Hayek vs Keynes Rap

What Does Kenya Really Need

The problem facing the Kenyan democratic process is typical of most developing countries from an outsider's point of view. Democracy is a big topic to try and come around in one post but I think the basics of it still should prevail: direct or representative democracy is all about giving the people better representation and freedom. This are of course not enough to make a nation just run but are starting points.

I also believe that in order for democracy to be effective, there also needs to be a workable and efficient institutionalised government support structures. I am simply referring to a stable, independent local authority and a judiciary that can be said to be reasonably facilitative. What I am continuing to observe from more democratically established nations is that government support systems are in most cases free from political influence because they do not form part of any government side per se.

What we should aim to do in Kenya is create the notion that politics should just be played at the top of the pyramid such that a political transition only means change of the top, say 0.5% of the pyramid, while the other 99.5% of government support system and services remains fully functional. For instance I do not see the need for a new minister to suck or appoint anyone from their office just as a show of ascent to office because I do not serious understand how a ministry stuffer would need to be on the same page with the minister in ideology. Such are the simple issue that I think if addressed would propel some sense of stability in our government structure.

By separating other functional units of government from the policy-making unit of things, I tend to believe progress would be inevitable. If policy-makers do not accomplish anything for instance, we as citizens are able to see this because their decisions would be conspicuous enough not to pass our eyes and this would mean a change of the top team. I do mean for this to sound overly simplistic but an election in this case would be easily likened to the top politicians switching colours and not overturning the whole system and telling us that they are now going to build out country Kenya from down up. This is never possible. Bottom up abstraction systems only works in engineering projects or in countries that are coming from rubble like a Kenya in 1963 or Haiti in recent times.

Politicians must stop wanting to change how government works, they must strive to improve our institutions and move from there.

Another observation I have made is that we Kenyans tend to want to copy working systems and use working democracies as examples of what we should aim for. I do not see what would be wrong if we worked on what we have and build our own Kenya. A Kenya that applies to Kenyans and for goodness sake a Kenya that has accountable leaders implementing policy. We do not have to look as far as the United States of America to find a system to want to emulate, we could be the creative Kenyans we are and build our own. I am saying this because I believe we have what it takes. The Kenyan population is one that can work miracles and uphold a position of leadership in our side of Africa. The Kenyan population if given a chance can achieve greatness. And to quote Abraham Lincoln, with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds.

Copenhagen Draws Ever Nearer

As issues of climate gain prominence this week as the Copenhagen Climate Conference draw nigh, all we can hope for is for our leaders to come with conclusively successful agreements. With the global state of the economy still not as sure-footed as it was thought to be three years ago, we can only hope for a positive outcome from these talks. Climate change policies require a deliberate globalised effort from each and every other country, big or small, land-locked or coastal and even rich or poor.

The question of compromise should surely not be allowed to bring disunity as it seems likely to do so. Although it should be a globalised effort, the huge polluters should surely agree with the numbers and take serious measures directly proportional to their footprints. For earth's sake, capitalists should agree that a major market failure needs fixing and should therefore feel obliged to want to do more. They have all convinced us that something is being done but 'more' is needed than just the bare minimum.

Nations can disagree on anything else else but climate change. Just to mention two, Australia and the US should stop politicising their domestic policies which seem to be struggling in the respective houses of parliaments.

God help us.

Have Things Seriously Stalled

The heading of this week's The Economist Magazine boldly states, "East Africa’s most important country is failing to pick itself up after a traumatic and bloody election". The article again looks at the major problems pulling reform behind with the root of all the political confusion conspicuously being a leadership regime that just won't get it. With inflation at a rate of 18%, 4 million reportedly depending on food aid, dragged justice just really is too much for Kenyans to handle not to mention growing tensions arising from the angry and highly charged mostly-youth population. If leaders or should I say same old leaders, don't really put their words to action now and implement reform and serve justice as best desired by Kenyans, I am really afraid of a bleak future comprising instability and chaos generally.

Of course problems facing the East African stronghold do not just stem from the post-election violence and processes following from the violence but they are very deep-seated issues which would probably need more time to fix than is being expected but just for the sake of the immediate future a quick and rigid solution needs to be reached at quick hastily. Kenyans' problem's with political differences will not just be decided at a court but should come from the people themselves. That is probably a question for another day so for now, why don't "we" all just get done with the acting and do something about the delayed justice which as I see it might be a huge course of concern from the international community(which has to again be the big Bretton Woods institutions which we are now forced to look up to).

Why should we let justice and the demise of a few front line individuals, which is definitely what some of the alleged instigators are looking at by me, pull our rating down?

You can read the whole Economist article here

Speaking of Bears

This is one interesting read and I particularly like when they describe the bears as, "The word “bear” brings to mind an irrational, angry creature that lashes out at anything in its path. Of course, like their animal counterparts, some bears can be very wild indeed. The most excitable bears are not so much polar as bipolar. They dabble in conspiracy theories and talk of the collapse of civilisation and the need for investors to sell all paper assets, buy gold and retreat to Idaho. But bulls can be overenthusiastic too, talking of new eras in which asset prices will reach undreamed-of heights (remember the book “Dow 36,000”?). Over the past 20 years it has been the repeated interventions of central banks to rescue bulls, not bears, that have contributed to the current mess by encouraging too much risk-taking."

View full article here from the Economist.