[p2p-research] Fwd: online coverage of thai political crisis

[Andy Robinson]

That's my impression too, that Singapore was a particularly rich little bit
of the Malayan colony which went its own way at independence, with the
result that it had a distinct advantage and didn't have to redistribute to
the poorer parts - similar to if Santa Cruz actually managed to break from
Bolivia like they keep trying to.  So it relates to Malaysia or Thailand a
bit the way Monaco relates to Italy or Portugal for instance.  Being a
financial centre gives big advantages, in Singapore this was reinforced by
the outsourcing of multinational manufacturing.  I'd guess that economic
wealth and a small population without a rural hinterland would make buying
off the poorer sections off society rather easier than for more typical
nation-states.

I suggested Mugabe as a comparison to Thaksin because of his rural
support-base linked to land reform and redistribution.  That's also what I
meant mainly by redeeming features - the regime has mobilised certain
popular demands, and done so in a way which actively mobilises its support
base - even standing up to the IMF.  On the other hand it's viciously
repressive of public opposition and has carried out some sweeping crackdowns
and historically, massacres.  I'd guess however that everyday life is less
regulated than in Singapore (it has some of the same laws but less ability
to enforce them), that aside from the crackdowns (which are exceptions) the
regime has limited impact in everyday life, and that people who aren't
critics of the government are as free ideas-wise at least (Bakunin is in the
University of Zimbabwe library).  I also see a lot of public dissent and
rebellion there.  But then, there's the really horrible periodic crackdowns,
and the violent suppression of any kind of public protest.  So Singapore vs
Zimbabwe are two different kinds of evil really, hard to compare.  The
suppression of any and all public protests also seems to happen in Singapore
and Malaysia, but not necessarily in Thailand (or Korea, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Taiwan, Pakistan, etc).  Sharif came to mind because he was
extremely popular in certain quarters (still has a huge support-base and
might win an election if they let him stand), but corrupt, repressive, with
neoliberal tendencies, and ultimately kicked out in a coup for upsetting the
elite.  The social composition might be quite different though, with the
especially extreme social power of the army in Pakistan.

The Chavez phenomenon seems to me genuinely emancipatory in many ways, not
just the usual authoritarian nonsense - there has been a real increase in
self-organisation encouraged by the government.  Admittedly this is almost
unique (a couple of local imitators aside), but there are a lot of regimes
where there's more "people power" than either Singapore or Zimbabwe.  India
for instance seems to have gone further than most in South and Southeast
Asia in avoiding duplicating colonial authoritarianism as well - there's
active social movements, some degree of social tolerance, a lot of informal
"encroaching", effective multi-party systems which have to deliver to their
constituencies, protests are usually permitted and very common - though
there's all the usual problems recurring in kernels here and there, local
bigwigs trying to silence dissent, police misbehaving, suspicious killings,
developmentalist land-grabs and so on; and extreme persecution around the
margins (Kashmir, the Northeast, and in some cases against Muslims and
Maoist sympathisers) - but all of this stuff gets protested and opposed a
lot.  There's periodically really big victories for dissent - the Tata Nano
case and the Gujjar unrest last year for example.  Similarly Korea seems
rather vibrant, the governments are always right-wing but the protest scene
is reminiscent of Greece, numerous, very militant, easily aroused and
generally a force to be reckoned with.  I'd view these as more attractive
options in terms of empowerment.

bw
Andy
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