by Baabar                      June 17, 2010

Just read MP Chuluunbat’s recent interview. He is saying that indeed economy is being torn down, the nation and the country are being totally blown apart by foolish steps, one after another. His connection to the trouble with the law is separate issue, truth of what he is talking about is (entirely) different matter indeed. Actually, there are folks like Bayartsogt, Zorigt and Temuujin who talk sound things, it’s just in them. Unfortunately, it seems that that’s about it, at the moment.  If Parliament is a miniature reflection of all the people (of Mongolia) then, I guess then that our society just went all crazy. It is said that, according to biologists, psychologists and sociologists, if mentally ill share of the specific society is over two percent then that society is considered unhealthy. Well, from my observation, the Parliament shot above this number already quite a while ago.

Khurelbaatar who studied in both socialism and capitalism (societies) and is considered awfully educated among these fellows recently gave an interview.  According to him, the reason why meat prices are rising is that not enough meat was prepared for state meat reserves. Looks like next year there will be piles of it. Every fall meat prices fall, every spring meat prices rise. This is almost a law of nature. In fact, it will remain so in the future. Knowledge of Western alphabet is not required to find out about it. Last fall there was loads of scandals around that live sheep are allowed in through 22nd road post1,their skins are being sold and the meat are being thrown way in the open attracting dogs and the birds. Perhaps, it will happen again this fall. However, the amount of money meat is expressed in tugrugs being far higher than last year is not caused by insufficient meat reserves but related to loads of paper money injected by khurelbaatar and the like into the market without backing of matching goods and services. Bounty of the motherland, ring a bell? In a word, it feels to me that it is better to say that buying power of tugrug has fallen instead of saying that meat prices went up.  Inflation now is already well into the double digits. This is outcome of proverbial sharing the skin of the bear that is not killed and distributing bonanza money called Oyutolgoi in cash to everyone who resembles a human. That’s what’s called “resources curse.” It is not the actual resources , but there is a rule that vast amounts of money that are suddenly generated from them through mouths of decision makers become a poison for the people and tear down the country and the nation. The reason is that a fool cannot spend wisely the money found. Indeed, to find out about that it is necessary to graduate seventh, who knows maybe even eighth grade.

Come to think of it, is it really a Government’s job to determine meat prices? In fact, it is because of state participation that prices are swinging so wildly. I remember that back in 1994, when meat price hit 350 tugrug Government got really anxious, capped max meat price at 350 tugrugs and issued all kinds to decrees and orders. Yet day after meat price became 550 tugrug. Yet at that time meat plant was state property. Bunch of folks were appointed as to make sure of selling for 350 tugrug, investigate and enforce it , it was quite a show, in the end, it came down to corrupted ones ending up with another nice meal. If we are so fond of reserves, why not stock up on milk and vodka that flooded the market as well, actually more profits will be pocketed by corrupted ones.  Hence, if state participation is artificially created with much spectacle and opportunity for quick profit is being searched for, then quite a high education is necessary. Yet socialist system of meat stocking goes on. Fall is spent preparing, winter is spent storing, and spring is spent in selling controlling the price. It‘s been twenty years already since quitting centralized planning, cannot we come up with anything else? Like providing stimulus in this and that way if meat preparers will put for sale meat of livestock that reached certain weight, providing guarantees that if herders will bring over sheep and cattle with live  weight reaching that amount it will be bought straight away for market price.  Perhaps graduating seventh grade and knowing western alphabet by heart might be just not enough to come up with things like that.

“Z” Enkhbold, pride of our Parliament, considered very educated and faultless gentleman, gave an amusing interview lately too. According to him, it is necessary to transport 30 billion tons of coal (some experts believe it is over 100 billion tons) by trucks and create more jobs. He says that if railroad is used then few folks will be employed. Hence, he wants twenty thousand folks to become truck drivers. What a “distinguished gentleman” who creates jobs, is not he? Next proposal would certainly be using shovels instead of excavators. Here you go,another twenty thousand jobs. No, wait, it would be even better if coal is transported by carrying buckets, then there would be tons of jobs, apparently, our  “distinguished gentleman” have not thought of that, did not he.

Actually, this is not a new idea at all. When Mao started leading China he came up with it and tried to make it work. In fact, in order to increase jobs, every family was smelting steel on a tiny furnaces at home. To create jobs, everyone was had killing flies and they were counted, registered and stored away in the morning when coming to work.  A billion folks got jobs by a movement to kill sparrows. When Congress party ruled many years India they objected to using all technological advancements. In order to create jobs, works to be done by using technical equipment were done by bare hands.  It seems that sight of pregnant women unhurriedly carrying bricks on their heads up the ten storey buildings was not a pretty one. After Congress Party were gone from state power, India started revering technological progress and the country just in few years boosted its development and income of its population drastically increased. As a result of focusing more on knowledge based market in order to create more jobs, now it leads the world in software. (Fruits of) knowledge based labor!

When completely literate able ones who graduated fourth grade with honors and can spit out western alphabet in one breath talk like that what can we really expect from others? Since our folks are like this, what our trio from Khentii can come up with? I guess we have no choice but to put up with amusing talk of a fair-haired fellow who got his all assets burnt down on 7/1 , got mad and is racketeering everyone and everything that crosses his path. Poor bald speculator who appears far more often that comedians every night on TV and has us, viewers, roll down in laughter, what else can he do, poor thing. What can we really do about this melon head with nothing but a dream to have casino law approved while alive. There’s more, a mighty scientist whose Bachelor’s degree and Diploma turned out to be fake by examination but whose Professor’s Diploma is authentic stuff. Then there is this mighty original dude2 who plays being Genghis Khan,rides a horse sticking up a wooden stick  , has city traffic stopped and roams around the city. Then there’s another dude who requests rain by calling the spirit of  Genghis Khan with all monies from Provincial development fund.  Then there is a quite a bunch of fellas who have been brawling so much that their foreheads are rock hard now. There is another dude who gets new ideas on how to come up with new laws from wikihow. Proud big time con artist who makes a law to spend seven times more money than GDP on pastoral animal husbandry  and just does not get off TV screen explaining it, is he a fraud or just stupid or what? A chap who is revealing that there’s plenty of gynecological clinics, demands stop to gender discrimination and construction of many hospitals to get us, men, healthy did not look like he was joking. A fellow who runs around calling for 70 years anniversary of Bayan-Ulgii 3independence was dead serious.

Human rights are very much respected in our country, we are a country that legalized them. Anyone’s right to be a fool is completely protected. No one can be prosecuted for being a fool. And we are, truly and beyond a doubt, a real democracy that respects very much the majority and follows its decisions. Hence, when these dope dudes will become a majority, what a sick party there will be! The only concern is this indeed.  The point is that these majority are indeed deciding fate of us, Mongolians…Damn! When this majority makes state decisions what else can we expect but economic meltdown, what’s there to be surprised at, Chuka4? Sorry Lundeejantsan. Forgive me, my Bat-Uul.Amarjargal,Bayarsaikhan, Gonchigdorj, Bold, Munkh-Orgil, Saikhanbileg, Oyun, Altai, Enkhbat, some Enkhbolds5 and the like I did not mean you guys. It is such a pity that you guys are a minority. That majority, does it pay attention to what you say? Do they care?