Why Should I Care?
Mon May 05, 2008 at 03:11:50 AM PDT
Why is it that I spend so much time reading up this 'liberal' blog anyways? What is an Indonesian guy doing watching the circus-like American election? Why should I care who wins what, right?
It's because whatever the result is, it will affect me too. At 2000, I was watching the news constantly for the resolution of Gore v Bush, as my friends chided me: "Why do you invest so much time following US politics? What does that have to do with us?" Unfortunately, the last seven years really affected our country.
Here we are in Indonesia with rampant inflation, due to ever soaring oil prices which our government subsidized in fear of widesprad riots. With crude oil prices soaring ever higher, ever bigger part of the government's budget is spent in the subsidy. That means that they print more money, and with more money in circulation, it means inflation for all goods. Not to mention the inflation from global food prices. Rice is also subsidized by our government, and all those money printing makes our currency ever weaker.
It's just fact that these commodity prices are denominated in the US dollars. Yes, the oil prices and food prices mostly are rising because of ever increasing demands from developing nations and the severe climate change which destroyed many crops (for example: Australian drought). But a part of the factor, as I have commented before, is because of the ever weakening US dollar. And why is the US dollar weakening like this? Well, there's a basic tenet that I learnt in my Econ 101 class that if you keep on printing money, your money's going to be worth less.
That's what deficits do to a country's budget; it's in the most basic term called printing money. Yes, US has been fortunate that foreign governments snap up their bonds. But that has limits. And yes, sometimes countries to pursue a deficit budget policy, but that is mostly as an investment for better productivity in the future, such as infrastructure or health or education. But deficits for a war with no tangible return?
Iraq war has costs the American a trillion dollars. A big chunk of those money goes to no-bid contracts to American companies back here. What has been happening is a robbery from the poor to the rich quite subtle that many Americans don't realize it. And the oil companies understands well enough that the demand for oil is inelastic. They are able to keep the margins of profit even as the price of crude oil increases, which is unlikely in many other types industries. Witness the ever increasing profit record of oil companies.
So here I am wondering why 40%+ Americans still want to vote for a continuation of this policy? What kind of madness is this? What the world needs is someone who will balance the budget, reduce the deficit, impose the fuel efficiency standard on cars, pursue a more sensible war in Afghanistan to eradicate Taliban, restore some kind of dignity for the US by actually respecting international laws, and maybe take advantage of the weak US dollar to jump-start American export again in the limited ways a president can pursue. Despite the glee of many of my friends in seeing the US tanking and China or Europe rising, I don't think that it's in MY best inretest to see US going down in flames.
That's why I care so much about this election. Yes, I'm heavily for Obama, whom I have hope (faith?) to do all the above and more. However, despite the constant lying and pandering of Hillary Clinton, I'm still certain that she would be a better choice than McCain who doesn't seem to understand the points I've written.
And I'm sorry for my long rant. Excuse me for any mistakes and winding sentences.
PS: Yes it's our government's own fault to keep the subsidies, but their hands were tied from previous governments' subsidies. Yes, our government should do more to strengthen their own currencies. But that's for another rant... or diary.
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