>From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Old & Decisively Repudiated Ideas Recycled Anew >Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 15:04:06 EDT > >The multiplicative nature of the current programmed fanatic virus feeds from >the manifestly manipulative tutelage of a host organism, which is stationed, >of course, in Churchill's Town. This is not stuff lifted from a futuristic >sci-fi flick or bestselling nevel; but a basic scientific truth. I once used >to entertain the fantasy that caricaturing the earnest emptiness of the >so-called PDOIS/Foroyaa 'enligthenment' would help disarm its potentialities >of turning young and old minds alike into unthinking robotic members of >society. Seems with programmed fanatics, it will always be back to the >drawing board. Whenever their popular myths have been decisively repudiated, >and like the obstinacy of one those multiplicative viroids, more of such >popular myths doggedly re-surface to take their places. Sometimes it can be >plain frustrating. I'm not all alone in waxing perplex over the stubborn >streak of bad ideas not to die forever and or never to re-emerge in the >mainstream again. Paul Krugman knows all about it. Let him explain the >frustration: > >"An experienced and therefore cynical government economist once described to >me his vision of his job. "It's mostly a matter of getting rid of bad ideas," >he explained, " but it's like flushing coachroaches down a toilet - sooner or >later they just come back." The role of the economist who cares about policy >can be dispiriting: one may spend years devising sophisticated theories or >carefully testing ideas against evidence, then find that politicians turn >again to ideas that you thought had been discredited decades or centuries >ago, or make statements that are flatly contradicted by the facts." > >The current spate of the outbreak of the programmed fanatic virus affirms >just what Krugman's government economist told him. Just when we thought that >decisively repudiated economics like State contrived agricultural >collectivisation is dead and buried, programmed fanatics are busy and >doggedly marketing the idea anew. And, be it noted, most of the economic >nonsense now being recycled anew has been dealt with comprehensively in an >earlier essay on PDOIS' economic agenda; and one would assume then that they >would at least have the decency to go back to the drawing board again to >reformulate and rethink policy. Rather, the party unabashedly brought to the >fore again the same economic nonsense i have earlier debunked effectively. >For the purposes of clarity, let us revisit the central plank or thrust of >PDOIS' economic agenda. According to them, they are committed to enhancing >personal income through the agricultural economics of cooperative societies >like the ones you find in Bakau where women have their horticultural gardens. >Well, that is it. I'm all ears. > >Now, for economic simpletons - as most programmed fanatics are anyway - and >unreconstructed leftists, this is the magic formula for that idyllic >egalitarian paradise leftists hanker for. But for sophisticated folks, the >equation that purports to undergird this policy thrust doesn't simpy add up. >Let us take for instance the feasibility of anchoring a party's main economic >drive on such rural or agricultural economics. As i pointed out before, such >an economic calculation rests on the presupposition that demographically the >Gambia is ruralising and have arable land in plenitude to accomodate the >demands of such a policy thrust. Yet, the reality is the reverse. Stuff is: >according most development economists, in a decade or so, demographically, >the Gambia would be a full-blown urbanised society. The realisation that the >Gambia is on the brink of full-blown urbanity demands a rethink of policy >thrust and or application vis-a-vis factoring to what extent should policy >reflect and accomodate this reality. Such a realisation, would then follow a >very familiar and orthodox course in economic thinking: that of properly >meted out industrial policies and a liberal macro-economic framework that >can ably accomodate the Gambia's new socio-economic realities. > >But PDOIS would have none of it. Instead, they are ready to wager the >Gambia's economic future to tested and failed State contrived >collectivisation that even Lenin and Stalin in their infinite lunacy wouldn't >dare impose on Russians in this day and age. Perhaps, PDOIS takes its cue >from the stubborn-ness of the North Korean dictatorship to continue with the >same economic nonsense that continues to register zero economic growth and >abject poverty for the masses they have literally forced against their wills >into these State contrived cooperative societies. Which brings me to a >question i've always asked myself since i realised the absurdity of PDOIS' >economic thinking: which trained economist helps formulate the party's >economic policy? Which professional economist with the appropriate >credentials does policy thinking for them? I certainly don't know of any >professional Gambian economist that is part of the PDOIS elites. On the >contrary, what we have is mainly a trio assemblage of a sociologist, a >linguist and a physics teacher. Physics + Sociology + Linguistics = Good >Economics? I don't think so. Perhaps, as one irrational programmed fanatic >frantically intimated - in defense of the party's economic thinking - their >training in the field of economics is as a result of torturous and late night >seminars at the party's Churchill's Town HQ dissecting Karl Marx' Das >Kapital. All the more reason for responsible folks to shun the party and it's >repudiated ideas. > >A palatable, well-measured and liberal economic alternative is on offer. The >Alliance headed by Mr Darbo presents a policy thrust that in all essence >represents a macro-economic framework that factors greatly the current >socio-economic realities of the Gambia. More to the point, instead of the >Alliance relying on a group of jacks-of-all-trades-but-masters-of-none, the >Alliance brims to the top with the creme de la creme of Gambian technocracy. >From the fiscal and financial wizardry of Amadou Sanneh to Yaya Jallow's >agricultural credentials to Amadou Taal and Ebou Manneh's capable and >experienced hands in public policy and administration. Here, i'm not talking >about technocrats who just opened a Frank Wood textbook in Accounting and a >fortnight later declared themselves accountants. I'm talking of people with >both the academic training and the appropriate experience to demonstrate >prowess in their fields of speciality. Clearly, with such a vast assemblage >of talent and experience to pick an able and just administration from, >Gambians are better off voting for Mr Darbo and the Alliance - come October >18th. It is the surest way Gambians can start the difficult but rewarding >Odyssey - with Mr Darbo and the Alliance - of reclaiming their country again >after it has been reduced to a tragic wreckage by Jammeh and the APRC. > >Hamjatta Kanteh > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] >if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. >----------------------------------------------------------------------------