World Economy.

Posted on 12 February 2019 by Arjan

Yes , world economy. Why am I writing this. Well there is a yearly Forum on this subject. The World Economy Forum. This year it was held at Davos and lots of people and organizations are there to talk about the problems in the World. And yes they are there.

But the readers of my website realize this as well and do know my view on these matters. There is a good video published on YouTube in which many issues are discussed. I would like to share that video with you. So here it is.

Many matters are well stated. Taxes for example. Bono may think that he is like Jesus but that would be a lie. Multinationals and shareholders , it are just people with names and addresses by the way , all look like to have a business side only.

Bill Gates does share some money with charity but his fortune has been made by letting other people pay. He has made considerable profits. But did he pay taxes in a fair way? Let me go through the list of head offices in Amsterdam South. Than it is pretty clear.

Banks earn and make their money by creating bubbles. In the real estate market for example. High prices on houses gives them the ability to make money from nothing and getting nice fees from the charged interests.

It also raises the question what should be really taxed. Is that largely labour? Labour what might not exist anymore. At least less than nowadays. Or should it be on profit and fortune. A fairness principle is crucial here. Will get in more details on this later.

Queen Maxima promotes on behalf of the IMF microcredits as the way to fight poverty. Still their interest rates are going to 30%. Many thanks Queen Maxima. But when you have worked in the world of banking human principles are lost on the horizon and financial gains are in the picture only. A beautiful smile hides the face of a monster.

Labour conditions and wages are also mentioned in the video. They have been transformed by globalizations and profit maximization in such a way that we are living in a new form of modern slavery. The companies are making the demands. The demands are being dictated by their financers. Banks and shareholders. Together they are in a ratrace , they even start to look like one , in which all means are allowed. The managers and politicians do try , because of certain motives , to give it a kind of human dignity. That it is actually something good. Sorry but this is just a bad fairytale. In correct words a nightmare.

As promised I am getting back on the fairness principle. If you want the strongest shoulders to carry the highest burden we have to think on fortune. If you are striving for a fair economy you have to tax fortune , profits and products in such a way that the ship we are sailing on is going in the right direction. Growth of the economy , the famous “holy” growth of the Gross National Product , is something you have to let go. It is mostly going at the expense of ecology. That is where we have to make a good choice.

The planet is our home. Not only for us. Good maintenance is crucial. No growth does not mean there is nothing happening in our economy. The point is that we are doing good things. Circular is one of the principles. Using natural reusable raw materials is an other one. Products are also not always physical. Healing , creating happiness , sharing knowledge making people positive are good and beautiful products.

It is not about more but about good.

Politics , the last line of defense …

Posted on 7 January 2019 by Arjan

The last word , line , suggests there is a war. But also in a battle of interests you can speak of a last line of defense. Sometimes there are more. But there is always a last one.

The other lines are more or less settled. Not the least by the way. Unions do not have that many members anymore. The urge for working people to unite is almost gone. The power they could build can through globalization easily flow away.

Work , real work , could become scarse easily. AI can replace you work any moment. What will be left in the near future. What is the battle really about. Who are the parties in the battle? Where is the frontline?

The frontline is flowing along and between all kinds of interests and forcefields. It is hard to describe it clearly. Economic interests. There are less people in real poverty but but still poor and the rich are getting richer. There is something there. Economic growth is always at the expense of ecology. Again there is something. A liveable climate for everyone and not only the rich. Again a pressurepoint.

Which party can bring a vision and apply a regulating structure. The ngo’s. They can make something clear. Trying to defend a certain interest. Mostly a part of an interest. Which means , of force , do they have. They are at least not democratically elected. Furthermore they have a business model. Another point of attention.

The multinationals , companies and banks are located at the other side of the front. At least the rich who are earning via them lots of money. Their interests need to be secured.. How they do that? There have been made many comments on that. True and not true. Lobbying , specially in the politics , is one that is true. War creation , deliberately even , is also one. It is a strategy of divide and conquer that they are playing.

So we are now back at politics. What is their role. Where is their obligation. Do they take responsibility. If so. For whom , for what and why.

Let me give a smal sketch of politics. The politics as it is organized in Holland currently. A second chamber with members. All fulltimers. A first chamber with senators. All parttimers with jobs/functions on the side. There is also a councel of state with people , mostly old politicians , appointed by the king who have an advisory role. Further we have in the provinces the provinciale staten. Only the administration , the gedeputeerden , are there fulltimers. The rest are parttimers. Than we have townships with a councel (/gemeenteraad). Here the alderman (/wethouders) are fulltimers but the councillars (/raadsleden) are parttimers again.

Than now a beginning of a perspective. Why are there on these important positions that many parttimers. Furthermore they are elected and donot need a special education. Let me put in a different way. The academic and real specialists are hard to find here. They are more working in the business life or university. Politicians are representatives of and for the people. But are in the straight-jacket of their political party. The parties who see themselves as the nobility of The Hague. Not really connected with the people. The people may vote but not much more than that.

