Dangerous Older Drivers: A Car is a Lethal Weapon

“She only drives to the store”.

“He doesn’t drive at night, he just drives to the doctor and to church”.

Imagine the justifications people can invent to allow dangerous aging parents to stay behind the wheel. These are statements from family members whose elder is no longer safe to drive, but they’re still driving.  No one has the guts to ask Dad or Mom to stop.   Since most accidents happen within 3 miles of home, the “only to church” or “only to the store” is not safer than anywhere else.

The National Safety Council publishes a journal called Family Safety and Health, and in its Fall, 2012 issue, an article, “Time to Hand Over the Keys” appears.  I was interviewed for the article.  As a former personal injury lawyer, I represented hundreds of victims of car accidents, some caused by older drivers who never should have been on the road.  That dangerous driver could be your dad, your grandma or your aunt.  The next generation needs to see the problem and face the fear about confronting it.

Research indicates that most people, when approached respectfully, will voluntarily give up driving.  However, “ most people” does not include the very stubborn, those in denial, and those elders with the kind of cognitive impairment that prevents them from actually understanding how impaired they are.  With those folks, their families desperately need a strategy.

Here’s a sampling of parts from the strategy I advocate that you use.

First, recognize the problem.  A car is a lethal weapon whether your elder is driving it a block from home or across the city.  It is not a safer weapon because your elder is closer to home.  That’s a fanatasy. Give it up. I met an 84 year old who was behind the wheel when he accidentally hit and killed his best friend in the driveway of his own apartment building.

Next, be honest and respectful and talk to your aging loved one about his or her driving. If you’ve see grandma careen across the street cutting off other cars, unaware of their presence, it’s time to gently ask her to give up the keys.  Try a one-on -one conversation first.

Next, add allies to your approach if the one-on-one is not successful.  Bring in a trusted friend, other family, or anyone Dad likes best.  Bring up the subject kindly and with acknowledgement that giving up driving is huge and that it means losing independence.  Use an outside professional if this doesn’t work.

Make alternative transportation arrangements.  If your elder lives in an urban area, many resources may be available for elders, from community vans to carpools from senior centers.  Beware of putting cognitively impaired elders on buses. They may be confused and get lost.  Rural dwellers must usually rely on family and friends to transport them.  The burden on adult children may stop them from facing the issue of a parent’s dangerous driving.

If the elder is too dangerous to continue driving, get rid of the car if you can.  Sometimes a caregiver can do the driving and the aging person keeps the car. If there is no caregiver or someone else’s car is used to transport, the elder’s car is a sad reminder and a temptation you don’t want kept in the driveway.  It’s too easy for Dad to get a duplicate set of keys made.

Use the law as a last resort.  The primary care doctor may be of help if willing to report the danger or need for retesting to the department of motor vehicles.  Some states allow you to report a dangerous driver and ask for license retesting anonymously.  The courts can be used to protect elders who are a danger to themselves or others. Guardianship can be used in extreme cases to give family permission to take the car away.

Some older drivers are fine, like my mother in law, Alice, 90.  She limits her driving to daytime. She is still quite sharp, has a great memory and sense of direction and pays attention to what is on the road.  I wouldn’t classify her as dangerous, but she’s in the minority at her age.

Asking an aging loved one to give up driving takes courage. It can draw extreme resistance, anger and refusal.  Facing that possibility requires a plan and perhaps a family conference before approaching a particularly difficult elder.  I urge you to find your courage if your elder is scaring you when he or she gets behind the wheel.  Sometimes elders know it’s time and will give up driving willingly when asked.  You might be lucky.  In any event, it’s time to take your chances if this article reminds you of anyone close to you.


By Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes Contributor

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Soros makes Forbes Top 10 rich list

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SINGAPORE: Microsoft founder Bill Gates has retained his top spot on the Forbes 2011 ranking of the richest people in America with US$59bil.

The number two spot went to Warren Buffett with US$39bil and Larry Ellison (No. 3) with US$33bil.

