The brain, the computer and the economy: all three are devices whose purpose is to solve fundamental information problems in coordinating the activities of individual units - the neurons, the transistors or individual people. As we improve our understanding of the problems that any one of these devices solves - and how it overcomes obstacles in doing so - we learn something valuable about all three.According to the Creation Plan of God, all human beings have two different qualities: ego and conscience. The ego symbolises arrogance, and the conscience, modesty. For instance, there could be a difference of opinion between two individuals, A and B. A might enter into a heated exchange, refusing to give B due respect and honour. This kind of behaviour is bound to provoke B, who might try to teach A a lesson. A psychologist offers this analysis: “When one’s ego is touched, it turns into super ego and the result is breakdown.”
In this case A presented a challenge to B and B’s ego gained the upper hand due to arrogance. On the other hand, if, instead of getting provoked and acting out of ego, had B had opted for a compromise, or if A had restrained himself from provoking B in the first place, there would be no conflict.
In all likelihood, greater understanding would enable better relations between A and B; they would no longer be rivals bent on outdoing the other. There is scope for friendship now where earlier, there was only ill feeling. When one’s conscience is touched, it turns into super conscience and the result is complete surrender.
This formula is within our reach, and can be used quite successfully. However there are certain risks involved
and ignoring that People's personal probity has nothing to do with their demands it in no way changes the legitimacy or otherwise of his cause. It has concocted a transparently flimsy story about the threat to public peace and put forward conditions for the protest that are illegal in spirit if not in letter, and believes that it can brazen out any position it takes, no matter how provocative.
For the last few months one would be forgiven for believing that the lunatics have been running the asylum called the UMNO-BARISAN, so inconsistent and muddled their actions have been. it is worth asking if even the lunatics are in charge. Enough has been said about the incomprehensible strangeness of the government's actions, and in any case this level of mismanagement is so self-evident that additional comment is unnecessary. What is interesting however is to ask what would make a group of reasonably savvy, seasoned politicians used to exercising and staying in power act in such a self-defeating manner.What has been particularly striking is the government's confidence in its ability to get away with anything that it chooses to do or say and do so in front of a raging media. It has repeatedly indulged in mudslinging of the most outrageous kind, targeting specific individuals in what is a blatant abuse of power RELATED ARETICLE
http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/nvincible-mahatirs-life-without-regrets-stop-demonising-political-opponents-and-infantilize-the-m
During the past few weeks Americans have witnessed increasing crowds gathered at Wall Street -- the symbol of American capitalism -- to protest the excesses of capitalism. It appears that whether in Athens, London, Madrid or New York, two fundamentally difference camps are fighting an ideological battle between savage capitalism and capitalism with a conscience. In the former only a few get ahead and prosper but in the latter we are all given an opportunity to prosper. Those who are critical of capitalism -- I call it "savage capitalism" -- point out that many people in the middle class and lower middle class are left behind with little to no chance to increase their standard of living. They point to ridiculously large bonuses paid to Wall Street bankers and corruption in the American political system where money buys access and that access leads to special favors via the U.S. tax code. The end result of savage capitalism is an economic system where only the few and well-connected get rich.
MCA president Chua Soi Lek warned that a victory for Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election would spell economic disaster for the country, pointing to the coailtion's alternative Prosperity for All Budget that was well received by the people and many financial analysts.
Soi Lek heard only the beat of Prime Minister Najib Razak's drum, insisting that the BN's Budget 2012 presented last month was superior even though it had been criticized by foreign experts, who called it a crude election gambit to win votes with a slew of one-off cash aids.
PKR leaders said Soi Lek's "one-track vision" was a sign that BN was off on its last lap to the 13th general election, widely expected to be called in January.
"They are now simply saying things without any regard to the truth. What they are banking on is extremism and their control of the mainstream media to fudge the truth and give deliberately wrong information to the public," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Glaring" weaknesses but mum on the RM888bil siphoned out
“It is well-known among MPs and the media that the Alternative Budget was quickly put together,” Chua said in a statement out on Thursday.
