Monthly Archives: June 2016

Is Globalization The Real Culprit? Is Globalization Stoppable? Brief Thought by F.Sheikh

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It is true that the multinational corporations moved their businesses to regions where they can find cheap labor and increase their profits. It caused lot of dislocations, loss of jobs and anxiety in the developed countries. Bernie Sanders, who is the most credible and honest crusader for the working class, writes in today’s NYT

“We need to fundamentally reject our “free trade” policies and move to fair trade. Americans should not have to compete against workers in low-wage countries who earn pennies an hour. We must defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We must help poor countries develop sustainable economic models.”

It is very confusing to understand how the poor countries will improve their living standards without selling their products at better price in rich countries but still lot cheaper if same product was made in the developed country. And how the consumers, especially poor and middle class, in rich country will benefit if they have to pay lot more for a product if they can get same thing cheaply made abroad? A significant portion of rich countries’ economy depends on export of high tech and sophisticated products to poor countries and how one sided flow of products will be helpful and acceptable to poor countries?

Globalization is the byproduct and natural phenomenon of advances in technology and free flow of information that empowers the consumers everywhere to buy the best at minimum price. The corporations are using the same resources of modernity to advance their interests and increase their profits.

Arguments to stop globalization are nothing more than shouting in front of a runaway train to stop it. And real culprit may not be the Globalization itself, but the greedy corporations who enrich CEO but do not share the profits with labor. The solution may lie in taxing these corporations at higher rates, share profits with labor; and spend tax dollars on infrastructure, retraining labor force and provide needed safety net for the displaced workers.

“Massacre In Istanbul” Brief Thought By F. Sheikh

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We are still reeling from the horrible shock of Orlando massacre and now this hideous evil act in Istanbul taking many innocent lives and injuring dozens. No words can justly sooth the suffering of the innocent victims, and no words of condemnation can justly describe the depth of such evil acts. These are simply satanic acts.

There are all the warning signs that unless Turkey, all the surrounding Muslim countries of ISIS  and other Muslim countries wake up and collectively act to eradicate ISIS and other extremist organizations within their borders, it will not only eat them away like termites but it will also continue to spread this poison worldwide.

Unfortunately because of their  own selfish reason, they want USA and other western countries to eradicate ISIS  for them, which is delusional and self-defeating.

Is this a clash within Islamic civilization, clash of civilizations or both? No matter what the answer, it cannot be solved unless Muslims do it themselves.

“Be Careful What You Wish For” Brief Thought By F. Sheikh

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BREXIT has sent a shock wave throughout the world. Many in Britain who voted for exit did not expect or thoroughly thought about the economic chaos and collateral damage it will bring. Many voted just as a protest vote for exit but did not expect that it will pass. 57 % of the older generation, who are longing for old days, voted for the exit, whereas 57% of the younger generation voted against the exit. One young heartbroken tweeted;

“Truly gutted that our grandparents have effectively decided that they hate foreigners more than they love us and our futures,” one young Briton, Dan Boden, wrote on Twitter

But will this revolt against Globalization and inequality bring back old jobs with security, good pay and benefits may it be Britain, USA or any other country? So far leaders who are exploiting this public outrage are only capitalizing on public anger but has not offered any solution to the problem and may make the problem even worse without any thoughtful solution in place.

Globalization and technological advances are part of natural evolution and are here to stay. Immigrant labor, like capital, flows to the region where it is treated best and is part of Globalization. The challenge is for governments, capitalists markets and labor is to collaborate and provide solutions to adjust to this new phenomenon for smooth transition. Exploitation to go back in time will create more dislocations and is not the solution. So far we mostly see only exploitation and little solution.

” Is Islam Exceptional?” By Shadi Hamid

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It is both an old and new question, one that used to have an answer but no longer does. Islam is distinctive in how it relates to politics—and this distinctiveness can be traced back to the religion’s founding moment in the seventh century. Islam is different. This difference has profound implications for the future of the Middle East and, by extension, for the world in which we all live, whether we happen to be American, French, British, or anything else. To say that Islam—as creed, theology, and practice—says something that other religions don’t quite say is admittedly a controversial, even troubling claim, especially in the context of rising anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States and Europe. As a Muslim-American, it’s personal for me: Donald Trump’s dangerous comments on Islam and Muslims make me fear for my country. Yet “Islamic exceptionalism” is neither good nor bad. It just is.

Because of this exceptionalism, a Middle Eastern replay of the Western model—Reformation followed by an Enlightenment in which religion is gradually pushed into the private realm—is unlikely. That Islam—a completely different religion with a completely different founding and evolution—should follow a course similar to that of Christianity is itself an odd presumption. We aren’t all the same, but, more importantly, why should we be?

That the Christian tradition seems ambivalent about law, governance, and power is no accident. Islam and Christianity are, after all, meant to do different things. Law, at least in part, is about exposing and punishing sin. Yet, when Jesus died on the cross, he in effect released man from the burdens of sin, and therefore from the burdens of the law.

Christianity’s salvation story, then, is one of progression, with humanity passing though different stages of spiritual development. Jewish or Mosaic law was provisional, meant for a particular place and time, and for a chosen people, where Christianity was universal and everlasting. As the theologian Joshua Ralstonnotes, reflecting on the writing of the early Christian theologian Justin Martyr: “Christ is the new and final law, and thus the Law of Moses is abrogated. … Justin argues that the God of Israel had promised the Israelites a new and everlasting covenant. The Mosaic Law was never intended to be either universal or eternally binding.”

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posted by f.sheikh