Dude, Where's my Carbs?

Update : Local repercussions

Global food crisis. Silent Tsunami. Food riots in Africa and Asia. Rice hoarding. Scary stuff. What's going on? Why is this happening? Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?

I don't pretend to be an economist. Nor do I claim to have a firm grasp on this problem or it's cause(s). I won't try to offer any solutions, or even criticize any particular parties. But I've been thinking about it alot, and trying to read alot about it from different sources, so I just want to post some of the things that I've been reading, examining it from different angles.

Vietnam has taken alot of flack in the mainstream media for curbing their exports. Some say this amounts to hoarding on a national level.

Calls for free(er) trade have been hailed as solutions.

Creative solutions are needed

It can be blamed on America.

By more than one person.

By lots of people in fact.

Rice production is enough to meet global need.

But people can't afford it.

Biofuel leads to price increase

Food for thought:

In a capitalist model, if the price were to spike on a product, production would increase to meet demand thereby steadying prices. This can't apply to agriculture, as a production increase would take at least a season, in which case demand will not be met. That only works for things like cabbage patch kids and eminem cd's. Not for important things.

Vietnam's curb on exports could be likened to America longing for energy independence. Domestic production meeting domestic demand.

Perspective.



You can tell me I'm an idiot in the comment section...

Mildly Controversial with a Happy Ending

I found this article after I heard about the idea being kicked around for some of the provinces in Vietnam. Apparently the higher-ups here in Hanoi are planning to closely monitor the success of this program in Indonesia, with the intent of possibly implementing the same measures here.

I haven't yet been to Indonesia, or Thailand, but we've all heard the stories about the S.E. Asia sex trade. Vietnam, while not quite as obvious (or oblivious) as some of it's neighbors doesn't appear to be an exception. Massage parlors are seen in all corners of the city and seem to be doing quite a good trade, and "boarding houses" with beds for "short term" rent are scattered around the city as well. The life-size pictures of bikini clad girls and bright neon which mark these establishments leave little doubt as to what's going on behind closed doors.

While I doubt that anybody is really using those boarding houses for the actual purpose of boarding, some of the massage parlors appear to be legit. A few of them in the center of town have gone upscale and expensive with the hope of capturing the tourist demographic, while most others are simple little neighborhood places, catering to local guys. In the interest of research, your dedicated blogger decided to scout a few, to see for myself what's really going on in Hanoi.

Full Disclosure : My mother reads this blog.

Spoiler Alert : Don't worry Mom, it's safe to keep reading.

In my first month here, I've been for four different massages, in three different places. My first massage here in Hanoi was the day I got off the plane. I had flown 18 hours from New York, with stops in Alaska and Taipei, with the owner of the company I'm working for, and when he suggested we get massages, I jumped at the chance. We went to one of the upscale places, clean and expensive, and paid for an hour full body massage. (Keep in mind, expensive is a relative term, I think that hour cost about 12 bucks.) My second massage was about two weeks later, the day he left to return to the states. It was also in a more touristy place with signs and prices in English. My third and fourth massages were both in a nieghborhood place near my house, catering to local Vietnamese guys. It was clean, simple and crowded. There weren't any signs in English and after a short game of charades and negotiation, an hour cost me four bucks.

Now here's the interesting part. In both the first two places, the massage wasn't that great, and I was offered "extra services" after about 35 minutes of half hearted back rubbing. When I politely declined and gestured that I only wanted my shoulders rubbed, the massage went from half-hearted to no-hearted. She seemed genuinely dissapointed, and maybe a little angry with me, that she wasn't going to make a few extra bucks. In the local place, the masseuse almost killed me with the effectiveness of her massage, and never even showed the slightest interest in anything other than massage. This saved me the embarrassment of having to politely but firmly (no pun intended) refuse, and as a result I've been back to that place twice, and I'll probably go again this weekend.

So, I think those experiences are interesting when viewed in light of American stereotypes about Asian countries and the sex trade. This idea that massage means something more than massage seems to be an idea that has been imported. It's something that has sprung from the demand side of economics, not from the supply side. To them massage means massage, nothing more nothing less. Remember Full Metal Jacket? "What can I get for ten dollars? Those weren't Vietnamese guys asking the question. But then again, maybe this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone either. I mean, the oldest profession in the world has always done good business with guys from out of town. Sailors in port, wandering cowboys, visiting dignitaries, etc. Where there's a dollar (or, in all fairness, a Euro) to be made somebody is going to try to make it, right?