“It was reported that the lack of economic expertise among them underlines some of the many difficulties Pakatan would encounter if they capture Putrajaya.”
Yet Pakatan holds a treasury of talent with economic specialists including PKR's Rafizi Ramli, DAP's Tony Pua and PAS' Dzulkefly Ahmad to name a few. Opposition Anwar Ibrahim himself was a former star Finance minister, who was rated as one of Asia's best during the 1990s.
Soi Lek also failed to acknowledge the widespread corruption in the BN government and was completely silent on the RM888 billion the internationally-renowned Global Financial Integrity body had said was siphoned out from Malaysia in illicit outflows during the period 2000 to 2009.
Neither did he mention that Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Idris Jala and Koh Tsu Koon had both warned Malaysia would go bankrupt by 2019 due to excessive debt and uncontrolled spending.
If you want me to attack Najib I can do that as well. But why the hell do I want to bring down Najib just so that the opposition supporters would stop alleging that I have been bought off? I do not need the opposition supporters to sing my praises. They can condemn if that makes them happy. After all, small things please small minds.
If Najib is brought down and Muhyiddin Yassin takes over as Prime Minister, the chances of the opposition forming the next federal government is slim. With Najib leading the charge in the next general election, the disgust most people have with First Lady Rosmah Mansor is going to cost Barisan Nasional a lot of votes.
Rosmah is to Najib what Khairy Jamaluddin was to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, an albatross around his neck. I would rather have Najib as Prime Minister when we face the next general election than Muhyiddin. Najib has a lot of internal enemies within Umno, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad included. And I would rather have Dr Mahathir on our side, like in the 2008 general election.
What, you do not think that Dr Mahathir is still relevant and a factor? Hey, if not for Dr Mahathir, do you think Pakatan Rakyat could have done so well in the March 2008 general election? Why do you think I supported Dr Mahathir back in 2006 and 2007?
Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali whacked me to kingdom come and made all sorts of snide remarks against me during PKR’s annual general assembly in Penang. Azmin had venom is his tone when, during his speech, he looked at me and said that all those who collaborate with Dr Mahathir can take a hike. I detected the smirk on Anwar’s face when Azmin took that swipe at me.
I know what I was doing. Sure, that attracted a lot of snide remarks about how Dr Mahathir had bought me off and was financing Malaysia Today and whatnot. But then these are remarks from people devoid of a brain that can think clearly. They are guided by emotions and not by logic. And the way they are trying to bring down Najib and Shahrizat is evidence of this.RELATED ARTICLE http://themalay-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/11/drrafick-drof-idioticlogy-your-friend.html
That is what spin doctoring is.In short Raja Petra Kamarudin you are the sour grape the greatest Backstabber in 21st Century (Malaysia), they are lies presented by people with titles in front of their names and which are passed off as the truth. And because of their titles the lies are accepted as true.who lies are this Raja Petra Kamarudin? are saying you are not spinning readmore The deceptive saints Of masks, lies start of revolution, or end Zaid is total crap! He wants to be No.2 after not even a year in PKR, and that’s seriously power crazy.Reformasi is Anwar and Anwar is reformasi. Without Anwar UMNO would have squandered the country completely instead of stopping at the RM400 billion mark. Western countries are not bothered because they want to see a failed state in Malaysia. Remember Zaid we have the confidence that Anwar is not a temporary man he is permanent man whether physical or in soul. Beware UMNO even when you imprisoned this man he marched staraight from the jail to where he is today. TGNA and LGE can never be shaken as they strongly believe in justice. Gopalakrishman will the man from the Indian community who will fight to the last. UMNO and their third front prostitutes can take heed in this. UMNO and Mahathir will be looked upon as dirty words in Malaysia.
