RSS Feed
 |
No items matching your keywords were found.
|
No items matching your keywords were found.
Security Multi Point
Career Selection .net / CISCO?
i am working as technical assistant in BSNL india. now i want to join MNC for earnig money. Presently i m working on CISCO / SUN/ IBM networking side Oracle/ Solaris on software side. and i also know the basics of php / .net /vb6 / VBA/Java. Now what i want is to join Multi national company as software engineer. or system admin or security analyst.
where should i go now. and what should be the path. Please tell me which is the best VB.NET or C# or JAVA or CISCO certification as security analyst on the below noted points:
1. market trend.
2. market captured by .net or c#.
3. higher salary.
4. easy expertise.
any other thing you want to mention please.
Regards
hello Bedi.hs,
1. my choice would be CISCO. get a more indepth knowledge of cisco's security portion rather than network to keep yourself on the upper edge of the market needs as security will always play a big role in any company.
2. go with C# if you think would like to earn large income in a limited year span as C# is a bit outdated just like foxpro, however, sarced knowledgable programmers are heavily wanted for such positions.
3. VB.NET / JAVA will always be in the open job market and will always be a part of our daily PC experiences, so should you want to invest your time there, then you must factor in that you need continues learning for that you can keep up with the fast changing programming industry.
4. today's market trend is linux/unix as widely has companies decided to cut cost to their overall expense by allocate resources where it's least costy. IBM/HP/Microsoft are all great in providing exceptional services, but it's just too costy for small to mid-size companies.
5. good luck with your decision. hope my suggestions help a bit at your choosing 
|
No items matching your keywords were found.
|
No items matching your keywords were found.
|
No items matching your keywords were found.
|
No items matching your keywords were found.
| | ZoneAlarm Extreme Security $79.95 "The most comprehensive security suite on the market. Protects your PC, your browser, and your identity." |
| | ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite $69.95 "Essential antivirus, antispyware, and firewall protection for your PC." |
| | DIGIOP 8 Channel Hybrid DVR $2799.99 NOTE: This product is built-to-order.With hybrid capabilities and the flexibility to Grow as You Go, DIGIOP’s EH Series offers a robust platform that lets you unleash the power of video in your business.Powerful Video SoftwareDIGIOP’s Hybrid Video Management System (HVMS) is a high-performance solution ideal for convenience stores, small retail shops, fast food restaurants, bank branches, remote utility stations, high-end residences, and similar locations.The EH Series provides full-featured, real-time recording of up to 16 channels of analog or IP video up to 480 images per second and up to 5 channels of audio, all managed in a single user interface. DIGOP EH Series units are designed to integrate* with point-of-sale software for the perfect loss prevention solution.Reliable Dell-Built HardwareAll DIGIOP Hybrid Video Management Systems are built on Dell’s latest hardware platforms. Systems in this series are built on the OptiPlex XE Chassis. The XE chassis is a purpose-built system designed for retailers and others with multi-year deployments or challenging environments where temperatures and operating conditions require longer life cycles.'Grow As You Go' PlatformThe EH Series lets you expand as you are ready. From a stand alone system to enterprise-wide deployment, DIGIOP hybrid systems let you leverage existing infrastructure, add analog, IP, or Megapixel cameras as you need, sync your video with your point of sale (POS) system, enable video analytics, and integrate with 3rd party applications.*(*additional software license required) |
| | DIGIOP Elements vs 8.1 & 4 IP Channel Activation Licenses $495 The DIGIOP ELEMENTS™ software suite extends the value of surveillance video beyond the traditional benefits of loss prevention and risk management, by combining raw video with information from back-office systems and video analytics.The result is an integrated dashboard that provides your functional leaders (management, operations, merchandising, marketing, and IT) with an accurate real-time and recorded view of the performance of the business.DIGIOP ELEMENTS™ features four powerful software components: DIGIOP™ Connect, DIGIOP™ Control, DIGIOP™ Core, and DIGIOP™ Data. Together, these elements provide the foundation for a revolutionary tool to manage your business intelligence..DIGIOP™ Connect.DIGIOP™ Connect is a unified dashboard that displays both video and data intelligence on a single interface, enabling remote management of both single-site and