George Soros (pic), in seventh spot, joins the Top 10 for the first time, with US$22bil, and is one of the 27 hedge fund managers – 7% of the Forbes 400 – featured in Hedged Fortunes.

George Soros

This year, entrepreneurs dominate the ranks, comprising an all-time high of 70% of the Forbes 400 members.

Enthusiasm for popular brands, like Starbucks and Forever 21, has helped boost some fortunes, while the spread of social media has sparked others.

The combined wealth of America’s richest is US$1.5 trillion, with an average net worth of US$3.8bil, reflecting a 12% uptick from 2010.

Wealth was up for 262 members of this year’s list, while 72 members saw a decline.



The Forbes 400 welcomed 18 new members in 2011 (Fresh faces), including Sean Parker (No. 200) who rocked the music industry with Napster and helped build Facebook (agent of disruption), John Henry (No. 375), majority owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, Jeffrey Skoll (No. 139) whose Participant Media’s most recent release, “The Help”, has grossed nearly US$143mil to date and Forever 21’s Jin Sook & Do Won Chang (No. 88).

Every member of the Top 20 gained wealth this year, with the exception of Buffett, down US$6bil from 2010, the largest dollar amount loss of any 400 member.

The year’s biggest dollar gainer is Mark Zuckerberg (No. 14), who cracked the Top 20 with a gain of US$10.6bil.

Among the 42 women on the list are media mogul Oprah Winfrey (No. 139) newcomer Gayle Cook (No. 96) and Meg Whitman (No. 331). – Bernama

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Up Close and Personal with Steve Forbes

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By TEE LIN SAY and JOHN LOH starbiz@thestar.com.my

BORN: July 18, 1947
MARITAL STATUS: Married with 5 daughters.
Just celebrated his 40 th anniversary
HIGHEST QUALIFICATION: B.A in History from
Princet on in 1970
CAREER: Editor-In-chief of Forbes media,
president and CEO of Forbes Inc
FAVOURITE FOOD: Lamb chop, french fries
and cheese burgers. All the things that are bad!
FAVOURITE PLACE: Bicycle riding and
collecting letters and original manuscripts from
Winston Churchill, among others.
RELIGION: Presbyterian
POLITICAL PARTY: Republican

STEVE Forbes probably knows of the familiar Chinese saying that wealth does not pass three generations. Whether he believes it or not, given the onslaught traditional media have been facing in recent years, one wonders if that ominous saying has more than a tinge of truth to it.

He has grounds to be worried, though. The Forbes family business is now into its third generation. The publishing business was started by B.C. Forbes who then handed it over to his son Malcom Forbes and is currently under the stewardship of Steve Forbes.

Judging by the statistics, Forbes is taking on the proverb head on.

The company's flagship publication, Forbes, is the United States' leading business magazine with a circulation of more than 900,000. Forbes, Forbes Asia and the company's licensee editions together reach a worldwide audience of more than six million readers. The circulation of Forbes' international editions is 590,500.

“The tools have changed tremendously because of the Web. However, the purpose remains the same. We were the early embracers of the Web, and we did not confuse purpose and method. That is why in the United States there is no magazine that has done as well as ours on the Web,” said Forbes.

“It is because of this that we are able to put out more content. Ninety-eight per cent of our content doesn't appear in our magazine. Our early embrace of the Web has resulted in us having 20 million unique visitors a month and the number is growing in terms of usage. Our affiliated sites receive five million to six million visitors,” says Forbes.



Apart from having its own staff of journalists, Forbes also has 800 contributors for its website chosen by its channel contributors.

“No one is doing it on a scale as we are. The bottom line is, we believe the entrepreneurial class is growing around the world. That's what people want to know. The Web has enabled us to do things with more versatility and flexibility,” says Forbes.

On Money

Though born into money in Morristown, New Jersey, Forbes displayed from an early age that ink did run through his veins as he showed an aptitude to run a publishing business.

Graduated cum laude in 1966 from Brooks School, Massachusetts, Forbes, while studying at Princeton, founded his first magazine, Business Today, with two other students. Business Today is currently the largest student-run magazine in the world.

