Truth Collective

I attended two interesting lectures this week.

First was Gorbachev’s keynote speech for George Mason’s conference “1989: Looking Back, Looking Forward.” Much of what he talked about was predictable, although he had interesting things to say about the implications of the end of the Cold War and the problems facing the world today. Topics discussed included international security and global poverty; surprisingly, he placed special emphasis on the importance of addressing environmental issues. As for the negative consequences of 1989, he identified the US’s “dismissive attitude” towards international law and institutions, and the rise of unilateralism, which he blamed on neoconservatives in Bush Jr’s administration. He also made a nasty joke about Sarah Palin. Aside from being dead tired and having difficulty following the speech (which was translated from Russian) I was glad to have the opportunity to hear such an important figure in world history speak.

Second was today’s lecture by one of China’s foremost literary figures, Yu Hua, who–according to the New York Times– “is frequently mentioned as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature.”  He said thoughtful things about China’s growing inequalities and the younger generation.  I especially liked his admonition to young people to have empathy for those less fortunate.  If you cannot understand how others feel, he said, you will never have a real understanding of yourself.  This is something that I agree with and feel is often overlooked.  If you’re intrigued, read more about Yu Hua and his newest book, “Brothers” (兄弟).

‘Extremes fascinate Yu Hua. Between puffs of countless cigarettes, the Chinese author reflects on the vast distances his country has traveled—and on the yawning divides that remain. Forty years ago, the Cultural Revolution aimed to rid Chinese society of “bourgeois” influences; today it is dominated by excessive consumption and a widening wealth gap, he says. China‘s economy is ranked third in size but 97th in per capita income. “I saw a TV program where an interviewer asked a child from Beijing what he wants most in the world,” Yu says. ”The child wanted a Boeing airplane. The interviewer asked the same question to a girl from China’s northwest, and she said a pair of white sneakers.”

These extremes, and the absurdities they engender, inspired Yu’s latest novel, “Brothers,” published in English earlier this year.’

quoted from Newsweek.
link to NYT article on Yu Hua.
link to book review of “Brothers.”

University of the Philippines professor Walden Bello writes:

Not surprisingly, the swift unraveling of the global economy combined with the ascent to the U.S. presidency of an African-American liberal has left millions anticipating that the world is on the threshold of a new era. Some of President-elect Barack Obama’s new appointees — in particular ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to lead the National Economic Council, New York Federal Reserve Board chief Tim Geithner to head Treasury, and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to serve as trade representative — have certainly elicited some skepticism. But the sense that the old neoliberal formulas are thoroughly discredited have convinced many that the new Democratic leadership in the world’s biggest economy will break with the market fundamentalist policies that have reigned since the early 1980s.

One important question, of course, is how decisive and definitive the break with neoliberalism will be. Other questions, however, go to the heart of capitalism itself. Will government ownership, intervention, and control be exercised simply to stabilize capitalism, after which control will be given back to the corporate elites? Are we going to see a second round of Keynesian capitalism, where the state and corporate elites along with labor work out a partnership based on industrial policy, growth, and high wages — though with a green dimension this time around? Or will we witness the beginnings of fundamental shifts in the ownership and control of the economy in a more popular direction? There are limits to reform in the system of global capitalism, but at no other time in the last half century have those limits seemed more fluid.

From Alternet.