multi-site systems..DIGIOP™ Connect features powerful search tools such as Thumbnail Search, Timeline Search, Replay Search, Digital Zoom, and Tours, allowing you to quickly locate, save and export your critical video and data intelligence..DIGIOP™ Control.DIGIOP™ Control is a web-based administration portal that enables you to configure your systems and manage permissions from anywhere you have Internet access..DIGIOP™ Control allows you to easily manage your video, data, and user information across your single- or multi-site system. Controls include: add and configure cameras, set user rights, establish global and local level permissions for systems, cameras, and data streams..DIGIOP™ Core.DIGIOP™ Core is an extensible video recording platform that provides real-time recording of analog and IP cameras..The DIGIOP™ Core software can be configured to display live video as it’s recorded, or to run in the background and archive video data for display using DIGIOP™ Connect..DIGIOP™ Data.DIGIOP™ Data is our data management software that integrates external data with video recorded by DIGIOP™ Core, resulting in synchronous information streams to be displayed using DIGIOP™ Connect..From retail-focused applications like Point-of-Sale (POS) systems to Time & Attendance systems at schools or even Electronic Access Control systems at healthcare facilities, DIGIOP™ Data creates the link between the video and data that brings real power to the cameras in a facility.Recommended Hardware Specifications for DIGIOP ELEMENTS™DIGIOP ELEMENTS™ is capable of operating on systems with lower specifications, but this is highly dependent upon number of cameras, camera resolution, and recorded frame rates. Contact one of our DIGIOP Sales Representatives to determine the optimal specifications for your project.CPU: 2.8GHz, Intel C |
| | Weatherproof IR Mini Dome Security Camera $159.99 Our weatherproof mini dome camera has a 3.4mm fixed lens and utilizes a 1/3" Sony Super HAD CCD sensor that delivers 600 lines resolution with 0.0 lux low light rating. The multi-axis mounting feature gives you the angle you want regardless of it's mounted position. This mini dome security camera is also fully weatherproof which makes it suitable for indoor or outdoor applications. |
| | Sony Rapid Dome PTZ Network Security Camera $2899.99 The Sony SNCRX530NB incorporates an 18x auto focus zoom lens that allows users to view distant object with details. A 12x digital zoom is also available to achieve a maximum zoom of 216 times.This camera incorporates advanced compression technologies to transmit image data in three different formats: JPEG,MPEG-4, and H.264. Users can choose any of these compression formats to match their system’s network environment and application requirements. What’s more, this third-generation camera can simultaneously stream JPEG and MPEG-4 data for even greater operational flexibility.The camera employs robust detection methods - Intelligent Motion Detection (IMD) and Intelligent Object Detection (IOD) to maximize the efficiency of the monitoring system. Object ‘tags’ (or IDs) and associated position data are created within the camera. This data – also called metadata – can be streamed independently or along with video over a network to work in conjunction with rules or filters (such as virtual borderlines) defined in application software to perform actions such as initiating alarms or beginning to record. This rules-based processing can minimize server workload, network bandwidth,and storage requirements.In addition, a number of other convenient features have been incorporated into this camera to meet your needs such as, a Day/Night function, Voice Alert, Privacy Zone Masking, and wireless capability. With its built-in intelligence and rich features, this Sony multi-codec camera is ideal for a wide variety of surveillance and monitoring applications.This dome camera has a high-speed 360° endless panning (or rotation) capability, which allows users to precisely capture almost any object surrounding the camera. In addition, by employing a ¼" Exwave HADTM CCD, the camera delivers exceptional picture quality for any remote monitoring application, even in low-light conditions. |
| | IQeye Sentinel All-Weather IP D/N HD1080p Security Camera $1479 IQeye Sentinel Series security cameras are full featured, multi-megapixel H.264 Main Profile all-weather cameras. With support for up to 5 MP resolutions, these advanced cameras provide multiple, individually configured H.264 and simultaneous MJPEG streams. Designed with the installer in mind, innovative features drastically reduce installation costs and time.Remote back focus greatly reduces installation time using the One-Touch-Focus feature for sharp images, and allows fine focus adjustments from a remote computer eliminating the need for manual focus adjustments at the cameraEthernet terminal punch-down eliminates the need to terminate with an RJ45 connectorSteel camera hangers allow the installer to work with both handsIn addition, the wall, ceiling, parapet options, rugged aluminum construction, and IP66 weather resilience allow the camera to be installed in almost any harsh environment. At less than 7W power consumption, the Sentinel can be fully operational using only Power-over-Ethernet. |
