|
Monday, 05 January 2009 17:25 |
|
Page 1 of 2 In the wake of unrelenting reprisals from the members of the fourth estate from Nairobi to Baghdad, it appears that in addition to the Al Qaeda, a new menace is fomenting – the rebellious fourth estate. The fourth estate would have us believe that without its untiring quest for truth (read: sensation) in the corridors of power, the “state of the union address” on National holidays would read differently. 
| Not to be outdone is the second estate – parliament – which has become immune to the idea of paying taxes. Well, if the third estate, the very arm that upholds law and justice, is not keen on taxes why should the second estate be burdened with taxes to the glee of these ungrateful lot that are the fourth estate; masquerading as the “voice of the masses” only to misquote everything the “honorable” members say.
|
After all, the second estate is the “voice of the people” as they were “democratically” elected into office by the people for the people and having contributed much to fund raising's and funerals of their constituents they may be deemed to have paid their utmost dues to society.Similarly the first estate, the Executive, may make claim to the title of “vox populi” by constitutional right. All the while the public, the people in whose “interest” all manner of acts are committed, do not know what to make of these quarrelsome lovers, who hobnob at night and feud during the day. But there is one other estate, which is the only estate, not entitled to hold aloft the coveted banner of the “voice of the people”. This estate has been the center of attention both locally and globally as its tumultuous antics and its perceived excesses have ignited heightened debate. The estate of financial markets has been accused of robbing and defiling the “common citizens” of their wealth in cowboy like misadventures stretching from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere. To some extent, these allegations have some merit but for the most part, the volatile financial markets have given fodder to other estates to strengthen their hold on their claim as the foremost representatives of the people; that theirs is the “true pilgrimage” to save the Main Street from Wall Street buccaneers. 
| Hence, the very virtues of free market capitalism, espoused by the fifth estate, are now the vices law makers and pressmen want to stump out castigating them as “unbridled capitalism”. Committees and tribunals have been set up and regulations reviewed with the usual anecdote of press briefings to keep the people informed on what is being done to rein in “runaway capitalism”. All of a sudden government handouts, controls and regulation are once again a recurring global phenomenon and a necessary evil to protect the people…from their own greed and poor judgment; but we shall not use that ill fated and backward term – socialism! Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely that financial markets will pander to the machinations of the four estates rather they will continue to be molded by the counter balancing forces of fear and greed prevailing at a given point in time. It is these two forces that will guide the flow of liquidity within the financial market system with liquidity retreating in times of high uncertainty such as these and rising in a wave like motion when uncertainty subsides. | |  |  |
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 23 February 2009 00:00 )
|
