Humanity ambassador

Flawed Marxian social analysis?

2008-12-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

While Marxian analysis is to large extent based upon the premise that base determines the superstructure, the so called socialists tended to work in reverse fashion. They created the utopia of a classless society and tried to engineer the base with all the means at their disposal so that it would prop up the utopia superstructure.
This was a self defeating endeavour in that by trying to manipulate the base,(via a tightly controlled economy and suicidal agrarian reform) they were going against the grain of the principles of economic development and hence the base could not develop a capacity large enough to support the utopia.

On the societal front , society could not take big strides forward. The socialist superstructure did not encourage innovativeness and creativity as it lowered the need for achievement. There would be no classes and society will be “one” and everyone would get “there” without expending energy or intellectual capabilities.

The application of Marxian social analysis by socialists was flawed and it is hardly surprising that socialism as an ideology is on its last legs. Even China( despite it being de facto one party state ) has economic policies that are very pragmatic. North Korean leaders are stubbornly sticking to the ideology and the results are there for whole world to see. Some African leaders who dabbled with socialist ideology changed direction midstream although they were careful to save themselves blushes by not becoming turncoats overnight.

The Cold War

2008-12-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

The Cold War Raising Its Ugly Head Again
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, one school of thought that came into being was that since there was supposedly one super power left in the world, the cold war would die a natural death. Recent developments have however shown otherwise. Tensions between the United States of America and Russia are rising steeply.
Russia and the US are adopting a rather sinister strategy. They are taking full advantage of sympathetic friends who live on their adversary’s doorstep. The frontrunners for the title of Russia’s best friends in this regard will definitely go to Venezuela and Bolivia . They are prepared to dance to Russia’s tune just to spite the Americans. Russia recently sent Tupolev Tu 160 bombers to Venezuela to carry out training flights. This will be followed by a joint naval exercise in the Carribean this November. Leonid Golubev, Russian diplomat in Bolivia has said that
"We want to show the United States that Latin America is not their backyard,"
He made it no secret that Russia wants to see its ties with Bolivia grow to the same level as those with Venezuela. Save for its ties with Cuba, Russia has not had a presence worth mentioning in Latin America since World War II.
Americans can never feel safe. While America’s attention is firmly fixed on fighting terrorism in the Middle East, there is also a real threat at their doorstep. Recent developments will convince many that the deployment of long range missiles in Latin America by the Russians can no longer be regarded as a remote possibility.
The US on its part has very willing friends who are Russia ‘s neighbours. Russia
asserts that its deployment of missiles in the Kalingrad enclave was to counter a US anti-missile system to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic by 2014.
Russia is also very uncomfortable with the close ties between USA and Georgia .
The United States is a provider of bilateral security assistance to Georgia.
Russia’s support and recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia may have nothing to do with convictions about what is right but is more of a finger up to America for stepping on its doorstep. So far , only Nicaragua has seconded the recognition of these breakaway regions.
On top of that , Russia is no hurry to meet its commitments under the ceasefire deal brokered by current European Union chairman Nicolas Sarkozy. Russia has some leverage to bank on. She is aware that the EU has to put up a great balancing act. While the EU has mostly cordial relations with USA, its fate and that of Russia is intrinsically interwoven. Russia ranks as the EU’s third largest partner and in turn the EU is the largest investor in Russia. Whatever proposals the EU may craft, it is clear it will have to approach Russia with some respect.
The solution to this cold war madness may lie in a series of eyeball to eyeball meeting between the adversaries in the hope that the end result will some cool heads in both camps. Meanwhile, international bodies (the UN included) must endeavour to put measures or regulations that limit the proliferation of long range missiles. A total ban may not be bad idea as this will make the world’s citizens feel much safer.

Customer Service

2008-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Customer Service: Commentary on article titled " Gateway to Successful Client Relationships " by Kim Taylor-Wilson on www.customerservicemanager.com
This is an article that I recommend to all business people especially those running small to medium enterprises. The tendency for small business owners is put customer service matters way down the priority list. In some sectors, there are no major differences in the services or products offered. The main differentiating factor is how the product or service is packaged and delivered and first impressions count a lot.
Ensure all staff are very knowledge about the products or service. A friend of mine once telephoned a water well drilling company requesting a quotation and reply from person who answered the phone was "The person responsible for quotations is out and I am not sure when he is coming back." Once a bad impression is formed about a business, it is difficult to reverse the situation.
Furthermore, customers who receive exceptional service tend to be the best marketing agents for a service or products when they spread the word to their friends.
Exceptional customer service or lack of it will affect sales figures in the long run. Article by Kim Taylor-Wilson is a good point of departure for those businesses that have been not giving customer service the attention it deserves. Kindly go to the link below.
http://www.customerservicemanager.com/gateway-to-successful-client-relationships.htm

Third World Development

2008-12-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

Third world countries do not require aid as much as they require fair trading practices from the G8