When asked what he loves more journalism or business and investing Forbes simply says he loves both but is quick to note that money is not everything.

“It is an effort for reward. It is a means of doing transactions. It is a facilitator and gives us the ability to invest for the future. Money puts things in a proper perspective,” he muses.

His first memory of money was as a small boy who never had enough allowance for toys and candies. Forbes had to complete his chores to earn money.

Image via Wikipedia

“So, my effort for reward was established at a fairly young age. To get money, you have to meet the needs and wants of other people. Sometimes you have to give them things they didn't know they wanted. The key thing is creativity. Money doesn't just come to you,” he says.

He believes, though, that people have to invest. That is key.

“If you look around the world today, there are great equity opportunities. It is precisely in terrible times like these that you can get enormous bargains.”

He adds that the time to get into the market is when everyone is getting out. “You do it when the clouds and storms are there. When the storm is gone, everyone will see what you saw,” says Forbes.

He cites the period between the late 1970s and the early 1980s when the global economy was in a troubled state. It started to sputter and then recovered in the late eighties. Between the 1990s and and the early part of the 21st century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had grown 15-fold.

“The wealth of the world has increased. We've had great advances in technology and what's holding us back is the convulsions and distortions in the US dollar. I think when we get a new president, that will change. If we can get through the next one-and-a-half years, I think reforms will be made and better times are coming,” he said.

On Europe's debt problems, Forbes says Europe's woes will persist in the short term especially if the Europeans continue with their “incompetencies in handling the crisis”.

“Europe should be doing what we did in the United States in 2008. They should be having their own Troubled Asset Relieve Programme. If necessary, pump capital into banks. That is why they bail out countries like Greece, not because Greece is important, but because their banks are holding Greek papers and bonds. Hence, Europe has to focus on shoring up its capital,” he said.

He believes though that the axe would have to fall on some of Europe's banks and that Europe needs to have a programme where it does not let the good banks go down with the bad.

“Europe has to restructure its debts, instead of pretending Greece can pay those loans. They cannot. Restructure the debts. Don't just focus on austerity. You also focus on growth to make sure the economy grows again. Greece is now increasing taxes, which is the dumbest thing you could do. They should reform tax code, put in the flat tax. They should also make it easier to set up businesses in Greece,” he argues.

Principles in life

Forbes says an important thing in life is to have an ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, and he has three “F” principles faith, family and friends to maintain an everyday balance.

“The best thing was to have parents who already owned a successful business. My father used to say that nepotism doesn't matter as long as you keep it within the family!” Forbes says with a laugh.

“In my workplace, I am blessed to be in an area where I have always wanted to be in. It must be in the genes. When I was in school, I turned out newsheets for my classmates. I also graded my teachers. I thought, if they can give me grades, why can't I grade them too? That only lasted once!” he jokes.

Forbes likes riding his bicycle and has done trips to various parts of the world with groups of people. He likes London, Paris and various places in Italy. In Asia, he likes the coastal cities in China and some in the interior as he can feel the growth and energy there. He is amazed by what Singapore has done.

His hobbies include collecting old letters and manuscripts of noteworthy individuals Sir Winston Churchill and the writings of obscure British writer John Goldsworthy.

For young entrepreneurs, Forbes has one advice: focus on value adding. The focus should be on providing something people want, or did not know they wanted before.

“You can find it even in the most common areas. Take Starbucks coffee, for instance. Everyone drinks coffee. Anyone can make it and grow it. They still serve it for free on the airlines and yet, how did Starbucks do so well? They did it differently, serving up the Viennese coffee experience,” explains Forbes.

On his political ideologies

Forbes has no qualms voicing his disapproval of US President Barack Obama. Forbes would like to see a new president who can deliver true economic growth and a stable dollar. He says the problem of the weak dollar, which started under George W. Bush, was compounded by Obama.

“We should be in a recovery by now, but instead we are like an automobile going at 10km per hour. We should be going at 120kph,” says Forbes.

