware of his flaw.
The title of the poem is Big Rat 硕鼠 and it goes like this:
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我黍！
三岁贯女，莫我肯顾。
逝将去女，适彼乐土。
乐土乐土，爰得我所！
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我麦！
三岁贯女，莫我肯德。
逝将去女，适彼乐国。
乐国乐国，爰得我直！
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我苗！
三岁贯女，莫我肯劳。
逝将去女，适彼乐郊。
乐郊乐郊，谁之永号！
Crudely translated, it reads:
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our millet!
Three years we have fed and kept you alive, yet not a care you shown us.
We swear that we’ll leave you, to look for that Paradise.
Paradise O Paradise, thereupon the only place we can stay!
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our wheat!
Three years we have fattened you, yet no kindness you have given us.
We swear that we’ll leave you, to look for that Paradise on Earth.
Paradise on earth O Paradise on earth, thereupon the only place we can depend!
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our seedling!
Three years we have nourished you, yet no gratitude from you we received.
We swear that we’ll leave you, thereupon to look for a happier plain.
Happier Plain O Happier Plain, where none will groan and whine!
That a poem, crying out for justice, written over three thousand years ago could find a place in Confucius’ canonical Book of Songs, suggests its importance in Confucian values. In Confucian thoughts, oppressors and exploiters are despicable creatures — just like the Big Rat portrayed in the poem, eating away the production of the farmers who were struggling to survive.
In life, this truth remains: oppression of the weak and the poor is the reality of life and Utopia is a dream of the sufferers.
From the poem we can see that the greed of the Big Rat is insatiable. For many years it scrounged on the poor farmer, first feeding on the millet, then the wheat and finally even eating up the seedlings. Yet during the time it was helping itself to the labours of the peasant, it did not show any kind of care, compassion or gratitude to its benefactor.
As for the poor fellow, he could only dream of a Utopia or an earthly Paradise that he could stay or depend upon for a decent life. In the end, he gave up such dreams and just hoped to migrate to a nicer place where he need not have to groan and complain.
The Present Society
In this present modern world, we no longer call such people Big Rats. Instead we termed them Fat Cats. Like the Big Rats, the Fat Cats, too, show the same insatiable greed for profit and the same lack of social compassion for workers who have contributed to their obesity.
What is a Fat Cat? As described in The Economist, he is just a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to “live easy” off the work of others. He is, therefore, very much like Confucius’ Big Rat. It is also used loosely to describe any obscenely paid person who still thinks he is not paid enough.
Don’t expect many Fat Cats to have a social conscience. This is because the aim of Fat Cats is to make money and not to provide social services. They lobby governments to influence policies and wring concessions from workers in order to maximise profits.
Fat cats do not care about widening of the income gap because they believe they deserve they indecent pay. Some even think they are underpaid! They do not care for the fact that if a smaller and smaller percentage of the population is getting a larger and larger proportion of the national income and assets and a large percentage of the population are sharing a meagre proportion of the leftovers, there is going to be a potential social problem.
Fat cats are found everywhere, even finding their way into social and charitable organisations. Furthermore, their income is recession-proof. In the 1st April 2010 issue of The Sun, reporting on the Rise of Fat Cats in Britain, the Taxpayers’ Alliance’s John O’Connell said: “Town hall bosses have had a very good recession at taxpayers’ expense.” (See Here)
Role of Government
The poor will only get a fair share of the economic pie through a just re-distribution of income. The only way to re-distribute income is through public policies and laws. Unfortunately the problem is that most of the people who are in the position to influence, initiate or implement the changes are members of the tiny apex who have the largest share of the national income. Unless one is very altruistic, who would want to come out with an equitable system especially when it means affecting one’s self-interest? It is natural for anyone in this position to believe completely the virtue of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”.
Big businesses and corporations love to wave the flag of globalisation, free market and competitiveness. This is because the wages of the workers can always be kept low by making them compete against foreign workers that can be imported from the part of the world where many people are still hungry. They can easily wring concessions from workers with the threat of relocation. Conversely, no worker can hope to wring concession from the bosses with the threat of resignation or emigration.
The power of big corporations and businesses can also be be seen in Singapore. Thus when companies do not make profit, they can put pressure to cut the workers’ salaries so that they can still be profitable. If the profit is not attractive enough, they can exert pressure to bring down the corporate tax rates.
In the end not only do they pay lower taxes, the tax payers’ money that is used to produce skilled workers, good infrastructure and a safe environment for these companies will be raised through the GST that is paid by everyone.
In a just and equal society, the role of the government should be to act as a regulator to balance the needs of the people and the greed the big businesses. Its job should be to iron out any kinks that may give rise to injustice and conflict and to re-distribute wealth in a fair manner. Its policies should not favour one side or the other. It cannot play such role if it decides to go into business and become a Fat Cat itself.
For a just an equal society, a government must be able to control the greed of the Big Rats and trim the fat of the Fat Cats instead of justifying the necessity of their existence.
A benevolent government is the basis of Confucian teaching, Mencius said :“民贵，社稷次之，君为轻。” meaning “The People come first, the country next and the ruler last”. Confucius obviously did not preach authoritarianism, otherwise the quote would have read the other way round.
We believe in Confucian values, don’t we?
08 April 2010
Big Rats and Fat Cats
Exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful is innate in human nature. It has existed ever since human beings became civilized. It existed more than 3000 years ago and it is still present today. It is, therefore, to be expected that the poor will continued to be bullied by the rich, the weak to be oppressed by the powerful and the workers will be exploited by the unscrupulous employers in the future.
