Poverty, a qualification?

American Factory (Documentary, 2019)
Netflix

The Industrial Revolution transformed countries from the Western World by leaps and bounds. That, together with colonisation, it improved their living conditions radically. In the USA, industries flourished. Immigrants trickled in from the world over to work to their last drop of sweat. Being employed was a cool thing to be. The first and second generations were hardworking.

All the way things happened. The subsequent generations became complacent. They did not have to work to survive. Work became optional. After all, the country took care of everybody. 

All these while, the countries in the East missed the Industrial Revolution bus. Not only were they thrown under the bus, they also had to be contended staying subservient supplying the raw material to fuel the big wheels of the machinery of their masters.

Times change. The slaves, looking up at their masters all these while, have caught up. They have learnt the trade and have overtaken their teachers. Poverty, as the New Economic Order defines it, is a good enough motivator to succeed. The sons of slaves have risen to bite the sons of slave owners. The tiger roars again.

This interesting documentary, produced by the Obamas' company, Higher Ground Productions, recalls the time in the late 2000s when many automobile industry workers were out of jobs. The American automobile was in the doldrums. In Daytona, Ohio, a vast glass factory supplying automobile part had been closed for almost two years. A Chinese showed interest in reopening the plant.

Workers initially showed relief in being able to be employed again. The Chinese bosses had a strict set of rules for the workers to follow. The American workers were not happy. Amongst the workers were also Chinese workers from the parent company, who were working like robots. They worked non-stop and went on working even through lunch break. The Chinese went beyond the call of duty, without complaining, endangering themselves and doing the work that generally involved two American workers.

The Chinese boss was unhappy. The American workers wanted to start a workers' union, which was denied. The management tried to expose the top-level American workers to the Chinese workers via a working visit to their parent plant in Mainland China.

The Americans realised that they cannot work like the Chinese. The cry for a union became louder. The workers were penalised for being slow or taking long, sick leaves. The workers talk about human rights. Pink slips started flying. Sales were down. Quality of the end-product was not up to the mark. 

Finally, it came down to automation. Rather than engaging humans with innumerable complaints, the Chinese owners decided to go full-on into automation. Only then did the business started seeing profit trickling.

What started as a noble intention of giving employment opportunities to the jobless American workers, turned out to fall flat. The workers, because of their demands and non-compromise, lost their job to automation. On the other hand, the management needed to see returns on their investment. 

Poverty may not be a qualification, but it is undoubtedly a driving force to reach higher grounds. A growling stomach is good enough a reason to dance for your next meal. The hunger fizzles out when the comforts of life are showered liberally, one starts demanding.  

At the end of the show, viewers are reminded that the East has awoken from their slumber. They are undergoing a renaissance of sorts, and they are out to rule the world, once again. 

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Parallels we have seen before!

The symbolic crossing of the 38th parallel

The leaders of the Koreas cajoling each other

to cross the coveted line. ©FG

The world is pleased with the symbolic crossing of two brothers, brothers-in-arms, who, for the good 60 over years were hawkishly looking after each other with scorn over the 38th parallel. The arbitrary line set up in a wishy-washy way in 1955 after a feud which was heading nowhere. Instigated by cheering and doomsday prophets from the world over, the siblings spotted tangential growths of gargantuan proportions, so we are made to believe.

Bear in mind, the world should not be too complacent that everything would be hunky dory from now on. Remember, the euphoria after the fall of Berlin Wall did not last enough for the world to forget the dark years of the Cold War.

Lest not we forget the generally great vibes that Neville Chamberlain got after his meeting with the soon to Führer of the Reich. And the faux pas that followed as Germany invaded Poland before the ink dried above the dotted lines.

After the Second World War, in their infant post-liberation, two metamorphosed giants of Asia, India with its struggling democracy and China with its bumbling communist dictatorship decided to prosper together in a collaboration which came to be mocked as "Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai" (India and China are brothers). Unfortunately, both nations had different notions of prosperity; India via mutual cooperation and industrialisation whilst the Middle Kingdom thought that their revolution was the answer to the world's problems.

