Out of the mouths of babes - part 2

The "Arab spring", so-called, has failed to live up to expectations because there was no real infrastructure for democratic discourse in that part of the world. The region continues to gyrate between various forms of secular and religious dictatorships.

And yet there are some truly magical sparks of light floating around in the gloom. First, the Egyptian boy (see post before last) and now this beautiful, intelligent and brave little girl in Yemen. Thanks to the internet's magic carpet, both wise young owls have had their desperately important messages transported around the world. If they are in any way representative of a new generation of Arabs, there is much cause for optimism. May these and other children teach their elders what it means to live in a decent, compassionate, free society !

Visual dissonance, Brazilian-style

After the bizarre sight of a barely pubescent Egyptian boy showing infinitely more maturity than his political elders, now we have an attractive young Brazilian woman smashing stereotypes and decrying her country's economic recklessness, as exemplified by the upcoming 2014 World Cup.

Out of the mouths of babes

It's a surreal experience watching this 12-year-old Egyptian boy speak truth to power. I say vote him for President, since he clearly has an older and wiser head on his shoulders than 99.99% of all existing Egyptian politicians !

Freedom needs "capitalism" more than "democracy"

Last week Brazil, this week Egypt, and both just the tip of a global iceberg. This article talks about deep-rooted problems in the Arab world and says the West is wrong to obsess about "democracy". What Arabs want - as do the "little people" everywhere - is simply the right to go about their business without being crushed by corruption and bureaucracy (too often the same thing).

Serious fun

In this interesting conversation with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (March 2006, hat tip: P), the man who did most in recent times to improve Brazil's economy touches on the two faces of Brazil: a commitment to ideas and hard work, open to the world, seriousness of purpose; versus a certain 'clownishness" and "frivolity" which at times appears to make the country "ungovernable".

Where next ?

My son will, in August, be travelling back to the land of his birth for the second time without me. I expect the riots will have blown over by then but perhaps not. Maybe this "uprising" will be something unprecedented ?

Although in my last post I said I wasn't going to comment further, the fact that Brazil has been in the headlines this past week or so, and hearing the typically ignorant commentators in the UK, has provoked me to say a couple more things.

And lo, it came to pass

I have resisted posting any "I told you so's" about the Brazilian economy. I will continue to resist .. apart from this one. Today I read: "But stagnant growth is now hitting Brazilians in their pockets. After successive wage rises, this year’s pay deals barely outpace inflation. Already indebted, households are reining in their spending. Consumer confidence is falling and more people say rising prices are their biggest economic worry."

Two and a quarter years ago, in my first blog post, I wrote: "On a related note, all the excited chatter about Brazil's swelling middle class must be taken with a big pinch of salt. There's no way that the average salary allows for the kind of disposable income which economists and sociologists generally assume when they talk about the middle classes in developed countries. In fact a good chunk of the Brazilian middle class has been hit hardest by Lula's Robin Hood politics, seeing their wages stagnate while the cost of living rockets."