Before dreaming about Mcdonald...

Ok Homen *

With new technology, new rule, thriving of multi-national companies and their success stories, free market policy, foreign policies, business summit, trade agreements, look east policy, realization of Indo-Myanmar route for connectivity with southeast Asian countries, offering words of homage such as "ASEAN FTA(free trade agreement) advocated to promote growth process in general and development in the north eastern region", imposition of globalization culture through education, media.

With all these, globalization is the much and good idea as accepted by:
"Globalization" is a term that came into popular usage in the 1980's to describe the increased movement of people, knowledge and ideas, and goods and money across national borders that has led to increased interconnectedness among the world's populations, economically, politically, socially and culturally.

Globalization! We all eager to watch we globalize. We all want to taste the fruit of it. With all these trendy thoughts of globalization like economic liberation, economic integration with the world economy, free movement of labor, investment, capital, risk taking and blah blah... most of us have been shaped to optimistic views and pessimistic in variety other way. Point out anyone who wouldn't say: "if big company comes to invest, create jobs, our economy will improve and we'll get benefit from it".

Technically and literally it is true to be thought in optimistic way both in subjective and objective, but how can we understand it as we never participate in real economy, leaving it to Marwari, Jain, meanwhile we set ourselves in pushy education.

Not so good! We all rely on the subsidies and national highway. Not very to mention but we sense the awkwardness of the facts, such as: the scale of freakonomy participation of public when there was economic blockade; rushing to the queue to get tender, sanction for the construction; complex ally of contractors, politicians, politician cum contractor, engineers and gunmen to transfer public properties to their pockets; same shameful act in education and health department; networking of drugs and other illegal business products but legitimate in execution in both air and road way (ain't it surprising that in spite of many check posts and security attitude); and attitude like "dig the road for repairing and leave it" and "buying a government post" and favoritism and many other wronged responsible person attitudes...this is a hell of vicious circle from circumstances to attitudes and attitudes to circumstances and back and forth... if I fully contemplate on listing out all, surely I would become terribly wrong myself. So need to get in balance between optimistic and pessimistic view in both conformity and non-conformity...

On collectively, we are quite a status quo executor and who cares we all have faultfinder attitude too! But not all people, there are still many hardworking and truly dedicated people, that their credentials often got snatched by so called "money men authorities".

Starting from past few years Manipur had witness one of the financial crises in the history of Manipur, resonating with the problem started with the pay commission, different economic level with the rest of India, different price, different inflation and harsh consumerist attitude. And on individuals and society, people are certainly confronting related insecurities in the form of:
1. Unemployment;
2. Increasing gap of income difference which discourage the ethnical and traditional economic activity hence giving more to frustration and crime, drugs, gun culture;
3. Different financial trend with the rest of the Indian;
4. Pollution from construction works which imbalance with nature. For example, vanishing of wet land area in Imphal(whom to blame! Mosquito breeding?), oil exploration(what is the cost to nature and benefits to oil company?);
5. Corruption, favoritism, ugly work ethic, for example, it's almost near to assume that buying bomb, guns and ammunition is much easier than the queuing process of MGEL (Manipur Government Employee List) or department;
6. Most importantly, the problem of drugs. It is the major issue we can see. While on its ground, there is ghost market.

Meanwhile, in such an economic turmoil situation, who and what are the back up? Social ethic, nature of cohesiveness, egalitarian in national archaic! Not absolutely in reality with what we have in this prevailing social economic situation! Nobody is crazy to work for free for welfare, he need something in return for his welfare too. That's a simple logic for society well being.

But in our failing social economy with so much detrimental factors, money often tends to circulate in a wrong way. With strong appetite to consume, money will be the priority because it is believed that money will not be debt or never turn to debt. In addition, favoritism, corruption, illegal taxes, blacked market are the handymen of big money. On the right way done government salary incoming; and we being consumerist loves gambling, luxury, decoration and unfortunately we are twofold taxpayer for two governments.

However, these illegal tax pay, legal tax pay, favoritism, corruption, salary, flawed money etc... each topics is a huge subject to discuss. Let keep the technical complexity aside and hope to get more understanding from social scientists and technicians.

But we assured that there are no production engines that generate employment and improve economy except two or three enterprises. And we can guess the factors that make incompetent production. This incompetent production behavior turns us to depend on subsidies, grants. Further our politician's tedious manner "of dependency" would make them weak and incompetent to raise issues like AFSPA, ILP, recent inability to foreign intervention in oil exploration, law and order etc.

Besides having said so, our direction of view need not be only in homogeneity in concept that resorting to faultfinder. Yes, we do contribute in consumption in General economy, help elite political scientist's pretext to conclude what is "law and order", and other magnificent contribution in sports, art, culture, tradition.

With experiencing so much social, emotional, economical, law and order turmoil and moralizing of these dispirited hope by corporate media "outsource" and corporate education which constantly marginalized the rural, local scene. Our dreams may be high, but how we frame our vision may not be sharp and clear.

Further at the conscious and sub-conscious level, majority of us were thrilled by the corporate advertisement whether it be the theme of education, health care, travel and tourism, food sector etc. And now again at the satisfaction by the placement of corporate favored commercialized college or school, they outclass 'low budget education system' which seldom 'corporate placement option' yet liberalized; with the power of advertisement and it's aftereffect compulsive thoughts in what would be the best option, there easily comes to a trendy thought of getting a job in corporate sector. Thus more praise on corporate agenda.

So I hope this is the time, protectionism is needed to save the indigenous things, culture, way of social economy, welfare ethic etc; and to stop choosing saturated things because things and things in return will be accumulated in few hands and then there will be scarce in resource distribution, then eventually world will be crash.

Don't surprise. Even the top most preacher of globalization who love to intervene to the affairs and resources of the other countries, America did it(protectionism) too:
"Also, globalization could mean the loss of domestic jobs and higher unemployment, which is why president Bush earlier this year imposed a tariff on steel. He did this to protect the interests of the US steel industry, although it was met with retaliation. Protectionism can often get in the way, then again protectionism is to protect the country. Of course, it depends on the elasticity of demand for both exports and imports. Globalization should come with responsibility".

Seeing Indian GDP, growth rate, ranking in global economy as the economic primacy as an efficient, while ignoring the starvation, poor people, farmers, big difference in the standard of livings, rapid militarization, communal tension; it has proved that our economic paradigm is deeply flawed and has concentrate money, land, power in the hands of a few. Yes it may happened to be smart usually with white collar dealing fund pack with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization;

But in these turmoil situation, our capital being formulated by debt and the financial institutions' "value and principle" imposition; unless we emphasis on health and well-being of our planet, humanity, ecological balance; there won't be economy in better sense.

We can't hand back the keys and walk away. It's our home. We need some household rules. We need new economics, a vigorous heterodox economics, social economists, feminist economists, interdisciplinary economists, ecological economists and intellectual, academic and students.

So it's a decision time. We need revolution that thrives from various corner of the world. We can be competent too in this subject because we have seen so many detrimental factors and we anyhow survive here since many years...

Before getting big thrill from globalization, once again: think global, act local...
Before dreaming about Mcdonald, loubuk maikei hanna pangkhi se...