Do They Know?

The Capitalist Infidel has been watching Der Untergang, a film about the downfall of Hitler.  The movie showed how Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, killed her six children and later herself during the final days of the Third Reich. In it she wrote a letter to her surviving son Harald Quandt, provided by Wikipedia, shown translated in italics,

“My beloved son! By now we have been in the Führerbunker for six days already – daddy, your six little siblings and I, for the sake of giving our national socialistic lives the only possible honorable end … You shall know that I stayed here against daddy’s will, and that even on last Sunday the Führer wanted to help me to get out. You know your mother – we have the same blood, for me there was no wavering. Our glorious idea is ruined and with it everything beautiful and marvelous that I have known in my life. The world that comes after the Führer and national socialism is not any longer worth living in and therefore I took the children with me, for they are too good for the life that would follow, and a merciful God will understand me when I will give them the salvation … The children are wonderful … there never is a word of complaint nor crying. The impacts are shaking the bunker. The elder kids cover the younger ones, their presence is a blessing and they are making the Führer smile once in a while. May God help that I have the strength to perform the last and hardest. We only have one goal left: loyalty to the Führer even in death. Harald, my dear son – I want to give you what I learned in life: be loyal! Loyal to yourself, loyal to the people and loyal to your country … Be proud of us and try to keep us in dear memory …”

Magda Goebbels believed so strongly in National Socialism, which most of the civilised world now abhors, that she was willing to kill her children and herself rather than live in a world without it. An article published in Scientific American, The Political Brain, further strengthens this view. Confirmation bias has created rifts so wide that logical thinking is impaired. Maybe the ultra right wingers aren’t as evil as we thought. Misguided, but not necessarily evil.

Why Attractive People have Unattractive Partners

The Capitalist Infidel is not the first to notice how attractive people, male or female, tend to have unattractive partners. Of course, not many people have come up with convincing reasons for that. The Capitalist Infidel has decided to take a break from all the heavy articles and attempt to do what others have failed today.

The Capitalist Infidel would like to start off with something fresh. The Capitalist Infidel has found that most attractive people know exactly how many people want them, which, in The Capitalist Infidel’s case, is a heck lot. But I digress, the thing is, the ego of attractive people is tied to the knowledge, or at least the delusion that people want them. They feel power from being desired.  And they know that other attractive people get the same attention and feeling the same power.

Now, people in power rarely want to submit to anyone, even if it is someone with something that they want. In most cases, the attractiveness of both parties do not match. But with both of them being at the top of the pile, the weaker one knows that he can get someone else who is lower down the list and he can have power over. The power here of course stems from the fact that whoever can replace the other more easily can push the stakes higher in a game of emotional chicken. Therefore, with the abundance of choice and the knowledge and experience in the use of such power, few attractive people are willing to give it up just for a partner who might end up competing with them.

The ego also stands in the way of having the relationship started in the first place. Attractive people receive lots of romantic proposals, even for men, although it may be a little more subtle. Fact is, when you are faced with such a spread of choices and people who make you feel so sought after, you don’t want to risk your ego being broken by going someone who has not expressed explicit interest in you. It’s just not worth it.
Attractive people also know what is offered to them and their peers. A trip to the club usually ends up with a long list of suitors. They know the temptations facing their partners and the competition they will be facing. It’s not a pretty sight. They know that however attractive they are, someone else may hit a new button on the right night, and there will be a lot of punters pressing all the buttons they can possibly find. Those who have not experienced this will not be able to grasp the gravity of such situations. It would be great to find an attractive partner immune to this but it’s tough, and with the attention they are getting, they may not want to wait.

All this implies that the less attractive people do not really know what they are getting themselves into or feel that the chance of bumping their children up the genetic pool, if you’d pardon the pun, is worth the risk, which might make evolutionary sense.

