Business after the tragedy<\/p>\n
Yanuar Nugroho, Director, The Business Watch Indonesia,
\nLecturer, Sahid University, Surakarta, Researcher, Unisosdem Jakarta,
\nyanuar-n@unisosdem.org<\/p>\n
The world is shocked. Bali and Manado, two areas known for
\ntheir calmness and peacefulness, were brutally disrupted by
\ndeadly explosions. Hundreds are dead and badly wounded. Most of
\nthem were overseas tourists -- and a shocked world is now an
\nangry world. Australia sent its humanitarian and military
\nmissions and the United Nations Security Council unanimously
\nenacted a resolution to \"help Indonesia in finding out the
\nresponsible parties in the tragedy\".<\/p>\n
The biggest daily newspaper in Indonesia, Kompas even put up a
\nred sign on its front page, Indonesia in danger for several days
\nafter the sorrowful day. And 50 percent of the 300,000 or so
\npeople here who depend on the tourism sector in Bali face lay-
\noffs and bankruptcy due to the sharp decline in tourism.<\/p>\n
Many parties will inevitably, to varying degrees, take
\nadvantage of the blasts.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 11 tragedy marked an historic moment in the
\npolitical-economic trajectory of the United States in last 30
\nyears. This also applies to Oct. 12 in Bali, one of Asia's
\nsymbols of tourism in the last three decades. And as the fear of
\neconomic protectionism emerged after Sept. 11, such is the case
\nwith the tourism industry, or services, in general.<\/p>\n
This brings us to movements of \"capital\" and \"labor\". In the
\nlast 30 years, it has been the movement of capital that has been
\nthe most dramatic development which has led to the mania of
\neconomic globalization.<\/p>\n
There will certainly be protective measures to guard the
\nsystem from being a financial haven for terrorist groups -- maybe
\nin the form of tougher scrutiny and prevention of money
\nlaundering centers and tourism areas, such as Nauru, Cayman
\nIslands, etc.<\/p>\n
There will be an injection of financial regulations into the
\nglobal financial system. But it is the movement of labor that
\nwill likely be most affected, in the direction of more
\nprotection, largely influencing immigration, education, shipping,
\nair travel, tourism, etc.<\/p>\n
Of course, tourism has been hit hard, not only in Bali and not
\nonly in Indonesia. Isn't this a sign to start seriously thinking
\nabout small-scale tourism rather than relying on the nexus of big
\nfinancial owners?<\/p>\n
For the global capitalists, the mobility of financial capital
\nin the past 20 years is too entrenched to be held back or
\nreversed. First, they are \"profit accumulators on a global scale\"
\nrather than \"patriots\". Second, their profit accumulation so far
\nvery much depends on the free movement of their financial
\nresources.<\/p>\n
The gross domestic production (GDP) of the U.S. and Western
\nEurope very much depends on unhindered movement of their trans-
\nnational corporations (TNCs). True, the U.S. markets are vast,
\nfor it is itself a vast continent.<\/p>\n
But the U.S. has great interest in what it is good at --
\nexporting their brands (Coca Cola, Starbucks, etc), technology
\n(software, management service, etc), and entertainment (films,
\npop music, etc). The repatriation of profits from such exports is
\ncrucial for the GDP and wealth of their rich citizens. Besides,
\nmany of these businesses in the developing countries operate as
\nfranchise industries, which pay high fees to the U.S. patented
\nowners.<\/p>\n
Will the tragedies of the World Trade Center and Bali really
\nlead to enough trauma to end this need for profit accumulation?<\/p>\n
If the U.S. starts pioneering protectionist measures, it still
\nhas to secure the consent of Western Europe. And there is tough
\ncompetition for global economic power between the EU and the U.S.
\nAnd this kind of struggle involves not only governments, but many
\ncompeting TNCs.<\/p>\n
The TNCs of the U.S. and Europe may not be on good terms, and
\nboth simply ask their respective governments to fight the battles
\nfor them. The current case of agricultural products is a telling
\nexample, to the point that both the U.S. and European Union
\ngovernments fuel these battles with high tariffs and huge
\nsubsidies.<\/p>\n
These latter issues angers developing countries most, for
\nagricultural products from these countries can never enter freely
\ninto the U.S. and EU markets (sugar, wheat, corn, coffee, etc.).<\/p>\n
The business downturn after the WTC and Bali tragedies will
\nnot mean a decrease of business power, but the tragic consequence
\nof an unintended logic of power. Likewise the workers, as well as
\nthe guests, at the Sari Club in Bali had never been intended
\nsubjects for the working of such a power based on capital
\nmovement.<\/p>\n
Business may be even more powerful than before; they just need
\nto operate in a more sophisticated manner and rely less on the
\nfree movements of labor -- humans vulnerable to be blown up.
\nGlobalization may then be more of the mobility of financial
\ncapital and less and less of the mobility of labor. With
\ninformation technology, \"remote control\" now serves power,
\nlegitimate or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Indeed, life is a newborn that eats its own umbilical cord.
\nAnd human emotional experiences triggered by these tragedies
\noften drive people to different conclusions, positions and even a
\nleap to the opposite end -- as reflected by various reactions to
\nOct. 12. Humans are very frail and must live in a paradoxical
\nworld.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the measure of intelligence lies not in its ever
\nstronger capacity to invent a consistent, linear logical way of
\nthinking -- but in its ability to accept the complexity and the
\nparadoxes of life. The Bali tragedy has forced us to admit it.
\nOtherwise, we will go nowhere.<\/p>",
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