| | IQeye Sentinel All-Weather IP D/N HD720p Security Camera $1379 IQeye Sentinel Series security cameras are full featured, multi-megapixel H.264 Main Profile all-weather cameras. With support for up to 5 MP resolutions, these advanced cameras provide multiple, individually configured H.264 and simultaneous MJPEG streams. Designed with the installer in mind, innovative features drastically reduce installation costs and time.Remote back focus greatly reduces installation time using the One-Touch-Focus feature for sharp images, and allows fine focus adjustments from a remote computer eliminating the need for manual focus adjustments at the cameraEthernet terminal punch-down eliminates the need to terminate with an RJ45 connectorSteel camera hangers allow the installer to work with both handsIn addition, the wall, ceiling, parapet options, rugged aluminum construction, and IP66 weather resilience allow the camera to be installed in almost any harsh environment. At less than 7W power consumption, the Sentinel can be fully operational using only Power-over-Ethernet. |
| | Multi-Point Tie Down Rails by Tuffy for Jeep $42.29 Black powder coated 1/8 in. thick steel;27-1/4 in. long rails;Sold in sets of 4;Large cutouts for security straps, cable locks and other tie downs Multi-Point Tie Down Rails by Tuffy for Jeep |
| | 2.5 Inch CCTV Multi-Tester Tool $259.99 This portable measuring tool is the one tool that every CCTV professional should not be without! It provides a host of features for installation and maintenance of various security camera systems in one compact battery operated unit. It is a field monitor with video signal generator for correct color alignment. It also has a built-in PTZ controller, UTP Tester and BNC in/output. |
| | IQeye Sentinel All-Weather IP D/N 5.0 Megapixel Security Camera $1699 IQeye Sentinel Series security cameras are full featured, multi-megapixel H.264 Main Profile all-weather cameras. With support for up to 5 MP resolutions, these advanced cameras provide multiple, individually configured H.264 and simultaneous MJPEG streams. Designed with the installer in mind, innovative features drastically reduce installation costs and time.Remote back focus greatly reduces installation time using the One-Touch-Focus feature for sharp images, and allows fine focus adjustments from a remote computer eliminating the need for manual focus adjustments at the cameraEthernet terminal punch-down eliminates the need to terminate with an RJ45 connectorSteel camera hangers allow the installer to work with both handsIn addition, the wall, ceiling, parapet options, rugged aluminum construction, and IP66 weather resilience allow the camera to be installed in almost any harsh environment. At less than 7W power consumption, the Sentinel can be fully operational using only Power-over-Ethernet. |
| | IQeye Sentinel All-Weather IP D/N 3.6 Megapixel Security Camera $1659 IQeye Sentinel Series security cameras are full featured, multi-megapixel H.264 Main Profile all-weather cameras. With support for up to 5 MP resolutions, these advanced cameras provide multiple, individually configured H.264 and simultaneous MJPEG streams. Designed with the installer in mind, innovative features drastically reduce installation costs and time.Remote back focus greatly reduces installation time using the One-Touch-Focus feature for sharp images, and allows fine focus adjustments from a remote computer eliminating the need for manual focus adjustments at the cameraEthernet terminal punch-down eliminates the need to terminate with an RJ45 connectorSteel camera hangers allow the installer to work with both handsIn addition, the wall, ceiling, parapet options, rugged aluminum construction, and IP66 weather resilience allow the camera to be installed in almost any harsh environment. At less than 7W power consumption, the Sentinel can be fully operational using only Power-over-Ethernet. |
| | IQeye Sentinel All-Weather IP D/N HD 720p Security Camera $1399 IQeye Sentinel Series security cameras are full featured, multi-megapixel H.264 Main Profile all-weather cameras. With support for up to 5 MP resolutions, these advanced cameras provide multiple, individually configured H.264 and simultaneous MJPEG streams. Designed with the installer in mind, innovative features drastically reduce installation costs and time.Remote back focus greatly reduces installation time using the One-Touch-Focus feature for sharp images, and allows fine focus adjustments from a remote computer eliminating the need for manual focus adjustments at the cameraEthernet terminal punch-down eliminates the need to terminate with an RJ45 connectorSteel camera hangers allow the installer to work with both handsIn addition, the wall, ceiling, parapet options, rugged aluminum construction, and IP66 weather resilience allow the camera to be installed in almost any harsh environment. At less than 7W power consumption, the Sentinel can be fully operational using only Power-over-Ethernet. |