Of course there is the good old fashioned idea that people go for personality and that someone you click with may not be on the same attractiveness scale as you. That does exist most of the time, and although The Capitalist Infidel suspects that the power play mentioned earlier might be a factor, he sincerely hopes that that is not the case. Maybe we are much more sophisticated in choosing our mates than we give ourselves credit for after all.

Are You Being Served?

The Capitalist Infidel has been reading and hearing about the awful standards of service in Singapore. Luckily for him, his own experiences with lousy service has been pretty limited so what he knows comes mainly from the complaints of others. The Capitalist Infidel feels, however that the quality of service you recieve is firmly within your control.

The most important point is to treat the staff with respect. Be nice. Smile. It sounds like it’s coming out of the customer service manual but remember that whoever is serving you experiences the same range of emotions as you do. Can you imagine being rude to a stranger who’s nice to you? Well, the staff in most shops certainly won’t do that, although many customers do. Just because you are paying doesn’t make them your serfs and remember, if you are in a restaurant, these are the people who will be handling your food.

Have you noticed how foreigners always seem to get better service in Singapore? The Capitalist Infidel has seen how some smiles turn into scowls as a Singaporean customer takes the place of a foreign one. The Capitalist Infidel suspects Singapore is the only country in the world where the citizens actually discriminate against the locals.

This could be due to the fact that Singaporeans have been rude customers since Singaporeans existed or the fact that there is a much higher chance of getting a tip from foreign customers. It doesn’t really matter, there is little we can do about that. If you wish to recieve decent service, do not speak in Singlish. No matter what your friends tell you about how it makes Singaporeans unique and gives them a sense of identity, it is impossible to get any respect with it, even with the punk behind the counter who tells all his friends how it makes Singaporeans unique and gives them a sense of identity.

And of course there is the ridiculous notion that compulsory tipping will help increase service standards. Yes it’s called the Service Charge it is one of the last examples of Communism in the world. Whoever thought of it had no idea what he was doing. The Capitalist Infidel certainly does not understand what possesed the sick and twisted mind of it’s creator. At least Communism was created with noble intentions. Service Charge is just plain stupid.

The name Service Charge implies that you are paying for service, However, this money does not go to whoever is serving you. It goes to the restaurant owner. It is also 10% of whatever food you ordered. The Capitalist Infidel has no idea how anyone decided on that figure.

It doesn’t really matter how many tables the waiter serves, he gets nothing more. It doesn’t matter how good his service is, he won’t get tipped because the customers are told not to, it’s covered in the service charge. The restaurant will take the fruits of his labour. How would you feel in his shoes? Would you feel like giving better service?
However hard he works, he gets nothing. Capitalism and in fact basic economics highlights the importance and power of incentives. That is what the economies of the Western world was based on. That is the power of incentives, the power of the hidden hand.

Of course customers on the recieving end of poor service often feel that the service charge was injustified. How can you be forced to pay for something you did not recieve, and at such an arbitrary price? How often have the restaurants hidden the true cost of food served behind the veil of Service charge?

Guess what, you can do something about it. If the service is bad, tell the restaurant you will not be paying the Service Charge. It’s tried and tested. The Capitalist Infidel did that with Szez at a restaurant on Mt. Faber. The service was horrible and the manager didn’t even dare talk to us.

So the next time you are expecting service, be nice, avoid Singlish and do not eat where you have arguments with the staff before your food is served. Also, feel free to demand that Service Charge be waived, but leave it as a tip for a nice waiter with good service.

Russia’s Energy and Ukraine

In the recent BBC interview with President Vladimir Putin, the issue of Russia demanding that Ukraine pay a fair amount for Russia’s supply of gas was brought up. The Ukrainians have been complaining that Russia was exerting political pressure on them and blackmailing them by demanding a rise in gas prices which led to Russia shutting down deliveries of gas to Ukraine earlier this year.

The Capitalist Infidel would like to point out that Russia is demanding fair pricing for its gas which it has been supplying to Ukraine at highly subsidised prices for the past 15 years. It is Ukraine which has been blackmailing Russia by demanding that they keep gas flowing as they would siphon off some of the gas meant for Western Europe if they did not get what they needed. This is due to the fact that gas has to flow through Ukraine to reach Western Europe.

