IRSHAD SALIM — Last night Tango shared an article with me that said “while Asia returns to work, America struggles to regain its footing in what looks like a historical tipping point”.
The writeup has pegged its conclusion on the wide gap between responses to the pandemic in East Asia (far right end of the band) and the “catastrophic ones in the United States and Western Europe”.
We have two different lifestyles and governance though –to compare with the two situation keeping all other matters equal, is kinda Hmmm.
I (Oscar) always find Tango may or may not agree. He’s unpredictable. But here’s the deal we built over the years: we quite a bit agree, at times we agree to disagree, and in both situation, we move to discuss solution(s). That keeps my adrenaline going just as it did decades back watching Tim Allen in the Home Improvement.
Tim Allen played the role of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor on the hugely popular serial — it took America by storm including my home. While the show ended in the ’90s when my kids “and me” were “growing up, learning things at home” and watching such shows (not tickers!), I still carry the biggest takeaway: talk, discuss, disagree, add humor, lighten up, chill and respect each others view — and if one is coiled up , seek backyard breeze and talk to your neighbor. Like this:
But then during those days we did not have WhatsApp Forums, Twitter and Facebook to name the three.
Does the future toward Asia mean we’ll get a lot to see Putin walking and walking so confidently?
He walks with his left arm swinging though.
Russia and China both have a hybrid: huge state control plus great economy. Yes, it’s possible the advanced nations may cherrypick the goodies the Asian giants have and match their goodies to make the new normal sustainable.
It’s quite possible that in the US (as the article suggests), we see these:
A) “A guaranteed national income and nationwide rent control”.
B) “The young people who say they want socialism would love it. And if the Democrats win the November election, something along these lines will most likely become permanent”.
C) “Along with subsidized education and medical care, it would turn the US into a European country, focused on public welfare and redistribution rather than wealth creation by and for the 1%. It would reverse three decades of wealth transfer from labor to capital and it would be very popular.”
D) “The Republican Party would most likely go the way of the Whig Party, which was dissolved in 1856”.
E) More here…
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The author has been writing a column “OscarTango” off and on since early 2000s.