| | Check Point UTM-1 2073 Security Appliance $14304.99 1 Gbps 1.73" Height x 17.40" Width x 15" Depth 100 V AC to 240 V AC 1024 802.1Q VLAN Support 110 V AC 1100000 Concurrent Session 14.30 lb 160 GB 1U 2073 220 V AC 280 Mbps 3 Gbps 3DES (168-bit) 8 8 x RJ-45 10/100/1000Base-T Integrated security management Integrated Multi-gateway Management Endpoint Policy Management SmartView Tracker CLI Telnet DHCP QoS SSH Recommended Sizing: Up to 1000 users Security Acceleration High availability Load balancing IPS Blades UTM-1 2073 Security Appliance is all-inclusive, turn-key solutions that include everything you need to secure your network. Each appliance includes integrated centralized management, along with complete security updates, hardware support, and customer support. Its streamlines security deployment and administration providing multiple security functions in a single device and a portfolio of appliance models to meet the needs from the small office to the enterprise. AES (128-bit) AES (256-bit) Anti-spyware Buffer Overflow Attack CPAP-SG2073 Check Point Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd DES Denial of Service (DoS) Firewall Authentication IPSec Instant Messenger Blocking Intrusion Prevention Malicious Source IP Address Blocking NAT P2P Blocking Port Scan Detection Power Supply Protocol Anomaly Detection RoHS SSL UTM-1 UTM-1 2073 Security Appliance Unlimited Users License VPN Appliance VPN Authentication Yes www.checkpoint.com |
| Account limit of 2104 requests per hour exceeded. |
Installing a Multi-point Lock: Part 1
Financial or Multi-Dimensional Crisis?
By M. Nadarajah
Going Down
‘ Private equity company Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) CEO Stephen Schwarzman said on Tuesday that up to 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed by the global credit crisis. "Between 40 and 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed in little less than a year and a half," Schwarzman told an audience at the Japan Society. "This is absolutely unprecedented in our lifetime." ' (Reuters, 12 March 2009)
Permanently in Crisis
The very poor communities across the globe are in ‘a permanent crisis' from a class and crisis perspective, because that is the way the mainstream global economic structure and process works. Even for many analysts and academics, there cannot be a situation when we will not have the poor among us. They insist that there will always be poor among us as a given. And that is ok even though they are, in a sense, in a perpetual crisis -- no permanent shelter, no food security, no regular contractual jobs and no secured future. No problems with that!
Somehow their suffering is never seen as a crisis. It is a given part of the system, and we are hardly shaken by it. The billions in this reality are never a focus of the mainstream media.
For the poor, crisis is the way life is, and they handle it for themselves and their families on a day-to-day basis. Every day is an uphill task and for hundreds of thousands of people (including many children) across the globe, this could mean going to bed hungry.
It is estimated that more than 1 billion people are chronically hungry across the world. For millions of people, there is already no food security. Even in the supposedly wealthy US, it is estimated that about 35 million Americans do not know where their next meal would come from! Not that there is not enough food to provide for the hungry people of the world - it is just that they do not qualify for the food as they are not part of the ‘demand' to consume the available ‘supply' (of food)!
Perhaps from such an angle, the much internationally-acclaimed but locally-criticised (in India) Hollywood-Bollywood film Slumdog Millionaire is a soft critique of the mainstream economics and celebration (and to a good extent, romanticism) of the spirit of poor people who are always in the state of ‘permanent crisis' but creatively trying to deal with it. Of course it does not offer a solution as much as a dream or fantasy.
The Periodic Crisis
For those who have been gainfully employed, the middle classes, entrepreneurs, financial wizards and bankers, etc., the present economic downturn is a damning crisis. It is not the way their life should be. Furthermore, the mainstream media are bent on presenting this crisis in all its drama. News on this hot topic sells anyway.