I would like to add the fact that multinationals are not operating on a national scale but on an international and global scale. If you want to deal with this situation in a good way you should organise yourselve also on the same scale. An independent , democratic and transparant Europe or even worldwide alliance/organization. As it is now it is almost a lost cause.

Maybe politics will find time to think on their role and responsibility.

Getting awake and reinventing themselves. If not there will come a point of discontent and the yellow vests will colour all the streets. The Bastille has once be raided. There are more towers in the world.

Junglebook , or how social media goes wild.

Posted on 13 December 2018 by Arjan

The social media is going wild. You can think of Thierry Baudet in Holland. But also Donald Trump who is swinging from tweet to tweet. Twitter is one of the many media. Facebook , Instagram , Whatsapp and more. Its all on the eye of the beholder. Just click on the eye below and you will get the info as is stated on Wikipedia.

The eye is mostly full of it. But the world as well. So much information. About everything you can think of. And by everybody. But in use also about everyone. In silence your data is analyzed and used. Meanwhile the rest is almost shouting their opinion. In the beginning you could look at it as a free and social medium. But at the moment you are being harassed by stakeholders , using your data profile , with products and messages in which they are interested. The journalism also looses its freedom. Without adds , preferably aimed , they have a difficult business model. Politics does not bring only their story to everyone but is seeking for their target via micro profiling in the social media. Banners of companies are shooting at your screen. If it is all true is not really relevant. Its all about product placement. People are getting more urban. The world in which we live is full with social media. The social media is getting more and more intense. Also less reliable and less true. The many faces in the book of social media are not really good visible anymore. To me it looks like a big jungle. A Junglebook so to say.

It is an art for everyone of us to make a honest and clear picture of the world we live in. To avoid living in the madness of the day. Brought by the news of the day. Learn to recognize and recognize fake news. Seeing the bullshit in the agenda’s of persons and companies. Being able to see the real important things and in their context. As these things are going slowly you need to find and look specifically for that information. There are a number of media that are trying to do a good job. I name the following: De Correspondent (website) , Follow The Money (website) , Cafe Weltschmerz (YouTube). Or read critical books. For example De Groene Illusie , De Crisis Karavaan , Verloren In Wanorde , Bullshit Jobs , Ongeloofwaardig or Feitenkennis. VPRO Tegenlicht is also interesting. There they are going into depth of things and place it in the context. But even than you should keep the following in mind:

You may make a guess who made this statement. He was somebody who did take time and a calm mind to think about things. Not reacting on impulse. Or a primitive reflex. But calmly thinking and according certain values. Let the stress and chaos for what is and be yourself. Your real self.

Pills , and their costs.

Posted on 27 November 2018 by Arjan

Medicine. They often come in the form of pills. Being made by the pharmaceutical companies.

After much research available for you. They have spend a lot of money , time and effort to make it. That you can see in the prices they are asking. In many cases its huge. Its for a reason that the pharmaceutical sector is one of the best profit making sectors there is.

In most cases they have a patent and therefore the sole right to ask what they want. A monopoly in words. The patentright is lasting for 20 years. But even after that they mostly hold power. They are enforcing in many cases a right of exclusivity on the market. So they can continue their monopoly even further. They are making gigantic profits with it.

Development of medication costs money. But how much money it exactly costs they do not show. Real transparency is something we do not get from the companies. The hospitals , health insurance companies and the government do not know what the costs actually are. They do not stand strong against the multinationals looking at in from the perspective of power. Negotiating a reasonable price.

Or do they?? The government could use a parole so they have to renounce the patentright in the concerning country. Than it can be made generically and local. As long as they dit not got the right of exclusivity. Because than there is no other thing than to accept the situation.

This is however frequently the case. No wonder that the costs of health and social security are the main fields of expenses for the Dutch. Both around 80 billion.

It looks strongly that there is no case of fair profit. Putting it mildly. From my perspective there should be no more granting of the right of exclusivity. Via the principle of the parole the real costs should be made clear in detail. Based upon those costs grant a fair profit. Et voila a fair price.

There are more things that matter. More detailed information. But you could read this book , Private Patents And Public Health , if you are interested.

You can download it freely on: http://haiweb.org/publication/private-patents-public-health-changing-intellectual-property-rules-access-medicines/

Everybody thinks that through patentright innovation is guarded and taking place. But it also creates monopolies. Raises prices. Obstructs development. Has now a days its own trading and market.

Patents should protect the inventor to develop his product and bringing it to the market. But in almost all sectors there are lots of patents which are not used at all. Just trying to block your competitors. That kind of shit.

My idea would be to abolish the right on patents. Innovation should more be made and done on intrinsic grounds. All the lawyers in the business who work on patents should do something that is really worthwhile.

The art of becoming older.

Posted on 21 November 2018 by Arjan

Becoming older as an art. Or is it more a matter of common sense. Worse even just luck.

If you look back in history from a current perspective it all looks logical. Better hygiene , healthy sufficient nutrition and the development of medication. It makes that the life expectation of people is becoming much higher. Child death rate is strongly being reduced. There is more and diverse medication becoming available. Doctors are gaining more knowledge. Hospitals are becoming more and more easier to reach. People themselves are becoming more and more aware about a good and healthy lifestyle.

