This time I’m not going to write about the market because that is now my everyday job at the office, it’s weekend, and I’d like to take my mind off from the market (especially after the Trump tantrum this last two weeks!). On top of that, I’d like to make this post to be more laid back and personal, enjoy!
First off, Congratulation to president-elect Donald Trump on the victorious win against Hillary Clinton on the 9th of November. It was rather surprising and unbelievable to realize that he had won the seat of the most powerful person on earth; it literally blew everybody’s mind that day. The futures market (S&P and DOW futures) was bleeding and the Asian market was also weakening when the Donald Trump was winning on Wednesday. Anyway, as I wrote on my previous blog on "The closing door on Globalization in the west", the door will eventually closed in the next couple of years in the U.S. because Trump will focus on protectionism for the U.S. economy going forward.
What makes me sad is...Many nations have been divided because of election being held in their country such US and the UK - after the Brexit. What surprises me is how people literally expressed themselves way too openly on hate and racism after the result was contradicting with the pool. I'll start with the US because it is the recent one. When people say that there are no racism in the free world - is wrong! There are still many white supremacist group in the US, one of the many is the KKK, although they are always under the radar all these years; they finally showed their support for Trump after the election. They are reported to hold a "Trump victory parade" in North Carolina in early December [link]. Murals with racist and hate statements also filled the streets of America, and the tagline "Make America White Again" is used to support their next president [link]. The below picture is taken by CNN journalist in North Carolina the day after Trump wins the election.
Trump have shown very radical argument not only to Latinos (talk about building a wall) but also to Muslims as well (talk about shutting down Muslims into the US). Now his actions are reflected towards his supporters, Pam Howell posted on her twitter that a white male ripped a woman's hijab with such force, and it choked her as she fell in San Jose University. It gave me chills when Shaun King also posted on twitter that "white students in Dewitt junior high school, Michigan formed a physical wall of students to block Latino kids from entering the school" [link]. In addition, a video have been uploaded in YouTube of students at a junior high in Michigan shouting "build the wall" in cafeteria during lunch hour [link]. Frankly, I am surprised at how powerful Trump's words are during the campaign, and how he had influence many people - in a wrong and negative way. I always thought that he's a joke and cannot be taken seriously, but unfortunately I was wrong.
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| Copyright: CNN |
In other continent, another unexpected result came to light when the majority of the UK citizen decided to leave the Euro zone. Many were in awed of the result and definitely surprised because London is the heart of the financial economy that bridge between the east and the west. According to independent, hate crime have risen by 54% just four days after the Brexit referendum; a Polish man was beaten only to prove that he could speak English in Yeovil, Somerset, and what haunt me is a 60 something grandfather told a two year old Polish girl with her mom "we voted to leave so why the fuck don't you go home? None of us want you here!!" [link]. With Polish people have the biggest chunk of the pie in the EU immigrant in the UK, hence most of the victim of hate crime in the UK are mostly from Poland, and a card written "Leave the EU, No more Polish Vermin" is being put in letter boxes of Polish families in Huntingdon, twitted fencelt. Since it got very extreme, people of goodwill starts to wear a safety pin to show a symbol of support and solidarity with immigrants, on top of that, to despise and wouldn't tolerate any xenophobic abuse in the UK [link]. Michelle Goldberg from the Slate wrote that symbol like wearing safety pin is needed in the US because the deplorables are emboldened and there have been too many incidents on hate crimes in US after Trump wins.
With all the havoc happening in the West, we just recently saw one of the biggest demonstration in Jakarta, people from all over Indonesia pouring into the city to protest and demanded the mayor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama - or well known by his nickname Ahok - to be put in court due to the statement that he made during his speech in thousand island region of Jakarta, and according to many sources, Ahok wrongfully uses a verse from the Holy Qur'an, which offended many Muslims in Indonesia. The protest went peacefully and it was nothing compared to what happened in the US and the UK. Everyone was discipline and marched carefully on the street of Jakarta; but again, this raises the good old issues in Indonesia, the separation between religion instead of races. There's people are pro with Ahok being punished for what he said, and the other are clamoring that he is innocent and should not be punish for what he did. People tend to anchor to what they believe in and cannot open their mind and create a discussion into this matter, instead these people are finger pointing on who's fault and who should be punished for this matter - which ended up with no resolution.
To be honest, I was raging at this type of news; I would ask myself "what is wrong with those people? It's the 21st century! why are they still acting very ancient?" and so on...But then, a rant news anchor by the name of Jonathan Pie opened my eyes that not everybody thinks alike, and in his video "President Trump: How & Why..." he mentioned that after the left wing won the cultural war, they forget on the art of discussion and debate. I consider myself a leftist, and I just came to realize that what Jonathan said is very true! The left and/or the liberal have come along way in history, until now they actually created a culture of high tolerance and openness, but they forget to reach out to those who disagree - the right wing and/or the conservative. What makes it worse is, these people are shunned and despised by the society that they live in. I remember when I was in college, I was told to have an open mind, to think outside the box and always have my glass empty when meeting new person/people; but is it really having an open mind when we shun those who disagree with our point of view? is it really having an open mind when we insult those who act differently than the society want them to? is it really having an open mind when we don't let people speak their mind because we're afraid that it might offend someone? I think Jonathan's video is very powerful, I was very moved by it - and I would like to share that video here!
To conclude, the art of discussion and debate should be use in order to persuade other. Not all people think alike, hence we cannot judge them only from the outside because that would be ignorant. We need to free our mind, this is the best time to be able to think critically and ask ourselves "WHY" and "HOW" instead of judging instantly that what they do is stupid or ignorant just because society want us to be liberal.
Anyway, this blog is getting a bit too long.
Thank you for reading, cheers!
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