Is Fiji under the Illegal Regime Spiraling to the Bottom Economically, Politically, Socially & Culturally?

When we examine  Fiji's current situation i.e unstable sugar industry, unstable government, too much military power, enforced rulings on several levels for the people by the regime etc etc. it becomes evident that the game being played is "looking for an Ideology that fits - one size fits all".

Fiji, just a tiny insignificant island nation under Bainimarama's dictatorship likes to imagine it has big clout when it does'nt. The world really has other pressing things to look towards and so Fiji takes back row. This is to be expected. A QUICK SNAPSHOT VIEW OF WHAT THIS REGIME HAS DONE FROM EVE OF 2006 COUP TO TODATE : ZERO!!

What we do know Bainimarama & his 'house-girl' KAS are on a Globe -Trotting free-trips 'thanks to Fiji tax payers & Chinese Funders perhaps...?? What are they doing- looking for the best ideology that suits Fiji. Its duhhhhh - the answer lies at your doorstep oink..oink...there are many learned Council of Fijian Chiefs, lawyers, seasoned politicians, Expert medical professionals - doctors etc,  retired civil servants, the village elders, Business owners, media experts, school children both college & younger. These are those we must look to to get a good grip of where Fiji's future lies. In other words Fiji needs to go to the Polls urgently. So stop stuffing around!! 

At the very least there are great bloggers i.e RealFijiNews, Fiji Global Community Voices, Tears For Fiji, Coup 4.5, Intelligentsiya, Fiji Freedom & Democracy, Luvei Viti, and others we have not listed who are keeping that Candle Lit for Fiji. This is the only uncensored forum that can be accessed which  alerts the world on whats going on at Ground Zero in Fiji.

Last but not least, below we have included an interesting piece written by Anup Shah, articulating ideologies that this regime in Fiji is trying to follow but failing to realise that little Fiji is just another 'willing' victim suffering under Structural Adjustments/Dependency Theory. We are not moving forward but fast tracking backwards under this illegal Fiji regime under Bainimarama.

'Na Dina' Fiji Truth will Prevail in the end.
Fiji Truth Commission Movement.

Read more;

A Spiraling Race to the Bottom

As detailed further below, the IMF and World Bank provide financial assistance to countries seeking it, but apply a neoliberal economic ideology or agenda as a precondition to receiving the money. For example:

• They prescribe cutbacks, “liberalization” of the economy and resource extraction/export-oriented open markets as part of their structural adjustment.
• The role of the state is minimized.
• Privatization is encouraged as well as reduced protection of domestic industries.
• Other adjustment policies also include currency devaluation, increased interest rates, “flexibility” of the labor market, and the elimination of subsidies such as food subsidies.
• To be attractive to foreign investors various regulations and standards are reduced or removed.

The impact of these preconditions on poorer countries can be devastating. Factors such as the following lead to further misery for the developing nations and keep them dependent on developed nations:

• Poor countries must export more in order to raise enough money to pay off their debts in a timely manner.
• Because there are so many nations being asked or forced into the global market place—before they are economically and socially stable and ready—and told to concentrate on similar cash crops and commodities as others, the situation resembles a large-scale price war.
• Then, the resources from the poorer regions become even cheaper, which favors consumers in the West.
• Governments then need to increase exports just to keep their currencies stable (which may not be sustainable, either) and earn foreign exchange with which to help pay off debts.
• Governments therefore must:
  • spend less
  • reduce consumption
  • remove or decrease financial regulations
  • and so on.
• Over time then:
  • the value of labor decreases
  • capital flows become more volatile
  • a spiraling race to the bottom then begins, which generates
  • social unrest, which in turn leads to IMF riots and protests around the world
• These nations are then told to peg their currencies to the dollar. But keeping the exchange rate stable is costly due to measures such as increased interest rates.
• Investors obviously concerned about their assets and interests can then pull out very easily if things get tough
  • In the worst cases, capital flight can lead to economic collapse, such as we saw in the Asian/global financial crises of 1997/98/99, or in Mexico, Brazil, and many other places. During and after a crisis, the mainstream media and free trade economists lay the blame on emerging markets and their governments’ restrictive or inefficient policies, crony capitalism, etc., which is a cruel irony.
• When IMF donors keep the exchange rates in their favor, it often means that the poor nations remain poor, or get even poorer. Even the 1997/98/99 global financial crisis can be partly blamed on structural adjustment and early, overly aggressive deregulation for emerging economies.
• Millions of children end up dying each year.

Competition between companies involved in manufacturing in developing countries is often ruthless. We are seeing what Korten described as “a race to the bottom. With each passing day it becomes more difficult to obtain contracts from one of the mega-retailers without hiring child labor, cheating workers on overtime pay, imposing merciless quotas, and operating unsafe practices.”

— John Madeley, Big Business Poor Peoples; The Impact of Transnational Corporations on the World’s Poor, (Zed Books, 1999) p. 103