That Bloke In The Big Smoke

It is pleasing to read about the dedication with which the Democrats appear to be devoting to their mission to bring back American troops from Iraq. If only our own politicians were as rooted in reality to do the same thing about our troops. Britain would be safer.

The problem with the Iraq War, was that it was America's experiment to illustrate loud and clear, that it was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The world's only superpower. The biggest economy. The world's biggest freedom-loving, blah blah blah. Thankfully, the intended result of this colossally misguided adventure, has failed miserably. But what is particularly worrying, is not the American failure, which in hindsight, was not really surprising, but the disturbing trend of intense internal violence. For this, I cannot in anyway blame the Americans. No, this is an Islamic issue. For what kind of society condones the kind of indiscriminate violence that is taking place everyday, often, several times a day, all over the country? Initially, we all thought that it would be a temporary phenomenon, but after four years of such inhumane violence, it has obviously turned out to be anything but a phenomenon. It has in effect become the normal way of life in post-War Iraq. And though it is a real and tragic consequence of America's intrusion, I do not believe that it was their fault, or of their doing.

All that said and done, I didn't agree with the reasons America & Britain went to war in the first place, and now that they have found themselves in a quagmire, I think it would be best for both of them to get the hell out. Or at the very least, Britain. The Americans can choose to do what they want, but I think it would also be in their interest to get out. But don't get me wrong. I don't want us to pull out because it will make our citizens safer if we are seen to be acknowledging the oft-repeated claim that Western aggression and its military presence in Islamic countries inspires the terrorists. No, not at all. I don't think we're safe anywhere in the world, regardless of whether we remain in Iraq or not. And the same goes for Afghanistan and any other country with an Anglo-American presence.

I want our troops pulled out because it is a waste of our taxes. Why should we waste so much money on funding a war that never intended to protect us in the first place? It is silly to continue deluding ourselves that every extra day in Iraq will contribute to its future stability. It is indeed an unfortunate turn of events that our role in Iraq has been reduced to that of ensuring stability, instead of rooting out the terrorists, as originally intended (supposedly). Moreover, if it isn't obvious today that Iraq is NOT the focal point of our threat from global terrorism, then I honestly don't think we will ever solve the problem, and if we do, at a greater cost than should've been necessary. The best thing we can do right now is to get out and let the Iraqis deal with themselves. We will be much better off spending those extra taxes on protecting ourselves at home, and in other constructive ways to fight the War on Terror (whatever that means). In fact, how about pulling the troops back and investing the money on that new National Border Force, that Gordy has talked about. That'd be a good place as any to start making progress, innit?

"Western workers may have been paid above the market wage for many decades because political and technological barriers prevented Chinese and Indian workers from gaining a foothold in the global labour market." -Stephen King, HSBC Group Chief Economist
Since arriving in the UK, I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what career to pursue. For now I think I have it all worked out. Interestingly, I thought about pursuing a career in the same field when I was in San Jose, but I've approached it slightly different this time, and it definitely seems like the best option. Without further ado, I present you a career in Market Research.

Market research is a broad category. I'm particularly interested in the economics of commercial market research. In other words, I want to work in a field that tracks the supply of global resources (natural & human) to fulfill consumerist demand. The fact is, market research is virtually dead in the Western world, simply because the majority of its citizens are already mass consumers. The same however, is not true for the majority of Indians, Chinese, Africans and South Americans who live in the same world as us. This is significant because the political, economic and technological barriers that currently divide us, are breaking down by the second, and this is slowly, but surely, creating a world of greater global interdependence. Add to this the inevitable rise of mass consumerist societies in South Asia, China, Africa and parts of South America and one shudders to think about the impact this will all have on prices and the supply of global resources. It's going to impact our existing way of life and don't forget, we also have global warming to worry about!

The real losers in the rise of the Third World are going to be Western workers & consumers; there's no doubt about it in my mind. Read Stephen King's quote at the top and you'll get an idea why. The rise of India and China is very different from the rise of any other economy in the history of humankind for one simple reason: numbers. Since the industrialization of Japan, no country with more than 80 million people has joined the wave of mass consumerism. In this century, we're looking at potentially 2-3 billion people joining the queue at Walmart and Ikea. That's a helluva lotta people and I wonder how many people are even aware of it. Because if you aren't, honey, wake up and smell the coffee. If you don't think you're being paid enough, no problem, somebody sitting in Pune or Xi'an can do the same job for less money. I was talking to someone from the travel industry the other day who said they're working on a model to outsource travel guides to India by using robots to guide tourists in London. The robot will be able to speak in 20 different languages, something very few humans can do. Can you imagine the savings on salaries and training?

The point is, many people in the West take their comfortable and relatively affordable lifestyles for granted, but I doubt that's going to remain the case for the next few decades. I don't think it would be far off the mark to say that people from our parent's generation lived the cheapest and most comfortable consumerist lifestyle than we will, or our children ever will. That's a realistic scenario in my mind, unless we're mysteriously able to find a new oil, or discover a new Ghawar. The probability of either is low, so I think it's better to recognize the challenges before us and find reasonable solutions. That's where the economics of commercial market research comes into play. I want to work in a field that doesn't just monitor existing & future market trends. I want to work in a field that does the research, but more importantly, uses the research to advise clients about the changes taking place, and how to deal with them.

The fact is, the global supply of natural resources isn't just affected by consumerist demand. There are several other crucial factors involved, including political issues, like Iran detonating a nuclear bomb, or Kazakhstan slipping into civil chaos. There are economic issues like trade embargoes to account for, and technological issues such as a worldwide internet breakdown due to damaged cables in the Atlantic. These are all plausible scenarios and the impact they will have on global supply is significant.

I am not solely interested in consumerism, politics or financial markets. I want to pursue a career in a field that is influenced by these areas, but ultimately focuses on finding solutions to the economic problem of fulfilling unlimited wants with limited resources.

Inshaperumal, I shall succeed in my quest.

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PS How's that for the basis of a sales pitch in a covering or speculative letter? Feedback generously welcomed!