Branch

Awakening? Its all relative I think. I am beginning to think that I have lived two different lives till now. They are both quite opposite and dramatic. This experience has indeed changed the way I think and influenced my current lifestyle to an extreme degree.

I don't hate much, but one of the foremost on my hate list is the social concrete parameters that has been weaved into our everyday lives. If you try to break it or bend it, you are looked down upon. You are seen as a weird out-of-the-box person who does not fit in these social surroundings. You are degraded and made to feel that you have let down a lot of people. It is dictatorship through a social channel.

While conversing with my mom last night, I came to the realization that she perhaps has expectations of me that I cannot fulfill. She has given me enough space to let me feel and learn from my experiences and make up my own ideologies, but will she succumb to social pressure for other things? I have escaped the narrow life ideologies and would never bend to things like that, ever. I only hope they can understand that I live for my contentedness and not to be socially appropriate.

Why can't we live on our basics? The world has become such a complex place with so many social prohibitions and unwritten guidelines that a lot of people don't really think for themselves and just simply follow the path laid down to them. If you conceive the abnormalities and try to break through them, you are ousted. Is it justified then, keeping in mind the danger of losing civility in our society? Its almost as if the outline for our lives is sketched out and we are supposed to stick to the inside of the lines.






Jim Morrison wrote :

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land

I can't begin to explain how much these lines relate to my life!






I just consider myself very lucky for what I have gone through, all the experiences, to have the capability to understand the change, the impact of the change and the value of it. I will never want to trade this for any different life. I am glad I met the people I did, made the friends I made and made the best friends I made.

Love Love,
Ruch.

I have been interested in reading the massive downturn in the Ca Manufacturing industry for a while now, but only now, after reading about GM have I felt the need to put it in words.

Cars are essentials- almost as essential as clothes these days and it is astounding to see how the financial turmoil has thrown some of the biggest companies in the world into their worst situations. GM has gone into bankruptcy and the Obama Govt. is taking over its management. This raises a lot of questions – starting with what events led it to its bankruptcy? How will the US Govt. control the company while also being a major stakeholder in Chrysler? What will the result of standing on the two opposite fronts of the Carbon emissions issue be? What will their attitude towards using imported parts be? How will the trade policy issues be treated?

The numbers are both shocking and astounding. The important elements involved in the process are as follows –

* The bondholders are to surrender US$ 27.1 b in unsecured debt in exchange for 10% equity in the new GM (also dubbed as Government Motors now – amusing much?),
* the United Automotive Workers’ Union will take over health care obligations of retired workers in return of 17.5 % stake in the new GM,
* 14 plants close down in the US resulting in 21000 work cuts,
* 42% of their dealerships are axed and
* The Canadian government taking a 12% stake.
* Hummer and Saab sold by GM.



The ex CEO of GM claims that the main problems to throw GM over the line not only involved the current financial crisis but also its rather generous health schemes for its employees and the bitter fact that its cars did not hold a lot of popularity in general public. Eventually, adding to those financial complications was the invariability of the doom in the car industry affecting GM adversely. The sales went down drastically – in Australia alone, the new car sales went down by 20.3%. The price of its shares as of Friday stands at US$.75 cents as opposed to US$ 93.62 in 2000.

Obama’s take over is also a very contradicting move breaking the general tendency of the nation’s commitment to private sector, which is only one of the many contradicting situations arising from this. The US government is also a major stakeholder in Chrysler, a competitor. How independent will the management be considering the implication affecting rival companies, especially in these do-or-die circumstances? Obama instigates that this is only a temporary move and that eventually the control will be moved back to private sector. How much damage will be done by then? His government’s management of these potential conflicts will come under a lot of scrutiny. A statement of intent or nominating a person/body vote the shares will not be sufficient and I hope, with the belief that I have in Obama, he will not stop at that. The effect of his government funding reaching the companies outlets overseas is debated upon considering his strict policies on usage of the taxpayers’ money.

This downfall and downsizing will further the unemployment problem in the US. Will it be able to handle all this? Will it worsen the economic crisis? Will Obama actually turn things around or is it an impossibility? Will this affect his favour ratings? To what extent will this affect markets globally? I have a feeling this bankruptcy will end up being another big thorn in a dying rose bush in this season of an extremely dry summer.