2 Jul 2009

NPR as Orwellian Mouthpiece

This is a very good post written by Glenn Greenwald in response to the NPR ombudsman's public defense of why the "harsh interrogation techniques" used by the American military and intelligence operatives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanimo will not be referred to by NPR as "torture". I heard this ombudsman on the radio (NPR of course), and her spoken argument mostly follows the written argument, ie these actions were not done to Americans, Bush said it was not torture, and calling it torture could infer that there is some sort of crime committed that should face consequences.

So basically, the goal is to avoid truth-telling and journalistic integrity. As Greenwald points out, it is ironic how such supposed paragons of "liberal media" as the New York Times, Washington Post and NPR are so unwilling to risk official displeasure by calling American war crimes what they are. Apparently access to the elite is all-important. And these are the very media institutions that complain about new media and the way that it is making life difficult for older media organizations that are the "pillars of democracy" (ie themselves).

Another gripe I personally have with NPR is the way that they constantly refer to those supportive of civil liberties, and who oppose the torture techniques and war crimes committed by the Bush administration, as "far left". Since when has the defense of constitutional liberties and the upholding of internationally-established norms regarding the laws of war become "leftist" or "liberal" (in the American sense)?

29 Jun 2009

Russia as a Chinese Gas Station

With Russian economic output plummeting in ways not seen since the massive restructuring of the early 1990's, the big questions being asked now are Kto vinovat? ("Who's to blame?") and shto delat'? ("What is be done?") Here is an interesting article on the state of Russian thinkers' discontent with the regime. As is noted, Russia has yet to overcome it's centuries' old problem of making things that the rest of the world would actually want to buy, rather than just chopping down trees, or pulling rocks and sludge from the ground.

As an aside, quite a few histories of Russia have noted that one of the goals of Russian/Soviet imperialism has often been to literally capture new markets for its subprime goods. The Russian conquest of Central Asia was driven in no small part by its mercantilist demands for cotton and needs for captive consumers of Russian goods. I have often thought that the Soviet bloc should be reinterpreted in the light of a massive economic subsidy for the Soviet Union. Soviet materials were swapped for East German, Czechoslovakian and Polish industrial products that the Soviets could never hope to produce or buy in an open market. One has only to look at how quickly Eastern European countries have stopped trading with Russia, other than to purcahse its gas and oil.

UPDATE: Rebuttal here.

Rethinking Asia's Rise

Much has been made of Asia's spectacular economic growth in the past 20 to 30 years. Most major Asian economies seem to be faring well in the current global economic downturn. The praise for Asian revival has even led some to speculate about the future global cultural influence of the Asian giants.

However, I think that we shouldn't get too carried away. While major Asian economies, such as China and India, have experienced remarkable growth in the past decade, one can't but wonder whether we are walking down a path we have been before. Japan experienced decades of economic growth, and usually sits as number two or three on the list of biggest economies by GDP. However, it has undergone a lost decade of economic stagnation, and is currently experiencing rapid population aging and decline. Japan is affluent, and seems like a decent place to live, but it has harldy become the world power or universal economic and social model that pundits were predicting it to be.

China's economic and social development has been unique in history, and it has altered the world market in commodities and energy. However, China is beset by terrible ecological issues, and will soon see a rapid aging of its own population. Will China go the way of 1980's Japan? Some think so.