But see what happened? Lowering their shields, Bharat soon realised that their newfound kinsmen had run over to take over part of their territory. The tension of this 1962 event lingers to date.

North Korea had always been by the world as an appendage of Red China. Is the visit to the Southern counterpart just a front for them to tone down the defence to aid the nefarious activities of their Big Brother?

Is it the lull before the storm? The settling of a storm in a teacup? Should we be worried? Well, history tells us to be.

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Crouching tiger and balding eagle?

Crouching Tiger (Documentary, 2015)
Director: Peter Navarro

China, through their foreign envoys, continues to try to impress upon the rest of the world that they are a peaceful nation. From the time in history, they have been a nation of trade. They expanded their shipping fleet and extended their influences the world over in pursuit of peaceful trade until the Ming Dynasty's closed-door policy when they decided to introspect with their own brand of realisation and Confucianism. Apparently, this system failed to satisfy the masses. Recent changes in their economic outlook had awoken the tiger from a long slumber.

Nehru, as the head of a newly independent democracy then, thought the best way to foster relationships with another great civilisation was through commerce. Unfortunately, he found out the hard way, that China has their own way of doing business when both countries engaged in a war in 1962 and India lost Tibet causing the Dalai Lama to abdicate.

Singapore, in the 90s, did the same only to leave with a bad after-taste and burnt fingers, deciding to look elsewhere for bilateral trade deals.

Back home, our country is trying to relive the 15th-century dynamics when China was the 'taiko' (Big Brother), and Malacca was the subservient servant as history tell us. The leaders have gladly given the gentlemen's handshake, inked the document and literally given a blank cheque to China's mysterious long-term plans as a force to be reckoned with.

This documentary, directed by one of President-Elect Donald J Trump's economic advisors, takes a paranoid view at the rise of China as an economic power. He interviews many US Military and Strategic advisors who paint a very bleak view of China's intentions to do business. They foresee China as also wanting to excel as a military force, expand their territory and eventually to exert their hegemonic power over the rest of the world.

In five one-hour episodes, the director discusses possibilities of US war with China, the world at the mercy of the Chinese might, the place of North Korea, Japan and Taiwan in the equation of the global military power balance.

A Greek philosopher, Thucydides, said that the rise of power and the increase in the might of one country would intimate its neighbours. Many leaders in history have stayed true to this policy. Whenever a country becomes strong, its neighbours take it upon themselves to strengthen themselves so as not to be usurped by their neighbouring nation. This has been the law of nature. War is a necessary evil to propel our race to greater heights. America, as a newly independent nation then, decreed the Monroe Doctrine to keep the European powers out of the Caribbean Islands and South America.

Now China is preparing a two-island strategy, from the southern tip of Japan all through Taiwan till the South East Asia island strips, to create a war of defence and power over much of East Asia and the Pacific. After centuries of humiliation by foreign forces, the British, the French, the Russians and even the Japanese, they had their territories carved away a bit by a bit. Sea commerce had always been their strong point. Now, the question is whether the strengthening of the Chinese fleet is for the protection of its routes or for world domination? Can it rise safely or will it grow up like an autistic child with a dangerous toy to play and would not heed to advise? With their ability the produce low-cost defence equipment and anti-access strategy, are we heading for a headlong collision?

The Chinese military capability has dwarfed the US might of late. Their DF21 delta styled anti-aircraft carrier missiles, their torpedo sea-mines, their new generation 'silent' submarines all send chills down the spines of the Yankees. The next world war would probably be fought in space, outer space and cyberspace! With the Chinese prowess to steal intellectual properties, US military secrets, the Americans are basically sitting ducks. China, under their thumb, just may have the power to disrupt financial markets, destroy critical infrastructure, satellites, banking sector, water, power grid and other essential amenities. If the next war may be fought in outer space, is not an irony that the US is wrapping its space program while China is going gangbusters into space dominance?
North Korea, the spoilt little kid with a nuclear warhead, continues to pose a security threat to the US. It is under the direct patronage and protection of the Chinese and helps to keep US interference in the Pacific rim in check. Taiwan, on the other hand, is US counterbalance of the Chinese. History has shown, from the example of British PM Neville Chamberlain's faux pas in 1938 of signing a 'grand bargain treaty' with Hitler only to have the Germans attack Poland, not to trust the enemies.