Of course there is reason to suspect political power play behind all this economic talk. This price hike comes as Ukraine is cosying up to the West and slowly departing Russia’s sphere of influence. But is such a price hike unfair? I would think not. Russia is not obliged to maintain the subsidies it gave to a state that was once friendly to it. It was one way traffic, it is ridiculous to bite the hand that fed you just because it refuses to feed you anymore.

The Capitalist Infidel also looks with disgust at the EU member states’ economic practices. As if meddling with the businesses like Arcelor and the Italian banks wasn’t enough. Now they want to bully Russia into giving concessions to Ukraine. It may look like a PR coup when trying to attract members of the former Soviet bloc to join the West but it shows a distinct lack of respect for the sovereignity of an independent country.

If the West is to gain respect in the rest of the world, this is not the way to go. Ukraine must pay a fair price for the gas. The West must not extort the Russians of their gas. Not only will they fail, they will also lose the moral high ground when they demand democracy and fair markets in Russia, or indeed, even the Middle East. This is especially so when they will be paying for the subsidies that Russia gives Ukraine.

If they think that Russia is blackmailing Ukraine with gas, they should counter that by making sure Ukraine pays a fair price. It takes away any pretext that Russia can use in their power play. Anything else would look like blackmail, exactly what they are accusing the Russians of.

Censorship. Who does it benefit?

The Capitalist Infidel has been looking at the attempts of the Singaporean government at muzzling the press, or of anyone saying things they don’t like. They abuse the laws and civil rights of the people in an attempt to look good. The Capitalist Infidel thinks that this will backfire and cause more hurt for Singaporeans and the autocrats than they think.

First and foremost, cliched as it is, is that no person should be denied information by the government. It is in fact the role of the government to ensure that no one messes with the citizens’ rights, not the other way around. The government here seems to take us as its peons, not the people it was supposed to serve. There needs to be a real paradigm shift here. People don’t elect masters. Masters have no role in a capitalist society, what we need are service providers.

Censorship hurts the government as well. They lose credibility overseas. Considering our size, that’s bad. Even China could not survive as an autarky, much less puny Singapore. Suing independent newspapers is not the way to encourage confidence in foreign investors or good PR for the country, contrary to the deluded beliefs of the serial litigants.

Singapore has done well due not to the strength of the government but more due to the weakness of our neighbours. Maersk moved to Kuala Lumpur when it had the chance, it came back because Kuala Lumpur was inefficient, not because Singapore was strong.
Extreme cases of censorship and state control has been met with equally extreme reactions from the populations. In Scientific American’s January 2006 article Murdercide, it was mentioned that,

In an analysis of State Department data on terrorism, Krueger discovered that “countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which have spawned relatively many terrorists, are economically well off yet lacking in civil liberties. Poor countries with a tradition of protecting civil liberties are unlikely to spawn suicide terrorists. Evidently, the freedom to assemble and protest peacefully without interference from the government goes a long way to providing an alternative to terrorism.”

While we are lucky that Singapore is rather safe from terrorism thanks to our police (and that no one cares enough about us), it has to be said that there are large numbers of dissidents. Aside from the fact that this does increase risks of political and hence economic instability, it is also a clear failure of this government to engage and solve problems for the people. Discussions rage among the citizens but they are never heard in  or discussed in the parliament that is supposed to serve the people.

The fact is, because the government and the people are isolated from each other,  the views can never get to interact and we are unable to benefit from the wisdom of both parties to find the best solutions. Animosity and mutual distrust grows and no one benefits. The government is starting to show strain as their approval ratings fell in the most recent elections.

A much better solution would be to allow these matters to be aired, in a national forum if possible, without fear of underhanded retribution. This will help connect the people and the government that is supposed to serve them. It will also allow the government to explain why things are done and hopefully calm the people down. Open debate is the way to solve problems, not censorship, the carpet can only hide that much dirt before the bulges start showing.

