The end of history

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/86685493@N00/2083986682

The bubble burst.
The tide has broken.
The hands point to the eleventh hour.
History is coming to an end. Time is turning.
And capitalism is dying with it.

The proclamations of self-deluding (neo)liberals the likes of Fukuyama may have spoken too triumphantly and too soon, for the markets are crashing like a sudden unexpected freak weather in the stormy Netherlands. Or perhaps not so unexpected, for all the warning signs were there. Uncontrolled consumption cannot last. Rampant desires and wants cannot be quenched with borrowed moneys and mortgages. Phantom hot money and speculation cannot be face up to the reality of creditors knocking at the doors. Capitalism's white-picket fence paradise has consumed one apple too many, and is slowly turning into a hell of indebtedness and bank collapses.

Once sacred temples of monetarism are reduced to humble pawn shops desparately hoping for that now very Visible Hand from the government. Even die-hard neo-cons are scrapping the halls of Congress for billions and billons of cash injection to kill an already malignant and deepseated turmour. The coins of privatisation have been flipped toward 'statisation', as public money is about to be channeled to save the ailing economy. Unheard of in the (Adam) Smithonian utopia. Laughable states (of affairs) in the heydays of the early 1990s when the catch-all and cure-all Capitalist phrases of globalisation, liberalism and laissez-fairism that hemmed the developing world into a perpetual state of indebtedness is now biting back. And who is laughing now?

Perhaps Marx, and the left-leaning liberals who were once scoffed at and marginalised can smile in the dark. But then again, smiles only for a little bit, for we are all in this media-hyped crisis together. So much for interconnectedness that we must share the juicy fruits as well as rotten berries together. The que at the cash machine was exceptional long. And this in a bank with 6 machines next to one another. Unexpectedly there was a meltdown of the electronic payment system. Shops seem to sudden have caught on the 'sales flu'. And every other street are signs of houses for sale, sending prices plummenting even further. Even here in Europe, newspapers are warning of a pending homeless crisis and mass unemployment. 1929 echoes. "It's the economy, stupid!"

But why scramble to the banks when the safes are already emptying? Why cut back on spending when the economy needs a consumption boost the most? If anything, panicking and calling 'crisis' at every shop closure and stockmarket drop is only going to exaserbate the situation even more, sticking the whole modern (read: Western) world deeper and longer in the gutters. Then we will really see who "looking at the stars". Spend like you always have, buy what you need, and brace for the storm, hoping that the politicians we have put in power will finally wake to the ills of a system that sucks on the have nots, and fat-feeds the haves.

The bull has been blinded by the red-clad torerro, and limps on on its final breaths.
The end of history is nigh.
And Captalism is (almost...) dead and buried.
But life goes on.
Nothing really changes but our perception and reaction to a system that has always fed on our desires and fears of want anyways.

Homecoming

Mum arrived two days ago, ending her 10 day trip to cities and places in Canada and the US here in Montreal. I picked her up at the airport, and together we rode home.

It was the first time for her to see my new place, and I had cleaned the apartment up the night before, making sure that it would leave a good impression. One thing about mothers is that they worry a lot about their children, and I knew this well. So everything had to be perfect.

And... mum did like my apartment, and she was happy that finally I have 'founded' a home of my own, and that I have a place to come back to at the end of a long day at school, and not feel confined to stay in my own room. She like the spacing and the brightness of the room, and despite having a few things to say about how my table and bed has been arranged (according to 'feng shui'), I am sure she likes it. So I passed the test.

But mum, I guess like all caring and loving mothers, still insisted in moving some furniture around, rearranging the cupboards, and giving the floor a good wipe. "So that when I leave here I know that you will have a safe and clean environment, and a good home to come back to", she said as she mopped the floor with her own hands.

I had saved a number of things till mum got here, such as use my new rice cooker, and my new set of plates and bowls. And just evening, we had a sumptuos home cooked meal together. It felt so homely, and for the first time since moving in here, I was not eating together with my laptop... though, the laptop was there too, playing smooth classical music.

Earlier, we walked around town a bit, and I showed her my university, even managing to climb up that steep street all the way to my institute. And I showed her how convenient my place is, located within walking distance to a huge forest, and also a huge shopping complex. All the while, slowly the trees donned on their yellow and red coats, and the leaves fell with the slight wind.

Tomorrow, I'm heading back to Europe for a few days with mum.