Some of Obama's measures that he doesn't agree with include the binge spending and the healthcare bill.

“The healthcare bill is a disaster, which will be repealed in 2013 when the new president comes in. Obama's massive regulations are crushing the banks. And his regulations on energy he is very anti-coal, very anti everything except for windmills, which is a very medieval technology. He has not reformed the tax codes and wants to raise taxes,” says Forbes.

On Obama's recent job stimulus package, Forbes says this is spending money the United States does not have.

“Governments do not create jobs. Entrepreneurs do. He does not understand that,” says Forbes.

For his pick for president, Forbes is leaning towards Republican Governor Rick Perry. He likes Perry's record as Governor of Texas and his success in creating jobs.

“He did not raise taxes, kept the budget under control and has also put in reforms,” says Forbes.

In 1996 and 2000, Forbes campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the presidency.

On why he ran twice as a presidential candidate, Forbes felt there was a vacuum in the field of candidates as more opportunities should be given the people. And his experience from that? “Its more fun to win than to lose!”

Over the next five to 10 years, Forbes hopes to be doing more of what he is doing today, which is trying to influence positive policies to enable his country and the world to grow.

What Is the Chinese Dream?

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What Is the Chinese Dream? -- Part II 

Helen H. WangContributor

Helen Wang is a consultant, and the author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You. Originally from China, Wang has lived in the U. S. for over twenty years. After finishing her masters degree at Stanford University, she joined a think tank in California, where she consulted for Fortune 500 companies including Apple Computer, Oracle, and Bank of America. Wang then became an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley Internet start-ups. In 2004, she returned to Stanford University as a Reuters Fellow, developing technology solutions for under-served communities. A sought-after speaker, Wang currently divides her time between consulting for companies doing business in China and helping non-profit organizations make a difference.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

A few months back, I wrote an article “What Is the Chinese Dream” here. In that article, I recounted an incident in which someone asked me: “tell me in one sentence or two, what is the Chinese dream?” I stuttered, and then said, “This is a simple question, but there are no simple answers.”

Since then, I have been thinking about this question, “what is the Chinese Dream?” I feel a little foolish that, having written a book titled The Chinese Dream, I still cannot articulate what the Chinese dream is.

When I speak to an American audience, I often say “the Chinese Dream is like the American Dream” (and this has even offended some of my Chinese compatriots). Yes, the Chinese middle class wants what Americans have – owning a big house, driving a luxurious car, and living a comfortable life.

But many would argue with me that that is not the essence of the American Dream.

Wikipedia defines the American Dream as “a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success.” American historian James Truslow Adam coined the term “the American Dream” as “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

My version of the American Dream, which I hope many would agree with, is:  regardless of one’s background, with determination and hard work, one can achieve whatever one aspires to in life.

In order for such a dream to thrive, it needs a system that encourages entrepreneurship, creativity, and diversity. That system must also guarantee equal opportunities, freedom, and rule of law.



During my trip to China in June, I asked Chinese audiences what they thought the Chinese dream was. No one, not a single person, could answer the question. To put it bluntly, China doesn’t have the Chinese dream. Or, there is no “Chinese Dream” that defines China the same way that the American Dream defines America.

This is a serious problem for China. It is like a person without soul, a computer without an operating system, and a ship without a navigator.

In Beijing, a young woman challenged me: “Why do we need a dream?” she asked. True. The Chinese are pragmatic people. Good health, good fortune, and good family are all they need – fair enough.

In writing my book The Chinese Dream, I spoke to over one hundred people in China. They are from all walks of life – entrepreneurs, office workers, rural migrants, and so on.  About half of them said they didn’t have dreams, didn’t bother to dream, or there was no use to dream because dreams and reality are too far apart.

Without dreams, one will lose the source of inspiration and imagination. It is dreams that drive upward mobility, that allow us to see beyond our limitations and achieve what seems impossible.

When I left China 20 years ago, there was no Chinese dream. I had to leave my country and come to America in order to pursue my dreams of a better future. Today, many young people in China can start businesses and they have a lot more opportunities. But many of them still want to come to America. There is still no Chinese dream.

