1/07/2011

Changing values and changing morality

Not too long ago there was this brilliant businessman with an equally brilliant idea to profit from his trading business. Oh, they don’t called businessmen brilliant then, but astute. Today they will probably tagged them as super talents if they can come up with devious schemes to max profits, even if it means fleecing their customers. What the businessman did was to simply corner the rice market, a monopoly or a cartel, and then control the demand and supply of rice. He could then determine whatever price he wanted. Nothing spectacular, and no need a Ph D to come up with such a scheme. But making huge indecent profits at the expense of the customers was not an acceptable thing to do, then. The govt immediately swung into action. It needed to protect the interest of the people. That was the morality and value of the day. A govt importing agency was set up to counter this move. The businessman was outsmarted and lost, his scheme was not allowed to become a reality. And the people’s interest was safe guarded. Morality and values have changed. Today, anyone with any idea or scheme to fleece their customers and max profits for the organization will be treated like a hero. They will ascend the ladder to super talent status. Take the staple rice as an example again. This time round, if someone is to come out with an idea on how to profit from this item, I think he would be patted on the back and say ‘Good work’. The idea could be something like this. Ok, first the moral justification. This must be put right first, even if it is rubbish. But must still make it sounds right. Rice is a staple food, and a scarce resource. People should not waste rice. Importing rice is also a drain on our foreign exchange. With such reasons in place, now the brilliant scheme can be enforced. Because rice is so important and cannot be wasted, people must be encouraged to eat less rice and waste less rice. How to do it? Hit the people where it hurts, their pockets. The price of rice shall now be double. Profit immediately doubles. But this is not enough. Each household is rationed at 2 kg of rice per month. Household consuming more than 2 kg shall pay a surtax of 30%. What is this for? How to justify this? Elementary, this is to educate the people on the importance of rice and not to waste rice or eat too much rice. See, more profits coming in. Wow, with such a brilliant idea, I am even thinking betterer than the professors from the best universities in the USA. I think I shall award myself the title of Eminent Professor of Economics. And Wally will say, hehe : ) And Matilah will say don't talk cock, so and so has written this in his book in year 1955.

5 comments:

Wally Buffet said...

Reading the front page of the Straight Times today gave me another idea how opportunistic merchants may cast away their morality and make money from a false food scarcity.

"Record food prices raise global alarm"!

See? such news will surely send people scrambling for food and especially since Chinese New Year is coming, all the Ah Sohs will be stampeding to the supermarkets and wet markets to get the goodies before others grab all of it. I don't know about others but my wife just took the maid to start shopping for Chinese New Year. She must have read the news and panicked!

There is actually no food shortages in the world. Commodity prices are manipulated by speculators for profit and nothing else. Immense swaths of the Earth's land are still uncultivated. If it is, supply will outstrip demand and prices will fall as fast as you can say, "Where is the shortage?".

This food shortage scam is about the same as the global warming scam.

It is man made and all of us are idiots following the pipers' tune.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Whatever shits that are writtened today were writtened more than 2500years ago lah. Since then, there was never a need for any academic theory. It is just that they were writtened in languages that the English Speaking World can hardly understand.
AND
of course the inability of humans to make use of the brains nature endows them.
There's nothing new under the sky, except the boasts and conceits of mankind.
However, dont worry too much, everyone comes to Earth for just a while and while here, eat, work, mate, sleep and repeat the cycle. Forget about power, money and luxury; they last, You dont!

Anonymous said...

The problem nowadays is that the Government is itself in the business of making lots of money doing business in competition with the private sector.

You can't expect the Government to tell itself to prevent monopolies or cartels from being formed, when it is doing exactly that itself. Just look around.

Morality? That has long gone to the dogs.

I agree to just bear with it when we are here only for a short while. Just eat, shit, procreate, sleep and wait for the cycle to end.

How well you live or how luxurious your lifestyle does not last.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Climate Change is not a "scam". It is solid science.

The proposed government-centered "solutions" to global warming -- now those are scams of unbelievable proportions.

There is definitely going to be food scarcities. This is objective -- i.e. backed up by empirical evidence.

Whatever is now scarce is probably going to get worse.

There are many reasons for this -- from climate change, to water becoming a scarcer resource, to distortions in the capital and production structure of agri business (thanks to US, Japan etc farm "subsidies") e.g. the over-production of corn (subsidised heavily by US farm lobby pressure).

Wikipedia: "Corn is the top crop for subsidy payments. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that billions of gallons of ethanol be blended into vehicle fuel each year, guaranteeing demand, but US corn ethanol subsidies are between $5.5 billion and $7.3 billion per year.

Producers also benefit from a federal subsidy of 51 cents per gallon, additional state subsidies, and federal crop subsidies that can bring the total to 85 cents per gallon or more.

(US corn-ethanol producers are also shielded from competition from cheaper Brazilian sugarcane-ethanol by a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff"


When you subsidise one crop you get LESS of other crops because farmers, like all business folks will go for the crop which guarantees them the BEST RETURN. Therefore you have shortages in other crops and prices rise.

Other countries try to make up the shortfall, but as far as the capital requirements are concerned, why should investors invest in your stupid rice farm when they can invest in huge US subsidised corn agri business.

Result: undercapitlaised food production in other markets ==> lowered supply to meet GROWING demand ==> higher food prices and shortages.

As a result of corn subsidies, "war" in the subsidy lobby has broken out. Soybeans -- subsidised. Cotton -- subsidised . US GROWN RICE IS SUBSIDISED.

Try and compete with that you bullock-cart padi-field Asian!

Pay those high prices! Pay Big White Daddy, starving Asians!