I'm not really sure that the padlock on the pants thing is really addressing the issue. Is it a laughable response to an unsolvable problem? Possibly. But from a public policy standpoint, it's brilliant. It is enforceable legislation, aimed at the perpetrator of the crime. A beat cop can walk into a massage parlor and check to see if the girls have their padlocks on. If they don't, then the massage parlor owner gets fined, as opposed to the girls, themselves, taking the rap. I'm taking a stand and applauding the unorthodox thinking behind this legislation and hoping for it's success. But I imagine a padlock on a a girl's belt won't really do much if she's wearing a skirt...

Recurring Theme

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted since April 7th, about ten days ago. The internet censors strike again? Impossible to say, but for the past 10 days, I again didn't have access to my blog, and during that time I had sooo much to say. If it is indeed internet censorship that we're dealing with here, it seems to be working brilliantly. Mainly because everytime I'm given access, I have absolutely nothing to say. Check back soon, I'll think of something to test this theory... If you don't hear from me in the next ten days....just wait longer.

A different view from afar

Here's an article from The Economist about what some people in the middle east think of our presidential race. I'd be interested to see a poll of Americans on who they think should be leading countries in the middle east. Guliani would probably be leading across the board.

I haven't really asked any Vietnamese people what they think of the American presidential race, I can say this though. There is a monument to John McCain in Hanoi. I'll let you guys decide who you think the Vietnamese might prefer as the American President. Rumour has it that when McCain came to visit Hanoi in 2000, he elected to stay at the Sheraton.

I didn't say it was Lunacy..

So, the business we are trying to open here in Hanoi suffered a slight set-back this week. It was due to something completely out of our control but, in retrospect, it probably could have been planned for. It's nobody's fault though, no finger pointing, and no hard feelings. We just made a few changes to our plans and continued on.

Let me explain. When I first got here at the beginning of March, one of the first things I did was to set a tentative date for opening as April 1st. It seemed like a good day to me. The first of the month. It's was a Tuesday, near the beginning of the work week. That would give us plenty of time to make the neccessary preparations, and we could easily be ready by that date. Plans were written, people were called, announcements were made.

Then the unexpected happened. When I arrived at the office on the 28th of March, only days before our doors were supposed to fly open and money was to begin pouring into our pockets, I was met by a very serious group of secretaries all huddled, chattering around a calendar. They were seemingly arguing over who was going to break the bad news to me. They looked at me with grim faces, and then at the calendar, and then at each other, then back at the calendar. The chosen one then emerged from the pack armed with her calendar, and began to explain.

She first showed me something like this. As you can see from that calendar, the 1st of April is clearly not a good day to open or start anything. I mean, what kind of Lunatic would start anything at the end of the moon's cycle? Apparently, the end of the moon cycle brings bad luck. It was explained to me that nothing can be started near the end of the cycle, and that in fact, the 9th of April, which is at the beginning of the new moon cycle, would be a much better day to open our new business. I was at a loss for words. I couldn't really think of a rational argument to counter that logic, so I was beaten. The ninth it is. If the stars aren't aligned then they aren't aligned, right? Who can argue with that?

So our first major minor set back was handled quite easily. But here is a short list of other things of the same nature, which I felt I should immediately learn, so as not to make the same mistake twice.

- If one is going to have a party, one should only gamble after the festivites

- If one is going to sweep the house, one should only sweep near the end of the moon cycle to avoid sweeping out the good luck that the new moon brings

- One should sprinkle lime powder around the house to expel evil

- One should not give a gift of duck, it symbolizes unluckiness (but only on some days, i'm not really sure which, something was lost in translation on that one)

- One should not give a clock or a watch as gifts, it symbolizes that your time is passing

- One shouldn't have shrimp at the start of something (i.e. wedding, ribbon cutting) in case one would move backwards like shrimp, in other words, one would not succeed

- If one should want to give a pet as a gift, one should give a dog, but not a cat. The Vietnamese word for the dog's bark, gâu gâu, sounds like the word giàu which means richness. The word for cat, mèo, is pronounced like nghèo, which means poverty

I think they all sound quite reasonable, and I'm pleased to be able to make the following announcements. Thus far:

- I have only been gambling after parties.