Recently, more and more Chinese middle class families have emigrated to the United States. They saved up enough cash, sent their children to American universities, and bought properties in the States and settled down here.

One might ask “why?” Today, China seems to have all the opportunities while the United States seems to have all the troubles. Yet, the promise of the American Dream is still attracting people from around the world.

What is the Chinese Dream? This question is not only important to China, but also to the rest of the world. Today, China is the second largest economy in the world, a major economic power. What does China stand for, what will China become? People around the world are watching and speculating.

I believe part of the reason that people in the West fear China is that they are not certain whether China will be a benign power or an evil power because they don’t know what the Chinese Dream is.

The United States as a superpower has done many wrong things and bad things in the world. But people around the world in general know what the U. S. stands for. Some people may disagree or resent U.S. foreign policies, but few people see the U. S. as an evil power.

It is time for China to define a new dream. The real Chinese dream has to come from the Chinese people – something that reflects the fundamental values of who they are and what they represent.  It will probably require some deep soul searching of an entire generation or even several generations of the Chinese people to identify the true Chinese dream.

Now my book The Chinese Dream is being published in China. It is my hope that it will not only serve as a bridge between China and the West, but also start an important conversation about the Chinese Dream.
What do you think? Please add your version of the Chinese Dream in the comments area.

 What Is the Chinese Dream? -- Part I

In an event in Silicon Valley, someone asked me: “In one sentence or two, would you tell me what is the Chinese dream?” (as he learned I wrote a book called The Chinese Dream).

A simple question, but no simple answers.

When I left China 20 years ago, there was no Chinese dream. I had to leave my country and come to America to pursue my dream of a better future. But today, many young people in China can start their own business and have a lot more opportunities. Even many of my American friends are going to China because of the tremendous opportunities presented there.

As a Chinese magazine editor told me bluntly, “The Chinese Dream is a copy of the American Dream.”

Many middle class Chinese are influenced by the American way of life. They are bombarded by many material temptations and proliferating choices. TV commercials, the Internet, and Hollywood movies give them a rosy picture of the American middle class.

One Chinese blog described it this way: “American middle class people live in a villa with a two-car garage in the suburbs. In front of the house, there is a green lawn. They have 2-3 children, and a dog. The husband goes out to work, and the wife stays at home taking care of the children. On weekends, they drive their SUVs to the countryside for barbecues and camping.”

That is the picture in most Chinese people’s minds of “the American Dream”— owning a big house, driving a nice car, and having a comfortable life. The Chinese middle class wants it all.

In my book The Chinese Dream, I discuss a wide variety of topics related to a rising Chinese middle class and explore the implications in economics, the environment, culture, and politics. For people who do not have time to read the book, here is a peek:

 he Chinese Dream is organized in two parts. Part One, “The Making of the Middle Class,” reviews the dramatic changes over the past fifteen years in China that gave birth to the new breed of Chinese middle class that is still emerging.
 
The Introduction, A Five-Thousand-Year Dream, provides an overview of the Chinese middle class and presents the main theme of the book—that the rise of a large Chinese middle class will be a complementary and balancing force in the global community and benefit the world as a whole.

Chapter 1, A Peculiar Private Sector, explores a topic that mystifies many people in the West: how capitalism and communism, two mutually exclusive systems, can exist side by side in China. Through profiles of a state-created bourgeoisie and a communist entrepreneur who wears Playboy shoes and invests in the capitalist stock market, among others, I show how China’s not-so-private sector operates. In reflecting on this complexity of Chinese society, I discuss the differences between Eastern and Western ways of thinking and how they, although seemingly contradictory, can be complementary to each other.

Chapter 2, Collective Identity Crises, looks at the impact of globalization on the urban Chinese middle class, known as “white collars.” Among them are a recruiter who gave up her dream to be a reporter, a gay son of former Red Guards, a blogger who drinks Starbucks coffee and studies American business icons, young entrepreneurs who are becoming increasingly westernized, consuming as fast as the money pours in, and many more. Their stories are a microcosm of modern China, full of the contrast of past and present, the conflict of old and new, and collision of East and West.

