In 1999, the Congress and the president passed a bill which in effect deregulated and relaxed on how the mortgage business should run. The consequence, as we know it, is deadly and in the long term, billions of dollars and millions of families lost. I do not call for public ownership or nationalization like many would call for but is it not time to bring about stability to the market and have a vision instead of waiting until everything just spills over?
From the experience I had with South Korean economy and my life in it, I learned something very valuable and that was loss of morality and loss of family values due to massive and so fast-paced free market concept which were literally stuck in millions of Koreans.
For one thing, Koreans love technology. Like...let say your internet speed is approximately around 5 mbps and this is standard for most of the families in Canada. In South Korea, you would expect 20 mbps to be "standard" and the rest at cheaper cost. Not only that, the cellphones you get in Canada are outdated by miles and South Korea is always at least two to three years ahead...at cheaper cost. But what's the result? The result is unnecessary purchases and unacceptable amount of waste that is produced. More technologies are good but is it necessary for the good of the humanity? I don't think having 52 inch Plasma or LCD Tv will save a child in Africa, let alone feed them.
Speaking of waste, what about our oil?
Okay...I love Honda...I love it. Their cars are so efficient and so compacted...design is outstanding but the cost...oh crap. But do you know why they are so efficient? Simple, Americans aren't and Japanese are used to high oil prices. So you would think high oil prices would fix it all right?? No, taking in the geographic and economical standing point, no. First, the population density and the size of the Japan in itself is more compact and smaller which, hence, allows them to consume less gallons of oil per head. On the other hand, North America & US have one of the least population density in the industrialized world and most of our food is travelled at least a thousand miles. Oh crap eh?
Now the questions that make me wonder...can we live without oil? Can the high oil prices save us? For the first question, no. The second question, no.
I said no to all question because you basically shower with oil everyday. From driving your way to work to the point how your food gets to your plate, oil is there. Some of think and believe that high oil prices are giving industry and business alike incentives to increase their efficiency. Er...yeah duh or they lose money. We can see that increase efficiency and slowling consumption of oil. Unfortunately but ultimately, efficiency is not a solution because we are increasing our demand for oil ANYWAY and in the long term, industry is stripped of their factories and businesses close their stores because no one is spending and everyone is shrinking their wallet due to high oil prices, high food prices, high everything. Like..the potato..the rice...holy cow man...a pound of potato tripled its price in last four month and a pound of rice doubled its price. When that barrel of oil reaches over $150 per barrel, we should be expecting even more skyrocketing prices in our grocery market and beyond..
But no one is panicking, no one is outraged, and no one seem to be concerned about the "future." Our government and our society are failing to provide alternative energy and energy we consume from alternative is a tiny bit the whole puzzle. We'd think by taxing us to death through that bloody carbon tax would fix it ...no..it would slow the economy down even more. So what truly matters is that we have to spend money on our rusting infrastructure and change it or we will face severe consequences. It took us more than two decades to build oil based economy. Now, it would take us another two decades to build efficient, clean, and alternative option to fossil fuel-based infrastructure. The question which still bothers me now is...how long do we have until price of oil spikes through $200 per barrel.
From the experience I had with South Korean economy and my life in it, I learned something very valuable and that was loss of morality and loss of family values due to massive and so fast-paced free market concept which were literally stuck in millions of Koreans.
For one thing, Koreans love technology. Like...let say your internet speed is approximately around 5 mbps and this is standard for most of the families in Canada. In South Korea, you would expect 20 mbps to be "standard" and the rest at cheaper cost. Not only that, the cellphones you get in Canada are outdated by miles and South Korea is always at least two to three years ahead...at cheaper cost. But what's the result? The result is unnecessary purchases and unacceptable amount of waste that is produced. More technologies are good but is it necessary for the good of the humanity? I don't think having 52 inch Plasma or LCD Tv will save a child in Africa, let alone feed them.
Speaking of waste, what about our oil?
Okay...I love Honda...I love it. Their cars are so efficient and so compacted...design is outstanding but the cost...oh crap. But do you know why they are so efficient? Simple, Americans aren't and Japanese are used to high oil prices. So you would think high oil prices would fix it all right?? No, taking in the geographic and economical standing point, no. First, the population density and the size of the Japan in itself is more compact and smaller which, hence, allows them to consume less gallons of oil per head. On the other hand, North America & US have one of the least population density in the industrialized world and most of our food is travelled at least a thousand miles. Oh crap eh?
Now the questions that make me wonder...can we live without oil? Can the high oil prices save us? For the first question, no. The second question, no.
I said no to all question because you basically shower with oil everyday. From driving your way to work to the point how your food gets to your plate, oil is there. Some of think and believe that high oil prices are giving industry and business alike incentives to increase their efficiency. Er...yeah duh or they lose money. We can see that increase efficiency and slowling consumption of oil. Unfortunately but ultimately, efficiency is not a solution because we are increasing our demand for oil ANYWAY and in the long term, industry is stripped of their factories and businesses close their stores because no one is spending and everyone is shrinking their wallet due to high oil prices, high food prices, high everything. Like..the potato..the rice...holy cow man...a pound of potato tripled its price in last four month and a pound of rice doubled its price. When that barrel of oil reaches over $150 per barrel, we should be expecting even more skyrocketing prices in our grocery market and beyond..
But no one is panicking, no one is outraged, and no one seem to be concerned about the "future." Our government and our society are failing to provide alternative energy and energy we consume from alternative is a tiny bit the whole puzzle. We'd think by taxing us to death through that bloody carbon tax would fix it ...no..it would slow the economy down even more. So what truly matters is that we have to spend money on our rusting infrastructure and change it or we will face severe consequences. It took us more than two decades to build oil based economy. Now, it would take us another two decades to build efficient, clean, and alternative option to fossil fuel-based infrastructure. The question which still bothers me now is...how long do we have until price of oil spikes through $200 per barrel.
