A great buy

I am very satisfied at the moment. I have just got a subscription to the ultra right wing free market ideological propaganda called the economist. The authors of the paper tend to have studied only that free markets and democracy are the only way to live, and forget about the fact that markets fail.

I am not satisfied because I am becoming a free marketaholic, but because of the three issues I have received, two of them have special reports are smack bang on topics I like. The first being directly related to my thesis on food prices and energy markets (one such market failure) and the other about a place I am fond of Vietnam.

Oh man! It's Oman

My friend, Said, told me that this headline has already been used by a travel writer who reported what it was like travelling to Oman. Oman is a small country on the Arabian Peninsular bordered by Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Indian Ocean and is not far from Iran and India. When Said told me that they had monsoons there I laughed and thought he was joking. Ha ha, egg on my face, I was surprised that in the south the monsoons cross Oman on their way to India and the far east.

With this information I was curious to find out more about Oman and Said showed me pictures of his homeland. I was amazed at how beautiful the land is. The seas are azure with white sand and palm trees, with fish and turtles in plenty supply. Travelling a few clicks inland I saw pictures of sunsets on the dunes and reflections of the moon on the sand that just took my breath away. Also, forests, oases, and mountains that are full of life. Cities that are modern with skyscrapers and villages that have houses made of clay bricks and look as thought they have seen sands of time.

An Omani student group held a day to promote Oman to Australia and share their culture. The senses were on overload as I found the music peaceful, smoothing my soul in deep rhythmic waves. The air was full of incense and the fragrance of roses was abundant as well. I met another friend and we went to explore the tents. I felt like a crusader or Alexandra the Great the first time they set eyes upon the exotic goods of the Middle East. In one tent they had the fabric which was brightly dyed with what appeared to be gold fabric. Outside, children were laughing and joking while getting their arms done. Two tents were designated as tourist tents where the main focus seemed to be to promote tourism. I saw many more photos of exotic locations just wanting me to go and visit them.

I tried Omani coffee and a snack at the next tent. Both had rose flavours in them and the snack had an unusual texture which might have been ground almonds. The last tent contained traditional artefacts used in everyday life? I really liked the swords. I actually forget what they were made of, yet I do remember that it wasn’t steel. There were many different varieties, all of them ornamental.

Some goods in the tents

I finished the day off by watching a video showing how the money from oil was helping Oman’s citizens, and the vision the Sultan has for his people. I was impressed with the effort the organisers and left delighted for having seen a glimpse of a culture which was mysterious to me.

Money well spent?

Aid agencies good or bad? I often wonder. My own experiences have shown me that they do a lot of good, yet I also hear that the opposite is true. I am also puzzled with how aid is distributed, however when you see it in action, like I did often in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta I did feel like it does make a difference to peoples’ lives.

When big sums of money are involved there is the possibility of corruption. I was impressed about the moral stand of an employee of an international organisation who came out to criticise that organisation on its role in corruption. By the end of the article I was saddened to learn that her brave moral stance resulted badly for her.

Then there is the question that having large sums of money, requires spending large amounts of money to ensure that you get large sums of money next year in your budget. So, there is some waste as agencies try to assist the less fortunate to better their lives. Being the year of the potato lots of money is being used in helping farmers with better techniques of potato farming or something like that. However, thinking about the cost to develop, I didn’t understand the point of the potato world.

I went back to the books reading about price formation and value then light finally penetrated dense wood.

The assurance that consumers want and will pay for many be over something as trifling as the crispness of a French fry. You might say, “Fries are fries.” This would merely show that you do not have it in you to be a burger mogul. In the 1950s, Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, was obsessed with them. “The French fry would almost become sacrosanct for me,” he said later, “its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously”. He sent employees with hydrometers into farmers’ fields, rejecting potatoes lacking the optimal water content. He devised a way of curing the potatoes to convert natural sugars into starch. He developed the “potato computer” to calibrate the cooking time for a batch of fries. Kroc found his firm’s competitive edge in the uniformity of his fries – the reliably precise combination of starch and grease. In Minneapolis or Minsk (not HCMC though), the brand name McDonald’s promises you exactly what you will get (Page 54).

And that leaves me to another thought that is hanging around in my mind; does McDonald’s (or any other fast food franchise) really taste the same in Australia as anywhere else? I hope I get to test that soon.

Over consumption

I have been very disturbed lately. About a month ago I watched a music video show and noticed that for the whole time the music was the same. I don’t mean the same song playing over and over, just the same sounds, baseline and rhythms, and melodies. And it was not to my taste. Most of the videos featured sexy bodies dancing to the music obviously appealing to the animal instinct of the human psyche.

I have also noticed that a lot of the TV shows on the box at the moment are identical too. The CSI’s are all the same, as too are all these reality shows, etc. It got so bad that I haven’t watched much TV this week for fear of becoming boring as the shows. Yet, when I am out I hear people talk about how great the shows/ new songs are.

I thought first that I am getting too old, yet still can’t find any grey hairs. Then I thought by living overseas, my tastes had refined. No, that’s not true either. I also noticed that I was not affected by the evolution of what is mainstream while overseas, which means coming back and listening/ watching entertainment I have a new perspective, one that is possible to attach value by making accurate snap decisions.

And this brings up another point. When the entertainment firms do their market research why do they choose things that are the same and many good things go amiss. When I was in Uni in Brisbane I had a friend who was setting up a band, think a softer version of Limp Bizkit or 28 days (I think they were groups most similar to the fusion sounds of my friends group). They were never able to book a gig as they were to alternative and the venue owners were afraid no patrons would come. That was a shame as I had the pleasure of listening to them play at a house party and they rocked. I bet this story is repeated all over the world.

According to economic theory, the reason for this is not to take chances. The trade off the promoter (or venue owner/ publishing company etc) faces is either mass appeal or fringe. This I think leads to a lack of new quality entertainment. And to generate the mass appeal we, the people, need to have our tastes modified by ceaseless advertising and hype so we know what to like. With the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 approaching, I can not help notice that the games shop that I pass everyday has the walls plastered up with advertising, and today they had a big poster telling everyone that exactly midnight of the day it is released the shop will open to sell the game.

I think since I have returned to Australia, this constant consumerism driven by advertising has finally worn me down, and I actually feel that in general this is bad for people’s well being as it creates unnecessary stress. I feel it takes people out of enjoying the little moments that make a life. I must confess that I do long for a simple advertising free world.

Random advertising outside the mainstream thinking

Post Thought Clarification

I am not against advertising (in its true form) as its purpose is to make people aware of things that can help them enjoy more from life. What I am against is the way it is used to influence people to buy or consume things that are not needed, and its constant overuse.

English editors needed

Well, I have been busy lately which is why I haven't updated. Most of the busyness stems from having to organise my idea for my doctorate. This is seriously becoming a pain. It sucks up more time everyday and progress is so slow that I see snails pass me by. After the discussion last week, I have to go back to the drawing board, as the saying goes.

The other thing that I have noticed, coming out of my studies, is that of food prices. Now this also affects the An Giang fish industry and I compeletly omitted it in my final report.

Well, since studying is not going as good as hoped at the moment maybe I should just become an editor as I am sure that I can help some people out somewhere .