Economy

There's been a lot of hype about how social media has affected Egypt and other countries in the Middle East. My stance has and continues to be that social media has played a part - an immeasurable part - of what is going on in Egypt. But there's something new I'll toss into the mix.

Having just read The hidden roots of Egypt's despair, as well as a dash of common sense, it is apparent that economic motive would play a greater role. Twitter and Facebook play a small part in the grand scheme of feeding the hungry, despite the loud voices of those who would say otherwise. And yet, kicking and screaming, it comes back to social media again.

I offer that social media has affected the economy of Egypt as speculation via Facebook and Twitter - the very same messages, perhaps, that some see as positive for the case for social media in Egypt - and by all these messages coming out of Egypt, the economic speculation has kept pace. "Oh no", you say, "That cannot be so!"

And yet social media gives a heat map of where interests are, of where volatility is... and it's no secret that social media is an input to financial speculation.

Social media can't just take credit for the good stuff. It has to take the blame for the bad stuff, too. To think otherwise would be unrealistic.

And the good news? Maybe it will all balance out, maybe even have a slightly more positive effect.

It strikes me as funny that the U.S. auto industry got a bailout while we're trying to attain better mileage for vehicles and create more jobs. Selling more cars to people who have less money seems counterintuitive.

I'm not saying it's stupid, ignorant or idiotic. Just counterintuitive.

Anyone can see that the majority of cars in the United States - in fact, the world - are used vehicles. Old cars. Somewhere, someone has some statistics that provide hard facts on this - but the average person can just go outside and look. Most cars on the road are not new.

Wouldn't it make sense to retrofit used cars with better parts to keep them running (1) longer, (2) more economically and (3) with less impact on the environment?

I'm not saying that I know how to do it - I don't - but it seems at a very meta level, companies could be making money making older vehicles more efficient. More reliable. Etc.

And in the interim, couldn't auto companies do the same with the newer cars - perhaps even following open standards with the onboard computers so it costs less for them to be diagnosed and repaired?

Sure. You will always sell less new cars. But it's like computer printers and computer printer cartridges. No, bad model, those printer cartridges are a ripoff... but I'm sure that idea will catch the attention of someone out there.

In demonstrating Trinidad and Tobago politics with Ernie and Bert, I came across another YouTube Video that explains much of how the global economy has worked during my lifetime:

When I read this (hat tip to Michael Maranda), I immediately thought of the video of Sarah Silverman's ambitious plan for feeding the world:

Truth be told, if all religious institutions sold their most prized property there would probably be no hunger - for a while. Even so, there is some irony in that religions themselves typically have a lot of capital hidden away somewhere in the crockery. But so do a lot of other people.

Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story is something I still haven't seen - it's not even released on DVD as I write this - but the concept of replacing capitalism with democracy seems a bit peculiar to me. Even so, it has some allure because we all know that something is wrong.