- I haven't swept at all, so all my good luck is still in my house.

- I haven't given anyone any cats, ducks, or watches.

- I'm pretty sure I don't move like a shrimp (but I might need a second opinion on that one)

- In accordance with the moon, which will be waxing cresent, the business will be opening it's doors on April 9th 2008. And the stars will be aligned.

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and Doggone it...

Most of you guys probably saw this but I wanted to post it here just in case. John kind of bungles the interview but I think the kid makes a few really interesting points. I particularly like when he talks about patriotism and being more informed about your country, and he makes you think a little when he floats that idea of reconciliation.

What does it mean "to reconcile"? By that definition it could mean several different things. This is a word which has been thrown around alot lately, and nobody seems to be sure exactly what it means. It could mean to solve a dispute, or to settle your debts, or it could even have a religious context as in catholic reconciliation and penance. Which of these reconciliations are we seeking, and which do we need?

I suppose I started thinking about it around the time that I got here, to Hanoi. In this context it's not really clear either. Suppossedly, America and Vietnam have reconciled. 33 years after the end of the war and they definitely don't hate Americans here. It's strange actually, but they really seem to genuinely like Americans, and if any of you have been traveling recently you know that that feeling isn't very common these days. It's more than just the Harley Davidson, Coca Cola, Brad and Angelina stuff that most of the world love-hates. And it's more than just a reluctant tolerance of Americans that you feel when you travel sometimes. It's an actual thing. They really like us.

Maybe we've been saying our daily affirmations loud enough for Vietnam to hear. What's not to like about that guy? Or maybe they just like us because we only had one war with them. By the same token that the Vietnamese like Americans, they seem to genuinely hate the Chinese. They had to fight those guys for years, many different times and hate them as a result. Would we feel it was unjustified if they hated us?

So, this idea of reconciliation is elusive. Back to that definition, maybe we need all of the above in Iraq. We need to solve the conflict, settle our debts, and pay our penance. Put in the Iraqi context can those three things ever happen in Iraq among themselves, much less with America? And even if it were to happen, Can we ever really expect them ever to genuinely like America? I mean, we gave them the gift of democracy, right?

I asked one of my American buddies what it meant to reconcile and he said "Typically I don't take things seriously enough to require reconciliation. And generally I think it's better just to forget about things like that. Focusing on it as part of the "healing" process just rekindles old hatreds and impedes progress." As a side note, he also asked that I only identify him as an anonymous highly placed source. But his answer is an honest one and interesting because maybe that's what Vietnam has done with their American war. They've just blown it off. In the grand scheme of Vietnamese history, it's a blip on the time line. Forgive and forget, right? Those Chinese, though... they were the real problem.

Is that what's going to happen with Iraq? Someday we'll all look back on this and have a belly laugh. Or, you'll thank me someday. Is that what American is hoping for? Is that what Iraq forsees in their future? When, where, how and with whom is this reconciliation going to take place? We're not even sure how it happened in Vietnam and it's been thirty years. How about this guys, maybe this time we should actually try to learn something?

One small step for a blogging..

So, I'm back. Today is the first day that I have been able to access my blog since March 20th. I'm not sure why, or how, but today I clicked, and it loaded right up. Strange. Maybe my apology was accepted? It took about 10 days to accept, that seems about right to me. Issue an apology and 10 days later you can have your blog back. Doesn't that sound like bureaucracy to you? Or possibly it was just a ten day cool off period, like when Americans try to buy a gun in a gun shop. The benevolent government didn't want me to commit any crimes of passion so they made me stop and think about what I was doing, or had planned to do. I think that's an interesting comparison too, because when I really wanted to blog, I found a way to do it, circumventing the 10 day cool off. Or maybe the internet connections just suck, so I couldn't ever load this page. I don't know. For whatever reason, I have access now and I feel whole again.