Another major factor in the growth of the Chinese middle class is the country’s unprecedented urbanization. Chapter 3, The Greatest Migration, features rural migrants who pulled themselves up out of poverty, examines the reasons for this great migration, and discusses potential obstacles—such as China’s rigid household registration and educational systems—to the Chinese middle class’s ability to move up. In this chapter, I also debunk the myth of China’s manufacturing power and challenge people in the West to see beyond our own immediate interests and view China as an opportunity, rather than a threat.

Part Two, “Complexities and Challenges,” discusses the impact of the Chinese middle class on Chinese society, the United States and the rest of the world, how it will change the dynamics of the planet we live in, and why it can lead to a safer and stronger world.

Chapter 4, An New Economic Engine, explores the economic implications of a large Chinese middle class, both for China and for the world. A burgeoning middle class, calculated to reach 600 to 800 million within the next fifteen years, is jumping aboard the consumerism train and riding it for all it’s worth—a reality that may provide the answer to America’s economic woes. The chapter presents ways Western companies can capitalize on China’s enormous consumer market, and argues that the Chinese middle class will be an alternative growth engine for the global economy. As counterpoint to this argument, I deconstruct the myth of China as a superpower.

Although a large Chinese middle class offers significant benefits for the world economy, it will also pose serious challenges to the environment and global warming. Chapter 5, Environmental Megachallenge, showcases China‘s widespread pollution and looks at both the challenges and opportunities presented by this environmental crisis—problems that the U. S. can help solve. The chapter discusses both the bottom-up environmental movement in the West and the top-down governmental approach in China and presents a case for mutual learning and collaboration.
 
Twenty plus years after Tiananmen Square, will a growing Chinese middle class push for more democracy? In Chapter 6, Democracy or Not Democracy, That Is the Question, I review China’s troubled history of democratic pursuit and interview a former Tiananmen Square demonstrator, an editor for one of China’s outspoken magazines, and other intellectuals and entrepreneurs. The chapter discusses the relationship between the Chinese middle class and the government, and explores the possibility of a democratic China.

China is leapfrogging into the information age. Chapter 7 , Looking at the World Upside Down, tells the story of a Chinese Internet entrepreneur who started an e-commerce company that defeated eBay in China. This chapter documents why some companies fail while others thrive in the Chinese market, and illustrates important lessons that multinationals cannot afford to ignore when seeking to do business in China.

China is experiencing a surge in religious beliefs as the country continues to undergo rapid and profound changes. Chapter 8, Unquenchable Search for Meaning, recounts stories of people’s search for spirituality and their desire to find meaning in life: a jewelry store saleswoman wavering over believing in God, a public relations manager shopping from religion to religion, an entrepreneur who converted to Christianity but is still in doubt, and others. The chapter delves into the government’s attitude towards religion and the middle class’s quest for balance between material and spiritual enrichment.

The book’s Conclusion, From the Chinese Dream to One World One Dream, asserts that middle class Chinese and Westerners are connected by a common set of core values and share many of the same aspirations and dreams. By accepting our interdependence and seeking to learn from each other, we will all benefit. The Chinese middle class is an emerging global force that can serve as a catalyst for a more balanced world for all.

Interspersed throughout are my personal stories and life-changing experiences—my childhood in China, my arrival in the United States, and my visits back to China over the years.

If you have a better definition of the Chinese Dream, please let me know.
(Helen Wang is the author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World’s Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You. Available on Amazon and http://TheChineseDreamBook.com)

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Making a Chinese dream come true

Rage of the youth is growing !

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By Pankaj Mishra, Guardian News & Media Ltd

Even in the West there is little chance of stable jobs or affordable education. A secure and dignified life seems even more remote for most. Across the world, the rage will grow.

Image Credit: AP

• Supporters of Anna Hazare wave Indian flags and shout slogans during 12th day of Hazare's fast against corruption in New Delhi on Saturday.