Confucius, the wise man, saw this flaw in man. Thus in his compilation of poems known as the Book of Songs 诗经, he had included a folk poem that carries a desperate cry of the human heart against the callous injustice of the inhuman greed. He felt that man needs to be educated and be constantly made aware of his flaw.
The title of the poem is Big Rat 硕鼠 and it goes like this:
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我黍！
三岁贯女，莫我肯顾。
逝将去女，适彼乐土。
乐土乐土，爰得我所！
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我麦！
三岁贯女，莫我肯德。
逝将去女，适彼乐国。
乐国乐国，爰得我直！
硕鼠硕鼠，无食我苗！
三岁贯女，莫我肯劳。
逝将去女，适彼乐郊。
乐郊乐郊，谁之永号！
Crudely translated, it reads:
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our millet!
Three years we have fed and kept you alive, yet not a care you shown us.
We swear that we’ll leave you, to look for that Paradise.
Paradise O Paradise, thereupon the only place we can stay!
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our wheat!
Three years we have fattened you, yet no kindness you have given us.
We swear that we’ll leave you, to look for that Paradise on Earth.
Paradise on earth O Paradise on earth, thereupon the only place we can depend!
Big Rat O Big Rat, eat no more our seedling!
Three years we have nourished you, yet no gratitude from you we received.
We swear that we’ll leave you, thereupon to look for a happier plain.
Happier Plain O Happier Plain, where none will groan and whine!
That a poem, crying out for justice, written over three thousand years ago could find a place in Confucius’ canonical Book of Songs, suggests its importance in Confucian values. In Confucian thoughts, oppressors and exploiters are despicable creatures — just like the Big Rat portrayed in the poem, eating away the production of the farmers who were struggling to survive.
In life, this truth remains: oppression of the weak and the poor is the reality of life and Utopia is a dream of the sufferers.
From the poem we can see that the greed of the Big Rat is insatiable. For many years it scrounged on the poor farmer, first feeding on the millet, then the wheat and finally even eating up the seedlings. Yet during the time it was helping itself to the labours of the peasant, it did not show any kind of care, compassion or gratitude to its benefactor.
As for the poor fellow, he could only dream of a Utopia or an earthly Paradise that he could stay or depend upon for a decent life. In the end, he gave up such dreams and just hoped to migrate to a nicer place where he need not have to groan and complain.
The Present Society
In this present modern world, we no longer call such people Big Rats. Instead we termed them Fat Cats. Like the Big Rats, the Fat Cats, too, show the same insatiable greed for profit and the same lack of social compassion for workers who have contributed to their obesity.
What is a Fat Cat? As described in The Economist, he is just a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to “live easy” off the work of others. He is, therefore, very much like Confucius’ Big Rat. It is also used loosely to describe any obscenely paid person who still thinks he is not paid enough.
Don’t expect many Fat Cats to have a social conscience. This is because the aim of Fat Cats is to make money and not to provide social services. They lobby governments to influence policies and wring concessions from workers in order to maximise profits.
Fat cats do not care about widening of the income gap because they believe they deserve they indecent pay. Some even think they are underpaid! They do not care for the fact that if a smaller and smaller percentage of the population is getting a larger and larger proportion of the national income and assets and a large percentage of the population are sharing a meagre proportion of the leftovers, there is going to be a potential social problem.
Fat cats are found everywhere, even finding their way into social and charitable organisations. Furthermore, their income is recession-proof. In the 1st April 2010 issue of The Sun, reporting on the Rise of Fat Cats in Britain, the Taxpayers’ Alliance’s John O’Connell said: “Town hall bosses have had a very good recession at taxpayers’ expense.” (See Here)
Role of Government
The poor will only get a fair share of the economic pie through a just re-distribution of income. The only way to re-distribute income is through public policies and laws. Unfortunately the problem is that most of the people who are in the position to influence, initiate or implement the changes are members of the tiny apex who have the largest share of the national income. Unless one is very altruistic, who would want to come out with an equitable system especially when it means affecting one’s self-interest? It is natural for anyone in this position to believe completely the virtue of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”.
Big businesses and corporations love to wave the flag of globalisation, free market and competitiveness. This is because the wages of the workers can always be kept low by making them compete against foreign workers that can be imported from the part of the world where many people are still hungry. They can easily wring concessions from workers with the threat of relocation. Conversely, no worker can hope to wring concession from the bosses with the threat of resignation or emigration.
The power of big corporations and businesses can also be be seen in Singapore. Thus when companies do not make profit, they can put pressure to cut the workers’ salaries so that they can still be profitable. If the profit is not attractive enough, they can exert pressure to bring down the corporate tax rates.
In the end not only do they pay lower taxes, the tax payers’ money that is used to produce skilled workers, good infrastructure and a safe environment for these companies will be raised through the GST that is paid by everyone.
In a just and equal society, the role of the government should be to act as a regulator to balance the needs of the people and the greed the big businesses. Its job should be to iron out any kinks that may give rise to injustice and conflict and to re-distribute wealth in a fair manner. Its policies should not favour one side or the other. It cannot play such role if it decides to go into business and become a Fat Cat itself.
For a just an equal society, a government must be able to control the greed of the Big Rats and trim the fat of the Fat Cats instead of justifying the necessity of their existence.
A benevolent government is the basis of Confucian teaching, Mencius said :“民贵，社稷次之，君为轻。” meaning “The People come first, the country next and the ruler last”. Confucius obviously did not preach authoritarianism, otherwise the quote would have read the other way round.
We believe in Confucian values, don’t we?
08 April 2010
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