Late night post
I started out the day feeling unproductive because I just did not know how to start re-writing that outline for the prospectus that I started on a little last Tues before becoming terribly sick. That sudden productive burst towards the later part of the evening helps me feel better about myself (and about adjusting to 5 pm darkness). Tomorrow will be another long working day.
Before I leave for the night, I want to catch up here on the different events that have shaped the news in the two weeks leading to Thanksgiving and even on the Thanksgiving week itself. I was away at two physics conferences in Europe in the middle of November, and was thus regale with news mostly of what is going on in Europe. I was ‘fortunate’ in being able to catch a glimpse of some social protest going on in Paris (which also led to train delays that made me miss my conference dinner cruise but brought to me acquaintanceship with two members of artistic Paris. But my twitter feed, that I checked occasionally, brought to me news of fresh bout of violence taking place during peaceful campus protests about tuition hikes (among other things). I started tracking news relating to the UC of Davis, student debt, continued political exigencies in the Middle East that never abated and various protests on hyperconsumerism.
The economy is bad in Europe and the US. That, however, did not prevent the spirit of holiday shopping even while Thanksgiving was still going on. My email and snail-mailbox have been bombarded with various Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (I tried looking for books of interest to me but their prices remain the same). Even ‘free’ episodes of your favorite show is sponsored through the ads for all forms of coupon deals. There have been many articles written about consumer behavior (ranging from ‘strategy’ shopping), price gimmicks, profits, budgets, and deal trends. I’ve been tracking news on that to help me connect to all that has been going on since the onset of Occupy Wall St and the critique on corporations. It doesn’t seem that the shopping behavior of the bargain-addicts have changed, though it is highly likely that these shoppers hold jobs, however tenuous the position. Of course, the shopping season is in the air for many across the globe, and hyperconsumerism will certainly be at play in my own country of Malaysia.
And then, I have been reading about the latest sex scandals involving politics in Europe (Italy) and football in Penn State (US) that led to the termination of a presidential term and the firing of a ‘beloved’ coach. My own homeland is replete with its own scandals though when one puts its influence in context, its political impact is rather miniscule on the rest of the world (however much of importance they are to its citizens). Economically, Malaysia is supposedly doing better than my adopted country of residence though even a tint of corruption is enough to upset the cart of a small country, and thus render it a lot less profitable than it should have been.
That point of convergence; whether protests, shopping or sports, seem to be violence. Violence from rioters, violence from those in authority and violence by half-crazed, frenzied shoppers. Protests or shopping, the issue of scarcity or perceived scarcity and privilege is at play here.
As we are about to hit December, I have to say that this year seems to be the turning point, globally, in terms of economics and political processes.
P.S. In case anyone’s interested, I’ve updated my research blog and now that I am working more concentratedly on planning out my dissertation, it will see more frequent updates. 