“Fugitive” blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has also accused Najis Tun Razak as the One behind Altantuya Shariibu’s death, and Rosmah was present at the bombing site. In addition, “Fugitive” blogger RPK also said Beng Hock’s death at the hand of MACC because NAJIS ordered the downfall of Selangor. Now report this big big at your front page, but i guess you won’t coz although your name have chun doi, i doubt you have any left. Obituary for Zaid by Athi Shankar FMT–the passing great political snitch the wolf in sheep clothing This guy have already decided to resign the day he join PKR. Its planned things altogether. The problem with PKR, they simply take in all the rubbish and go into unnecessary problem.
The maverick politician, who recently made headlines when he announced his decision to quit the PKR deputy presidential race, also declared that he would “definitely” contest in the coming general election, expected to be held early next year.
ZI you are a hyprocrit. I ask you who would vote for in the next GE? Try contesting in KBlah and see for yourself where you stand. You claim to be a person who wants transformation you could do it while in the governt how could you do it outside? AI too have failed here as compared to you. AI was the DPM before being sacked for his owning doing. Now you-what a joke. Melayu said “cakap tak serupa bikin”
He, however, stressed that the formation of a new party would depend on his resources and his support base.
Accuses Malays of financial incompetence
“In Kedah and Kelantan, it is clear that the governments are plain incompetent, and yet the DAP asks voters to continue supporting these PAS governments. With due respect, many of them may have religious credentials but modern economics and management is not their cup of tea," said Soi Lek.
Kedah and Kelantan are two states where more than 90 per cent of the population are Malays. Both Malay heartland states are governed by the Pakatan Rakyat.
So far, Umno - which practises a divide-and-rule system of governance - has not commented on Soi Lek's discriminatory remarks against the Malays. Neither has Umno's sister organisation, Perkasa, which regards itself as the champion of the Malay community.
And then there are those like billionaires Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the founders of Google and eBay who believe that capitalism is the world's best model for economic growth and for raising standards of living for everyone but it cannot and should not leave those who are weaker behind. Capitalism, they argue, must have a conscience. The millions of people who have earned a good living from jobs working at companies like Boeing, IBM, General Motors and Apple are products of American capitalism. Start-up companies like Groupon and Facebook are products of capitalism's core tenant: rewarding innovative and creative risk takers. And yet, those same workers who worked for companies like Enron, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, whose directors were either corrupt, greedy or both, lost everything. The latter group paid the price of savage capitalism.
America is now facing a historic moment in its life as a fairly young nation. It faces a $15 trillion debt, loss of millions of jobs (unemployment stands at 15% in the inner cities), a weak housing market, a population that is aging and needs more services and a resurgent China. What system America adopts to save itself is the key question that will be debated between President Obama and his Republican opponents.
President Obama will make the case that America has practiced savage capitalism for too long and left millions of people behind. His opponents will argue that capitalism works but only if you teach someone how to fish -- not just to give them fish. This in essence is the major difference between the philosophies of President Obama and his opponents: does America simply give out money to those who need it or does America teach its citizens how to fish so they can remain independent and productive? Striking the right balance within capitalism's extremes is the key to resorting faith in our system of government.
In dictatorships, like those we witnessed in Libya, or we see today in Iran and North Korea, the dictator believes that he knows best and simply gives away the country's wealth to whomever he wants so he can stay in power. In Norway, Sweden and South Korea the government does take care of its vulnerable citizens but its fundamental goal is to teach Norwegians, Swedes and South Koreans to fish and be independent.
At least two economic Ministers, the Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and the Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop the Minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, have yesterday sounded greater caution on our economic outlook next year .
The European economy is weakening and the Finance Minister stated that Government is ‘closely monitoring the European situation’. This shows his serious concern as to how low the European economies can go and how much we would be adversely affected.
The Economic Planning Minister at the same time stated that “the global economic recovery is likely to stay weak and bumpy with a higher probability that things could get worse.”
