Socialism does not mean shared poverty

'It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, a long as it catches mice'. ~ Deng Xiaoping

管它黑貓白貓，會抓老鼠的就是好貓

An oft quoted line from the Chinese premier, translations of the saying try sometimes to convey the positive view of the statement with an addition, 'it is a good cat'. Whatever the translation, the idea is there and the cat is good no matter what colour it is.

I can understand the school not going for Deng's other percieved famous quote ( which it is not confirmed he said), 'To get rich is glorious'. This may have not been the message a school of public policy would have liked to transmit!

However the quote has been notorious for pragmatists since the time it was uttered. Deng can be seen as the father of modern pragmatism in China, and especially in the Communist party. His credentials were never in doubt - he was a veteran of the Long March -but he was purged twice due to internal struggles with Chairman Mao. However upon Mao's death, he outmanuvoered Mao's chosen successor Hua Guofeng - and thus came to have free rein in policy for the Middle Kingdom. Deng was confronted with a poor country, still reeling from the Cultural Revolution and man made famine in the 1950s. Deng was aware of the policys that has caused this pain - he had fought against many of them - and thus understood what had caused such heartache.

With influence from other communist policies ( such as Lenin's New Economic Policy in Russia), Deng began to elucidate the one which he thought best fitted the nations - that of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. He argued that 'Socialism and market capitalism are not incompatiable', and another type of planned economy is to control the market through capitalist mechanisms. This smacked of 'rightism' to many of his contempories but he retorted, ' Socialism does not mean shared poverty' and with his policies urged ' Let some people get rich first'. Thus he created the economic model which we see in China today. Deng would travel south and witness Kuala Lumpur and Singapore firsthand and realised the great cities in China lagged far behind. He was therefore committed to pushing through reforms, and when he finally left office and lost influence, his pragmatic view of the revolution lifted millions out of poverty and put China on the road to growth and progress which they have maintained to this day.

Thus pragmatically speaking, if you have mice it doesn't matter if it is a dog that caught. However can we thus so simply agree with this statement as public policy students? I will phrase what he stated in different policy scenarios - for example - It doesnt matter what lever of government brings forward a new policy, if it works it is a good policy - it doesnt matter doesnt matter how the economy gets fixed, as long as the economy is fixed it is a good policy. The problem with the statement that we are presented with is its ambiguity - it can be used by tyrants and policymakers alike.

So is Deng bordering on the Machiavellian quote, ' The end justifies the mean'. To put it that far would be a disservce to Deng. What is probbaly nearer to the true meaning and idea behind the quote is probably more, there is many adequate ways to solve the problem, as long as you use them to solve the problem. Therefore when Deng allowed Special Economic Zones, he realised he would lift up many out of poverty intially and eventually the prosperity of the few would trickle down to the many. He therefore took the pragmatic views that their was many ways to do this, and none should be ruled out due to political views, within reason.

It is not known whether Deng owned cats, so confirmation on whether he really believed his statments will remain one of the mysteries of history.

The Sepulchre of Famous Men is the Whole Earth

'What you leave behind is not what is engraved in monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others'. ~ Pericles

'ἀνδρῶν γὰρ ἐπιφανῶν πᾶσα γῆ τάφος, καὶ οὐ στηλῶν μόνον ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ σημαίνει ἐπιγραφή, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ μὴ προσηκούσῃ ἄγραφος μνήμη παρ᾽ ἑκάστῳ τῆς γνώμης μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ ἔργου ἐνδιαιτᾶται'.


Let us begin by saying that the above original Greek is translated more beautifully and truthfully into this,

' The sepulchre of famous men is the whole earth, not only the epigraph engraved on the columns in their own country, since also in foreign lands there dwells the unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts and minds of men'.

While it may have been beneficial to make the quote more concise, the beauty of the original statement is clear - the imagery of columns with engravings of great battles, the exoticness of foreign lands and global impact of great men. However the discussion about the public policy consequences will take precedent, not the butchering of Greek poetry and prose!

If a public policy student could look up to a man they couldn't do better than use Pericles as the example. Statesman, Orator, citizen ( and perhaps disconcertantly General), the classical hero and patron of the arts led Greece into its Golden Age and his influential Funeral Oratory, from which the above is taken, would not seem out of place spoken by a leader such as Barack Obama. Whether we would have known about the speech had it not been for Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is a moot point - he did - and the leader of Athens talked about participating in politics and civic pride and what many saw as an eulogy of Athens itself. Pericles has ever since been held up as an ideal statesman, who while somewhat populist gave civilisation its roots for freedom of speech and true democracy, even if that was far from the fact. Thucydides, while lauding Pericles, acknowledged with his persuasive manner and charismatic demeanour, that he may be the only Greek to balance the democracy he had created.

