Boycotts Analysed
Most social movements have to be looked at from a point of view of short and long term. Boycotts are no exception. They become the talk of the town only when emotions run high, but they should be looked at dispassionately including at the business and national aspects.
In the short term, it is obvious that not only the nation, but Malays themselves will suffer. Both business and govt. have been quite cowardly in terms of support for the boycott. They shrug off boycotts as the prerogative of the individual while individuals have criticized govts. (especially those with oil wealth) that have not done enough to use oil as a weapon.. So both sides have their hypocrites and cowards. If the nation is united, not only individuals, but businesses and the govt. itself will participate in the boycott, but there is too much hypocrisy for any such boycott to come about.
If business were to participate, they would have to reject franchises and joint ventures with American businesses and if the govt. were to participate, it would have to reject American investments as well as diplomatic and military ties. But as we well know, they are not about to do these things. This can only be because there are very serious losses that need to be considered if a full blown boycott were to be effected. So both businesses and govt. leave it to the individual to carry the baby while they continue to curry favour by buying American military hardware and Zionist police spyware.
In this sense, the some nons should actually be quite happy to give verbal support to the boycott. If they were to be true to the “survivalist” system of thinking, it would sound something like this… Malays would have to reject joint ventures with Americans. The nons can then quietly pick these up. They can even be assured of a certain level of security that UMNO will have to think many times before stealing their immensely profitable American dealerships or joint ventures. But since they do not do this, they should be praised for some honesty in terms of drawing attention to the economic losses the nation will suffer.
In a sense it is the same thing with the promotion of Bahasa Kebangsaan in schools and national life. In the short term, it is extremely popular and it gives unscrupulous individuals and political parties immense power and popularity. But if it is done too energetically (akin to a boycott of the English language) over the long term and with unacceptable pressure, we will tend to get a few generations of adults who cannot speak the internationally useful language of English properly (or at all for that matter). So now we have a few generations of people who cannot participate in the global economy. Come to think of it, these people cannot even count properly or think scientifically. So the govt. has to back track and use unacceptable pressure to force children to learn Maths and Science in English. Only political cowardice prevents the govt. from re-using English as a medium of instruction in schools.
Over the long term, not doing anything allows the Americans and Zionists to accumulate power and prestige as well as continue to do as they please, including pounding a dirt poor people into the rubble with minimal collateral damage.
Someone likes to use Newton’s Law in social situations, so although it is a great leap in logic, I shall also try to do the same. If there were no resistance to the abuses of the Americans and Zionists, their power will continue to grow. They have already shown a tendency to patent things like Bhasmati rice. If their power continues to grow, they may even try to patent other cereal crops such as soya beans, wheat and maize. Not only that, they may even patent meat and vegetables using DNA technology as an excuse. In the end they may even patent filtered and purified air and water for the whole polluted world (which they did most to pollute BTW). So in the end you have no choice but to buy American in order to eat and breathe just as farmers now have no choice but to use dangerous chemicals, pesticides and artificial fertilizers to grow commercial crops.
To be fair it is not entirely the fault of business and govt. that they suffer cowardice in the boycott of American products and services. The organized and systematic injection of free trade concepts into international laws and even morality has been going on for a long time. Business and commerce is sacrosanct. Making of profits is the ultimate moral good. Anybody who goes against this has to be classified as scions of the devil and pounded into the rubble along with the Palestinians.
Are the people of the world powerless then? Will American and Zionist power grow without resistance?
Frankly I must swallow some excrement and admit our DPM and future PM is right this time. Boycotts are a matter of personal preference. Some people choose status while buying products. Some people choose quality while others choose price. Others still, choose nationalism and buy only their own country’s products when available as the Japanese and Germans are apt to do. Many will choose green eco-friendly products. Isn’t it time to choose resistance and humanity when buying products?
Further more, boycotts do not need unscrupulous NGOs or politicians taking advantage of the free publicity and air time to campaign for boycotts (especially when emotions run high). If boycotts are to be our preference, then it should be built into our moral fibre. Our preferences must be instilled in a long term manner systematically and with great discipline. They should include creation of alternative industries as the greens are apt to do. They should be part of our identity and who we are. They should be part of what we want to be and how we want to live our lives. It should be part of every decision that we make now and in the future. It should be an integral part of our choices a well as part of our fight for social justice as well as our economic life.
NGOs or even business entrepreneurs who want to do some good should take this into account and work long term, systematically and with great discipline.
By batsman