The wheels in the clock to become older look like to become smoother. But there are grains of sand who can crawl in time into the clockwork. The wear and tear of the body can sometimes become beyond repair. Medication can not always cure but mostly take away the pain. Or stabilize the illness somewhat. But sometimes also not. New medication , appliances and techniques are being developed. However it also looks like that with the growth of the world population also the illnesses and their kind are growing. Illnesses for which its harder and harder to develop medication.

Everybody has its own clockwork and you never know how the condition of the wheels are. Maybe you are lucky. But perhaps bad luck is own your way. It can happen any moment. With a little luck your bad luck can be fixed. It is always the question when and for how long you can enjoy form a healthy and fit body and mind.

If for example an organ is saying: sorry I can not do this anymore. You have bad luck. But maybe we did arrange it in a good way and a transplantation is possible. We can bring back luck and happiness some times. But you are depending on factors and their is no real certainty.

Society , particularly the economic one , is taking no risks. They are gladly offering you work. Specially in the blossom of your life. You can put all your time and energy in it. Show what you can do! But it has to give a profit. Than you will be encouraged. Better and faster than the other? Yes , please. The compliment is on its way. Maybe more salary as well. But there is not much time and space to calm down and for reflection. For the question: What do I really establish? That is one for later. Meanwhile the pressure can go to a high level. Stress can become you best friend easily. The relation with stress is a slowly steeling one. It also often displaces almost unnoticeable your other friend health. Which relationship do you prefer??

Important is that what is important in life. Specially in your life. That is something you have to figure out by yourself. Something that only you should think about. Preferably as early as possible. They should not tell you. You need to experience it. Feel it. If you have found what you love than you have made a huge and important step. Doing what you love will make you free. That art everyone should achieve before it is to late. To late to do it. Having regrets of what you have done. Buddha was right when he said: The problem is that you think you have time. There is no time. Only here and now. What you think and what you do. From that you have to make the best and nothing else.

And the medical world is meanwhile focusing to keep people as long as possible and as good as possible alive. That is a good ambition but what do we do with it. What are the possibilities. Are those possibilities available for everyone. How does life look like after the medication. May people in the western world stay alive because of expensive medication while at the same time in other parts of the world people live in poverty and die from hunger. Is it not better to make the world better step by step. First take away the hunger , next solve poverty and then look how we make life as healthy as possible. It are all ethical questions that we need to give a certain value.

Let’s than also try to give death an ethical value. Is he really an enemy? Or a friend. He makes you think about what you are doing. An eternal life would also create a continuous repetition of steps. The nicest things in life loose their charme. The once in a lifetime will get a total other dimensions.

Enjoying life is the art. Getting older and older is not really a necessity for that. Health yes. But eternal life is not needed from my perspective.

Migration.

Posted on 21 June 2018 by Arjan

If you look at the map of the world Europe has a lot of connections. Do you know the game Risk ?? Europe is the continent with the most connections to go out but also go in.

Of course there must be a reason for it. If we go back in history. For example the time of the kolonisation. The moment in which the western civilization did perform a longlasting “pillage” over the African continent. Gained its riches and prosperity largely from it.

How would your ancestors have reacted if they had to face that faith. If for example gold , silver , diamonds , family and even your children would have been taken and sold for the wealth and a luxury life of another world.

The African continent has been kept poor and suppressed. Yes there is some development. But that development can hardly keep up with the growth of the people there. But there is aid?? To be honest. A lot is in only words. It goes mostly to the companies from western civilization and their people. The ngo’s , despite their intentions , organize it in such a way that the tasks and responsibilities which should lie with the government and people of that country are with them. It is their business model and they would like to live from it and earn as well.

The IMF and other financial institutions are giving loans to the countries. But they are asking in return respecting of free world trade and no raising of barriers. It is a thought from the neo-liberal western world which creates prosperity according them. They forget to tell that they make and have boundaries and also subsidize their own sectors. Their local markets are protected. Worse even as their production is kept artificially cheap. So cheap that for the African countries it is cheaper to buy abroad than let it locally produce by for example the local farmers. In this way you create even more poverty and dependance. Probably deliberately.

For the people there will not be much other possibilities than to find a better life else where. They don’t have guarantees in life and than it is better to have more children. One of them might do it fine. It will make the growth of the population more rapidly and higher. In time it will go to 4 billion people.

If they are not capable of creating a reasonable existance and life on their own continent they will seek other possibilities. Where?? I would know. Justified?? Surely. If they do not help to solve the problems in a good way and play it fair. Do they want to?? Do not really think so. Leaving family behind is never nice. Guarantees are not given. Dangers are numerous as the western world protects its borders.

Do ask myselve what is going to happen if not thousands or ten-thousands but hundred-thousand or millions of refugees will stand before our borders. It is a question of time. But it will not be long.

Are there solutions?? Yes , but the current world did not make good steps in that direction. They are doing the wrong thing. Again and again.

Are we going to make our social obligations happen in a wise manner?? It it is up to me. Yes !!

The Social Human Movement

Category Archives: Education

Politics , the last line of defense …