The quote itself encourages immortality in people's mind as opposed to the immortality of physical things. Monuments will fall, but memories will last, as Pericles himself found. His notoriety may infer he got the balance right - and historical evidence seems to imply this - but of course we have to look at this in its context. He was a General and nobleman, so fear could have been memory and who is to know how many monuments to himself he actually built?

From a public policy point of view, the implications of the quote are perculiar. No matter what your actions, policy must influence the lives of others in a positive way. However, this quote does not bear any value judgement - you should be remembered, but we are left to understand this should be in a good way. However, as the example of another Greek, Achilles, shows us, acting heroically to be remembered is folly also it applied on a Grand scale - you must compromise, you must sometimes hurt the many for the few, you must make tough decisions in the present that affect the future in a positive way, tainting your legacy. In this modern day and age, a leader cannot unite and inspire to this extent and then use this inspiration for expansionist reasons( see Bush, George)- if he does he taints his memory. Pericles speech is perhaps at odds with pramatism in public policy, something that politicians and thought leaders find more and more. Then again more public servants would be happy with an engraving nowadays to render them immortal - being remembered in the hearts and minds is fickle and as olden times sometimes become rose tinted, often they also lose their sheen.

Pericles oratory will be remembered, not at face value, but to do the job that it was required to do at the time - to inspire men to be great.

Inspiration to the Masses - LKY Style

Whether you are aware of it or not, I am presently studying for a Masters in Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. It is indeed a fine school named after the present Minister Mentor who was Prime Minister of Singapore for over a quarter of a century, and whose influence extended long before and after that. The school itself is one of the most preeminent public policy schools in the world - it has been modelled on Harvard's Kennedy School of Governance and is the only Asian member of the GPPN, the Global Public Policy Network. Its present dean is Kishore Mahbubani, former Singaporean Ambassador to the United Nations and author of the books Can Asians Think? and A New Asian Hemisphere. Other notable academics at the school include Ann Florini, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and author of The Coming Democracy and also Charles Adams, who has worked on Asia Pacific Issues for the IMF for over 30 years.

Singapore has it peculiarities and as such has the school. In an effort to inspire students and portray the campus as a seat of learning, the school has decided during the summer months to erect large quotes on the walls of the Li Ka Shing Building. These quotes are by famous people from numerous backgrounds and each is attempting to inspire, remind and soothe the student of public policy in reaching their goal.

What I will attempt in the following Blog posts is to examine each quotes individually and appraise what consequences it has for public policy and whether it is an appropiate quote to erect and why. Of course this is and always will be my personal opinion but it may allow for some illuminating and humourous discussions on Public Policy. In so doing it is hoped I can tease out the reasons for each quote being used, but alas I fear I will ultimately fail in understanding the perplexing colour scheme that the school has used.

Never declaring myself an expert in Interior Design, I will leave you with words of a famous one, Albert Hadley, 'Interiors would be more successful if the designers were a little less intent on having a good time. Just because a scheme's wacky and off-the-wall some of the young designers think it is FUN, in big letters, when in fact their very determination to be zany renders the result lifeless. What's missing is restraint and knowledge. What's missing is the Zen of seeing'.

Do we accept the Eerie Order of Irish Chaos?

'It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order'.

We seek education to understand, to better ourselves and live fuller lives in the world. But the chaos of the world will not allow you to understand, and often you come to the realisation that chaos reigns supreme.

I read with interest everyday the Irish Times, seeing this as the pulse of the nation - even if the accusation of a elitist view may have some basis in fact. It is in this pursuit of this understanding of the nation I hail from and love, that I sometime hark back to Gandalf's immortal line, 'Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you'. In the past few days things have amazed me about Ireland which in one felt swoop has confused me, perturbed me and also inspired me.

Thomas Cook was a travel company I walked by everyday in my years at Trinity. I never had any interaction with the company and even though I was involved in a competing business no more than fifty yards away, if the building was turned overnight into a Delifrance I perhaps would not have noticed. However the occupation by its workers who were made redundant, hit a raw nerve inside me. I was involved in such negotiations but wonder how I would have reacted if the disagreement had come to this. My heart tells me that to see young Dublin people being arrested, when they were clearly desperate and scared, would have made me intervene. However my head says that this made sound business sense for the company to save costs, to play hardball. However for such a proftibale group, even in this recession, my fear that this so called 'wicked' problem had a chance of resolvement through mediation. However it is interesting to think that this happened in Dublin City Centre, on a Bank Holiday when people are meant to be most positive, at their most happy.

