We had a great time at our meeting! We had 4 attendees this time: (from left to right) Kevin Day, Andrew Whatley, VJ Arjan, and Jason Pullen.
Israel v. Palestine
Kevin believes that Israel may not only wipe Palestine out (recently they divided the Gaza Bank in two), but could also proceed on to combat Iran as well while they have strong US support. Israel may feel that as confrontation with Iran will be inevitable, might as well confront them now while they have momentum going in Palestine and support from the United States.
We also brought up Russia. Russia is actually very close to Iran, Iraq, and other Middle East nations. If the Israelis, with American support, enter Iran, Russia may indeed come to its aid at the same time galvanizing support from other Middle East nations as well.
Anti-foreignism
Kevin discussed with us how in his travels throughout the world, he has noted a heightened sense of anti-foreignism. He made a clear distinction that it was not anti-Americanism. Being a lover of archeology and wildlife safaris, he is currently trying to get a visa into Madagascar. The visa office there then replied with a 3-page letter notifying him of the dangers of visiting Madagascar. He has noticed the same with countries like Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). In our effort to find out why this is so, we discussed a few arguments thoroughly.
One such argument was that perhaps capitalism itself is designed to profit only the few rich at the expense of hundreds of laborers. However, this contention assumes that wealth is in finite quantity. This is simply not true. Ideas can create wealth and, therefore, wealth can be transferred to the “poor” as the market rewards profitable ideas with money.
We then discussed and decided upon the growing struggle between the “haves” and “have-nots”. The “have-nots” have existed throughout the previous centuries, but now as they see the standards of living for fellow countries rising, their expectations are changing so that they too want to achieve it. For example, Chile has long been eyed by its South American neighbors as a model for change and progress. Kevin termed this animosity “jealousy”. He believes that as the world looks on the industrialized nations’ progress and as they do not possess it themselves, they feel unfairly for not having the same privileges as well.
Civil War in South Africa
Nelson Mandela’s existence, it seems, is the only thing keeping the deeply divided racial factions in South Africa from going at each others’ throats. Kevin believes that there exists a deep chasm between the black and white factions in South Africa and that hell will be unleashed when Mandela dies (which may, in fact, be very soon) to determine his successor.
Revelation
As the response for the meeting was dismal again this time around, I asked those attending to advise me on what I should do next. My main motivation behind creating these meetings was to help people become more aware of the condition of the world because I felt that that personal awareness could prevent all the unnecessary and absurd wars, genocide, murder, intolerance, bigotry, etc. throughout the world.
To be completely honest, I feel really sorry and compassionate when I see the violence that humans have and are committing to each other. I suppose I have a pain inside me that spurs me to reach out as I realize how unnecessary and absurdly ridiculous are the ways with which most humans deal with their problems and conflicts. Kevin pointed something out to me that I really took to heart: perhaps I must realize that life is not fair and that what I’m doing, no matter how hard I try, is still not going to save the world from its current insanities, miseries and sufferings. Perhaps I had a lofty dream of what the world could be and decided that perhaps it could become reality by the dialogue at these meetings, over time. Kevin pointed out very clearly that although my meetings and the issues discussed are well-intentioned, the abject apathy of most people will prevent the problems from being solved. In other words, most people themselves are collectively responsible for the “good” and “bad” things in their lives. Most people are, indeed, responsible for the wars they create and the prejudices they believe in, even though they may play victim. There is, indeed, and I am forced to admit, nothing I, personally, can do about it. I suppose when the world decides, collectively, that a primitive and basic instinct like war, is ultimately harmful and is not an option at all, only then will wars completely cease. I suppose people must themselves decide to go beyond their petty differences and prejudices and recognize the Confucian proverb for themselves (Do unto others as you would do unto yourself), and only then will true tolerance and complete respect for each human being exist. Although I and a handful of others may be willing to delve into the problems that we face as a race, most people are just not willing to look them, and given a choice would rather delegate the problem-solving to others regardless of their qualifications and the outcomes and solutions those others produce than confront the realities themselves.
I did not come to this just today, but these revelations have grown over the past year. Apart from this concern I have about the future of humanity, I am a very simple and retiring person (not in the complacent and lazy sense). I will go back to living each day one moment at a time, reading great works of fiction and history, listening to Beethoven and Bach, etc.
In reference to the meetings, however, this is what I’ve decided:
- I have already received approval from those attending to keep receiving news of these meetings, but to all others, if you desire to be informed about these meetings and the happenings thereof, please inform me of your request by emailing me at scarletkings@gmail.com or vj_arjan@yahoo.com . To those who do not request, I will not send out emails. For all those who do not wish to receive further notices but have attended previous meetings, I would like to say that it was a pleasure to converse with you all and I wish you the best of luck and success in your future endeavours. I especially want to thank Kevin Day, Tom Murphy, and Vance Hall, VIPs who have attended our meetings and who took out their time and effort to participate in our discussions for our benefit. I will try to get other VIPs to attend as I get to know more and more people and will try to get a few to come to our meetings as I can.
- We will convene on every first Sunday of the month, but probably on a small level like the previous few meetings; I will not expect 10 or so people to attend. There will be no agendas like before to preserve flexibility in our discussions as I believe that, at times, our discussions can become very philosophical. I have often equated those who regularly attend our meetings to a lot of philosophers really, contemplating the world around them and sharing their observations to others who would listen. I also like the fact that our discussions of world events and social issues can even be translated to profitability in the global financial markets; at least this has been the case for my portfolio. I also like just discussing different ideas that pertain to local and world issues, for the mere joy of conversation, I suppose.
- The blog is still open to everyone who chooses to write articles. I will write some as I get time to do so:
Username: scarletkings@gmail.com
Password: kings1215 (1215 A.D. was the signing of the Magna Carta, if that helps)
Kevin Day’s Market Predictions
I wanted to end this post by sharing some insights I received from Kevin earlier this week. I asked Kevin what his thoughts were about the market and he replied with the following:
- Worldwide equities will have a very difficult first six months in 2009
- Nationwide unemployment will probably hit 9 to 10 percent
- The American automakers will go bankrupt notwithstanding the bailout fund they will receive, creating higher unemployment
- The Obama honeymoon will end and his popularity will plunge as those who voted for him find out that he indeed cannot and does not deliver on his promises
- Gold will hit $1,200 before 2009; oil will drop to $30 a barrel before going back to $50 plus before year-end
- Emerging market equities (particularly in China, India, and Brazil) will increase 30%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indexes will remain volatile but will end 20% up YTD led by recovery in health care, energy, small caps, financials, and secure dividend paying stocks