England the Scottish Protectorate?

The Capitalist Infidel has just heard that Scottish MPs get to vote on matters that only affect England while English MPs to not get to do that to the Scots on the Broadcasting House podcast by BBC Radio 4. This may be old news to some of you, but The Capitalist Infidel found this all really funny.

The Capitalist Infidel can only guess that that is because Scotland manages itself as a country but the Scottish MPs get to vote on matters in England because they are all part of the United Kingdom( Please correct me if I’m wrong). But that is beside the point. The fact is that the English, believing themselves to be all high and mighty and centre of the UK, are now effectively under the rule of the Scots, who can vote on their matters while they cannot do the same to the Scots.

Who’s the boss now, big bad England? William Wallace, inspiration to the movie Braveheart, would be proud.

Thais Decide Against Singaporean TV

The Australian News has just reported that iTV of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is about to be hit by a SGD2.7bn($1.98bn) fine. This was a fine for iTV reducing it’s licence fees in 2004. Temasek Holdings bought iTV last year during the Thai elections from then Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra when there was controversy surrounding the corporate strength of the Prime Minister. In an apparent bid to quell any accusations of a conflict of interest, the Shinwatra family sold Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings. Apparently, there were other problems hidden in the company and Temasek Holdings got suckered in. Either that, or the Thais hate Singaporean controlled television more than Singaporeans do and have decided to get rid of them. The Capitalist Infidel suspects the latter.

But before we continue to pour scorn all over Temasek Holdings, let us take a look at the figures and see the magnitude of the fine. According to Shin Corp’s accounts, they have total assets worth about 84bn Thai Baht, or SGD3.5bn. Basically, Temasek Holdings has screwed up big time. Somebody didn’t do his homework.

Either that, or evil Thaksin hid his problems until the elections, when he knew he might lose power and have the whole facade come crashing down. So he took what seemed like a noble step away from the corporate world and showed how important being Prime Minister was to him. The Capitalist Infidel thinks that that was a stroke of genius. He was in trouble. That move would have strengthened his position. If he lost, which was what happened, someone else would be shouldering the burden.

Of course there could be something simpler than that. No one thinks that any Singapore company could control media operations, much less a state owned one, not ethically anyway. Fact is, The Capitalist Infidel read the news about this in an Australian news website. It wasn’t even mentioned in Singapore, where Temasek Holdings owns the Singapore Press Holdings. That speaks volumes about the quality of the news they are capable of. Share prices had previously fell by 70% even before there was any news of legal action, among investors of course, not the selective reporters at The Straits Times.

The Thai political parties, courts and Royalty would not have liked Temasek Holdings to have too much control in the Media in Thailand either. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long had recently spoke against liberal democracy in Australia and New Zealand. He promoted single party rule. This obviously would have sent shiveers down the opposition party’s spines in Thailand especially since Temasek Holdings is run by the wife of Mr Lee.

The fact, however, is that the opposition parties had the power to force the Prime Minister off his seat in Thailand, the courts enjoy their autonomy and the Royalty do not think much of single party rule. It does seem that they will not be the greatest supporters of Mrs Lee controlling too much of their media and influencing their people into demanding single party rule. The opposition obviously wants that, no judge will want to be in a straitjacket and the Royal Family ceded power for a reason. Mr Lee did not soothe any fears by making remarks like that.

The fact is, Singapore trying to extend it’s hands to media companies overseas is ridiculous. It’s own media companies are in a mess. No ones wants to watch Singaporean shows or read their news. Who needs the propaganda? Do they really need a lecture from Mr Lee about how screwed up he thinks their country is? How democracy screwed things up there and how they should be like Singapore? The Thais have more intelligence and pride than that.

The whole episode may be a fiasco for Temasek Holdings but it is a victory for the Thais. Thaksin and the State will be laughing all the way to the bank and the opposition parties to the polls. Another defeat for the enemies of free speech. Long live Liberty!