I was always led to believe that Irish people are great in a chaos due to our initaitive and outside the box thinking.However sometimes our embrace of chaos, and our short sightedness leads us into areas that defy belief and the best problem solving. How could a man and his company on our island get into over one billion euros worth of debt? As commercial developers, the numbers that banks and individuals work with is obviously astronomical, but the misjudgement with Zoe Ltd and Liam Carroll shows an enormous irresponsibility and naivity at the best. and lack of social morality and criminality at the worst. Bankers are very eductaed people let us remember - they surely understood the consequences of a failing by him to the Irish banking system in its totality. While I will not rehearse the incentives of short termism in this sector, people need to realise that planning and pragmatism need to be the going to concern. Nobody, not even nation states as we see now are too big to fail. Progress isn't evitable, and growth takes hits in even the most resilient economy.

The final view of chaos in the Irish nation had been some 13 years in the making, but took seconds to hit. Jerry McCabe was an innocent, hard working garda when he was shot by members of the provisional IRA in a bank raid in Limerick in 1996. Arrests were made and convistions sought and obtained, but for the lesser crime of manslaughter - in that they did not mean to kill him while firing at his car with AK47s. Nonetheless, with their time done and the convicted adequately rehabiliated, they were realised this very day from Castlerea Prison in the county which I hail from. What is disgusting and repugnant about this whole affair was in the persona of the man who greeted them on their release - Martin Ferris, an elected TD from no more than fifty miles from where the guards lived, worked and died. This blatant condoning of men who, while rehabiliated, were involved in the murder of a man who gave his life in protection of state throws mud in the face of any resemblance of order. It was seen to be done with a bashful acceptance, like men who had taken a fall for a noble cause. For personal reasons, it makes me look inward and reflect on the society that I am part of and whether to understand that this is part of a successful democracy will help me grow, or in this case ignorance and small mindedness is bliss and right.

In understanding Irish politics, it is not more important than ever that our leadership needs to step up and help the country to transcend this chaos in a hope to drive forward the nation.

The world does not need more politicians, it needs leaders.

Dubliners are dragged from a travel agency. An Irishman is allowed, encouraged by Irish banks to get 1 billion euros in debt. An elected official condones murder of a guardian of the state.

This order is chaos, and it is undoubtedly eerie.

Cory Aquino lives in my heart

We are unsure when life will spring life-changing moments on us, but when they do it is surely a measure of our character as to how we respond. However the old saying goes,' Adversary does not build character, it reveals it'.

Corazon Aquino who died today revealed her character when she realised that she had to emerge from the shadows and honour her murdered husband, and the future he believed in, by running in opposition against President Marcos. It is interesting to speculate what must have been going through her mind when she was asked to run in the presidential elections. Never having taken the limelight before, the self proclaimed 'housewife' would in subsequent years clean up the nation and raise people's hopes in a similar fashion to the way she cleaned her house and raised her children. What direction the People's Power Revolution would have taken without her is anybody's guess, but her ascension to the the pinnacle of the opposition to the Marcos Regime reveals a character that can be compared to not only the great politicians of our age, but also the greatest of people.

Her story reminds me of Cinncinatus, the Roman citizen who was asked by the senators to take power of the Empire to quell uprisings and restore order. Subsequently Julius Caesar was to take the post and never give up the power that he had been entrusted with. Needless to say the Senators were apprehensive with affording a man - a mortal, corruptible man -with so much power. They needn't have worried as after successfully fulfilling his mandate, Cinncinatus relinquished his power and returned to the farm and his life in which the Senators had first found him, to live out his days in happiness.

Aquino had suffered through many hardships before her rise to power in the Philippines - her husbands imprisonment, sickness and assassination - but still she stepped down at the end of her term with decorum and ensured, similarly to Nelson Mandela, that democracy was respected and assured in her nation. Her great character, as with Cinncinatus and Mandela, allowed her to step up and be counted, to realise that no matter how hard it seemed that she needed to grasp the moment. Many will argue whether this fearlessness, this strong moral intergrity, is caught or taught, or is indeed from nature or nurture. However more important is a realisation that when these life-changing moments arise, you cannot allow fear and uncertainty to diverge you from the path which you know is right.

The Pinoy was worth dying for. The Pinoy was worth overcoming one's fear for.

Cory Aquino lives in my heart.