In India, tens of thousands of middle-class people respond to a quasi-Gandhian activist's call for a second freedom struggle — this time, against the country's venal "brown masters", as one protester told the Wall Street Journal. Middle-class Israelis demanding "social justice" turn out for their country's first major demonstrations in years. In China, the state broadcaster CCTV unprecedentedly joins millions of cyber-critics in blaming a government that placed wealth creation above social welfare for the fatal high-speed train crash last month.

Add to this the uprisings against kleptocracies in Egypt and Tunisia, the street protests in Greece and Spain, and you are looking at a fresh political awakening. The grievances may be diversely phrased, but public anger derives from the same source: extreme and seemingly insurmountable inequality.

As Forbes magazine, that well-known socialist tool, describes it, protesters everywhere are driven by "the conviction that the power structure, corporate and government, work together to screw the broad middle class" (and the working class too, whose distress is not usually examined in Forbes).

For years now, the mantra of ‘econ-omic growth' justified government interventions on behalf of big business and investors with generous tax breaks (and, in the West, the rescue of criminally reckless speculators with massive bailouts). The fact that a few people get very rich while the majority remains poor seemed of little importance as long as the GDP figures looked impressive.



In heavily populated countries like India, even a small number of people moving into the middle class made for an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Helped by a ‘patriotic' corporate media, you could easily ignore the bad news — the suicides, for instance, of hundreds of thousands of farmers. However, the illusions of globalisation shattered when even its putative beneficiaries — the educated and aspiring classes — began to hurt from high inflation, decreasing access to education and other opportunities for upward mobility.

False promises

Economic growth is no defence against the frustration of the semi-empowered. The economies of both India and Israel have recorded dramatic growth in recent years. But inequality has also grown spectacularly. The Financial Times, which recently compared India's oligarchic business families to Russia's mafia-capitalists, pointed out two weeks ago that "the 10 largest business families in Israel own about 30 per cent of the stock market value" while one quarter of Israeli families live below the poverty line.

Last month the Indian supreme court blamed increasing social violence in the country on the "false promises of ever-increasing spirals of consumption leading to economic growth that will lift everyone".

Obviously it is not the supreme court's remit to define India's economic policies. Nor should Anna Hazare be entrusted with establishing the office of an anti-corruption ombudsman, a mission that amounts to nothing in a country littered with compromised and impotent institutions.

Still, they respond, however incoherently, to a crisis of legitimacy afflicting their country's highest institutions, and their supposed watchdog, the media.

In the last decade, billionaires, ‘billionaire-friendly' legislators and CEO-worshipping journalists have together constituted what the political economist Ha Joon Chang calls a "powerful propaganda machine, a financial-intellectual complex backed by money and power".

Nevertheless, the real facts about ‘economic growth' are getting through to those most vulnerable to it in both the east and the west: the young.

Denouncing "the corruption among politicians, businessmen and bankers" that leaves "us helpless, without a voice", the manifesto of the Spanish indignados could have been authored by the Indian supporters of Hazare.

Even as they export jobs and capital to Asia, economic globalisers in the West continue to preach the importance of upgrading skills at home. Yet the dead-end of globalisation looms clearly before Europe and America's youth: little chance of stable employment, or even affordable education.

The violence in European cities this year comes at the end of a long cycle of steady socio-economic growth. In postcolonial India and China this cycle had barely begun before it began to splutter. A secure and dignified life seems even more remote for most.

Worried by the prospect of social unrest, China's leaders frankly describe their nation's apparently booming economy as "unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable".

The Chinese philosopher Zhang Junmai once wrote that an agrarian country has few ‘material demands' and can exist over a long period of time with ‘poverty but equality, scarcity but peace'. Returning to an austere age of wisely managed expectations is no longer possible — even if it was desirable. It remains to be seen what political forms this summer's unrest will take. But there is no doubt that many more people across a wide swathe of the world will awaken with rage to what Zhang warned against: "A condition of prosperity without equality, wealth without peace."

Pankaj Mishra's new book The Revenge of the East will be published next year