Silk Road Reopened

The Nathu La pass has been reopened after 44 years when it was closed in 1962 when a brutal war between China and India broke out. Although illegal trade of around $100m a year still goes through the pass, it is still far less than the $3bn expected once the roads are repaired.

The Tibetians, who usually discourage the Indians to trade with the Chinese have actually welcomed the news. They understand that the opening of this road will help improve their lives.

So once again, trade has helped to heal political wounds. The relations between China and India and China and Tibet would no doubt improve because of this. The Capitalist Infidel is really pleased to see such events.

The Last Straw

The Capitalist Infidel has had enough of the government’s stunts. The article against mrbrown is the last straw. The government cannot act with such impunity and expect us to forget by next election. The Capitalist Infidel is setting up a timeline and list what the government has done. Please help me by posting what I may have missed out. We will not forget.

1. Hitting out against Mr Brown
2. Declaring that liberal democracy is weak in Australia/NewZealand
3. Use of pretexts to raise prices illogically

What else? I know I’m missing out on a lot of things. Please help contribute to this list. I will approve the comments even if they are against what I have to say. I moderate to prevent spamming.

Shooting Yourself 101

The Capitalist Infidel has just read about how MrBrown, a Singaporean blogger who was invited to write for a local newspaper got a harsh reply from K BHAVANI, the Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, or the Propoganda Ministry. The

Capitalist Infidel feels that they need better strategists. First and foremost, regardless of what they wrote, they have just attracted more attention to the very blogger they are trying to condemn. They have just lost grip on even more minds that they previously had. This has also proved just how seriously they take the blogger. They are pissing in their pants. It also shows how true the reports on a lack of freedom there is in the press. They are destroying the credibility of their own broadsheets. Who needs Reporters sans Frontieres when your own propaganda machine is so broken?

Now that The Capitalist Infidel is done gloating, let him attack the propaganda machine’s reply without mercy. After talking about how great our beloved leader is, the Bhavani had this to say (quotes in italics),

“mr brown’s views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with.”

The last time The Capitalist Infidel heard, the government was supposed to solve the problems of the people. If the government cannot solve problems, why do we have one? Let the people decide if what he says is true. The Propaganda Ministry is the last organisation who has the moral right to ask for people not to distort facts. The Capitalist Infidel thinks that what mrbrown wrote was a fair opinion and that Mr Bhavani was distorting the facts.

If it differs from what the government wants us to think it doesn’t mean that he is wrong. It means the government failed. If he can convince most Singaporeans that he is right he probably is. The government has been blowing propaganda about how great we are at us for years. If one blogger can convince us otherwise he may have a point(or that the Propaganda sucks and the Propaganda Minister is fearing for his job). At the very least he should be allowed a chance to speak.

“mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly.”

The Propaganda Ministry has just admitted what we have known all along. You can write anything, as long as it sucks up to the autocrats. By higher standards, they probably meant higher standards of self censorship. The Capitalist Infidel is shocked at the naivete of the Propaganda Ministry, who have been too used to their bitch, the Singapore Press Holdings. Not every writer is soulless.

The Capitalist Infidel would also like to inform the Propaganda Ministry that mrbrown had previously unmasked himself (Yes! Surprise!) and is not hiding under any pseudonym. The Capitalist Infidel would like Mr Bhavani to stop hiding under his cloak of anonymity and defend his views openly. The Capitalist Infidel has never heard his name and thinks such remarks are irresponsible. Thanks for proving exactly how disconnected you are with the rest of Singapore.

“It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the Government’s standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.”

The Capitalist Infidel knew this long ago. But there are no journalists in Singapore anyway so he does not really understand why the Propaganda Ministry acts as if they exist. What we do have are good storytellers. The Capitalist Infidel feels that the Propaganda Ministry have disgraced themselves just about enough. If they continue to insult themselves like that The Capitalist Infidel will run out of things to write about.