China will never forget Japan's 'Rape of Nanking' before the onset of World War 2. Their territorial disputes over Senkaku/Dioyu Islands and Okinawa stays till date. Okinawa was part of China long ago, before modern history. The trouble is these strategic locales are important in China's two-island defence plan but ICJ does not entertain claims of control before 1890. Hence, China could pick up a fight if it wants to!

With these paranoid ideas which would probably border on conspiracy theories, this offering provides yet another reason to lose your sleep and reaffirm the scriptures' nihilistic outlook on mankind and the human race on the whole. Every new beginning starts with a bang. Think about it.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Karma bites back?

Death by China: How America lost its Manufacturing Base (2012)
Writer, Director, Narrator: Peter Navarro

As the world and the economic punters go on double guessing what President-Elect Donald J Trump and his team may bring to the table, this documentary, made by one of his financial advisors, Peter Navarro, may give an insight into what is in store for the next four years.

Twenty years ago, Singapore, one of the up and coming Tigers of the East roared itself to build cordial economic relationships with the then newly open economy of the New China. Pretty soon, Singapore had to retreat, licking its wounds with a bitter aftertaste.

Near home, under the guise reliving and recreating a time beaten era when Chinese ships graced our shores, and into our cosmopolitan ports, China is making big inroads into our space, our land and even salvaging our bad debts. This documentary will drive the adage that there is no such thing of a free lunch. Like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, all the feeding could just be a ploy to fatten up for the big kill!

After watching this presentation, it would appear crystal clear why Trump won the elections, and it would be unthinkable to assume otherwise.

With Nixon's 1972 seminal visit to China, the trade gates with the USA opened. Bill Clinton ushered China in the World Trade Organisation (WTA) to increase bilateral commerce. Unfortunately, over the years, the US may notice that the arrangement was lopsided. The Chinese flooded the American market with substandard, cheap and potentially unhealthy products. The currency manipulation by the Chinese gave them an unfair advantage. The multinational companies are also guilty of putting national interest aside in favour of profit to relocate factories in China. Small and medium enterprises had no choice but to relocate, unable to stay afloat with lower production cost in China. This robbed jobs from the American plant and factory workers. Pictures of abandoned factories in America soon became a familiar landscape.

The US of A, over the decades after the World War 2, have been instrumental in orchestrating political directions in many third world countries the world over to suit business climate in their favour. When the tide turns around, when karma bites back, they cry like babies. They whine and allege foul play. They say the Chinese do not care about the environment. They pollute the world with their the unabated toxic waste. The Chinese towns are most polluted cities in the world. They contribute vastly to carbon emission and environmental degradation. They have no respect for human rights and do not have labour laws. They force prisoners in labour camps with long hours of work to increase the country's productivity. They do not respect intellectual property. They promote piracy and counterfeits.

Another bone of contention with the Americans is how the production of military sensitive equipment and software are outsourced to China. It puts the US in a precarious situation as their national security may come under threat. The Chinese are known to copy and mass produce, even military hardware, putting the USA at the mercy of the increasing Chinese military might.

The filmmaker accuses the American multinational companies of selling out on its citizens. They did not use their resources to keep jobs for the Americans. The smaller industries could not compete anyway. He suggests that the trade reform is reviewed to balance trade. Research and development should go in tandem with production. The unholy union between politicians and entrepreneurs need to be nipped. Navarro emphasises that the criticism that he hurls is made against the Communist Party of China, not to the people of China, as they just want to survive and are oppressed. It is not the People's Republic of China but the Communist Party of China who called the shots.

He also tries to wake the patriotism of the Americans to resist the temptation to purchase the cheaper Chinese product which would increase US deficit but to buy American. It is easier said than done as it appears that there no more American products in the market.