We cannot therefore take it for granted that Malaysia can achieve a 5- 5. 5 per cent growth in our economy this year and anything near 5 per cent next year. Inflation could exceed 3.5 per cent next year and we could move towards Stagflation which means stagnant economic growth and rising prices.
The government is now facing an economic dilemma. It would like to stimulate the economy, but the long standing budget deficits do not allow even more budget spending, which would worsen the wide deficit. More government spending would also mean more Borrowing especially for the development expenditures -This we are starkly reminded, is not prudential financing, particularly in the light of the Greece and Italian experience .
Hence the second Minister of Finance indicated at the 16th ASLI Capital Market Conference yesterday that ``Malaysia's economy would primarily be driven by domestic demand ``
He expects Private Consumption or consumer spending which constitutes about 55 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product to increase by 7.1 per cent to provide the push for growth. But it may be difficult for consumers to spend more, at a time of slower income growth and rising prices.
The Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato’ Seri Mustapa happily announced that the Foreign Direct Investment for the first nine months this year has exceeded the RM9.1 billion for the whole of last year.
This is good news .However it is also important to state how much of our own domestic capital has flowed out of the country . Even more significantly, it would be appropriate to ask what can be done to discourage, not only the large capital outflows but also the serious brain drain of highly qualified human resources ? Both are vital for our capacity to fight likely recession and to progress toward Vision 2020
This may therefore be the right and an opportune time, to make more transformational policy changes that would encourage more Malaysian Private Investors to invest at home .
We can be gratified by the World Bank’s recent assessment that ‘the ease of doing business in Malaysia’ has considerably improved. But the business climate could be spoilt by insufficient longer term confidence in good governance, and in the prospects of better racial and religious harmony and national unity in our country .
Thus increasingly we have to look at our business climate and outlook,in more holistic ways, since our domestic Investors mustfeel more comfortable in their business sustainability in the longer term future.
Given the weakening US and European economies, and even the possibilities of economic decline in China's and India's huge economies which are now our major trading partners, we have to take the signals for greater caution more seriously and prepare for more difficult times.
What we need to do, to counter the declining economic trends, is to liberalise our socio economic and political policiesfurther, provide a more attractive business environment and a better a more inclusive quality of life for all Malaysians .
Finally, we can step up Public Private Investment Partnerships amongst Bumi and non Bumi businesses in Malaysia and within ASEAN and our Asian neighbours, especially for the major productive and income generating projects, like the KL/-Spore High Speed Rail .
In effect we have to be more resolute and innovative in facing the great dilemma and grave challenges of our times.
* Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam is the chairman of Asli Center of Public Policy Studies.
America needs capitalism with a conscience: a system in which every American has a level playing field in which to prosper. Groups such as "Occupy Wall Street" should be allowed to protest but in a country where the rule of law is most important, these legitimate grievances should find their way into the halls of Congress: one whose doors are open to every citizen. My mother belongs to one of the most powerful groups in the United States: American Association of Retired People. They do not demonstrate because they are too old, they do not shout because they are too weak but they have a very powerful voice in Washington because they are united -- each month they give money to the AARP, who then uses this money to lobby for issues that matter to people like my mother such as health care or cost of medicine. This is what happens in a democracy and this is what these young demonstrators must do: to work within the laws of the land and secure their rights in a peaceful manner.
One of the first things "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators should lobby the U.S. Congress for is democratizing innovation so that not only venture capitalists in Silicon Valley but everyone in America can participate in the wealth-creating enterprises like Facebook or Google. This would also be a good starting point for reorienting America's capitalist system away from savagery to one with a conscience. This means devising a system whereby a bricklayer in Philadelphia or a single mother in Los Angeles or teacher in Washington, D.C. can get the chance to own a piece of Groupon or the next successful IPO.
The economic bonds that bind us together should be based on capitalism with a conscience.
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