Crisis is a crisis. People have a bad time. The human cost of the present crisis is really pain and more pain for the group mentioned above. For instance, economic crisis-related suicides have increased across the globe. Japan, which has the highest number of suicides in the developed world, has recorded in excess of 30,000 suicides for 2008, i.e. over 25 suicides per 100,000 persons. There is a general increase in suicides in Asia as in the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
In countries like Australia and the US, the matter is getting bad. Special units and suicide hotlines are being set up to deal with depression and suicidal tendencies caused by the economic slowdown. In Australia, between October and December 2008, there has been a 34 percent rise in suicide-related calls for help because of financial pressure related to the crisis.
Millions of people have lost their jobs across the world. More millions are expected to lose their livelihoods. According to a ILO report, the labour market projections for 2009 shows definite deterioration in the global labour markets for both women and men. Two scenarios are given. In the best-case scenario, 18 million jobs would be lost, which would amount to a global unemployment rate of 6.1%. In the worst-case scenario, there will be a loss of more than 50 million jobs, which would equate to a rate of 7.1%. Of this, about 21 million would be women. If the worst-case scenario happens, the number of poor working people who will be unable to earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the poverty line (USD2 per person per day) may rise to 1.4 billion. This is nearly half of the entire world's employed. Further, some 200 million workers earning USD1.25 or less a day, mostly in developing economies, could be pushed into extreme poverty.
The periodic crisis makes it even more difficult for those in the "permanently in crisis" list.
And Now, Finding the Cause of the Crisis ...
The economic crisis has now offered the world a new intellectual enterprise, and it is gaining strength. From across the political spectrum, analyses of causes of the present financial crisis and economic downturn are being offered and, in the same breath, solutions are being presented. As it can be expected, some of these solutions, particularly from the right, are being sold. For many, the economic crisis, of course, offers business opportunities! `
The Chinese term for crisis captures within its meaning domain both the notion of ‘danger' and ‘opportunity'. The intellectual response to crisis has also provided both these elements. The only difference is that way opportunity is perceived.
Just walk into any popular book and you will see many, many books from across the political spectrum -- from the 'free market' theorists to the 'new imperialism' ones -- available for your consumption, not only to understand the crisis but also to address it, both immediately and in the long term. Radicals to Nobel laureates to pop management gurus generously offer their thoughts and solutions. There is a resurgence of Marxist/socialist theories. If one has been following the intellectual output during the various crises from the distant and/or recent pasts, it is easy to find rehashed arguments and solutions just as much as you will find some writers who have been consistent in tracing and monitoring these crises and predicting future ones.
Looking more closely, one group just wants to look at the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, and to deal with the present crisis from that starting point since it kicked up the whole problem for the US, European and global economies. They want to re-examine financial regulation nationally and globally, tighten it, do more tinkering to the present system and move on. It is business as usual, with, of course, some tweaking here and there. In fact, a crisis is seen as a portal to more economic opportunities.
The other group, looking at the crisis more historically, wants to go beyond the crisis. They look at sub-prime mortgages as only one of the many responses to inherent structural problems of the global economy based on the profit-only bottom line tendency (and on the appropriation of value produced by one group by another group). For many among this group, the present problem has its roots in the period after the end of the Second World War and begins with the post-war economic reconstruction of Japan and Germany/Europe. They want us to re-examine and fundamentally change the way we organize our economy and manage our society.
Perhaps a revealing analysis is the fact that from post-World War II onwards, there has been progressive degeneration of the ‘real economy' and progressive growth of the ‘finance economy'. Real wages, productivity and demand have fallen or shrunk. With many new locations of increased production and capacity, we are also now faced with the problem with overproduction.
Over the years, political, industrial and financial leaders have tried many ways to deal with these long-term structural economic problems. Even while addressing a complex of needs, the dot com bubble, global war on communism then and terrorism now, Afghanistan and Iraqi wars and their reconstruction efforts, and huge sub-prime mortgages in the US were, in the main, all attempts to deal with the problems of national and global economies. Political and economic leaders were looking for ways to prop up economic activity...any how. While in all of the above efforts, the US acted as a leader, a transnational group of entrepreneurs from across the globe benefited.
It is instructive to know that using war to benefit national and global economies is certainly inbuilt into the mainstream economic system. It is central to financing and sustaining the ‘American dream', which has bursted out of the borders of the political entity that is USA and become a powerful globally available and appropriated cultural idea.
Even so, all these could not really arrest the coming of the present crisis. The sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US has taken the world towards a disaster that it is waking up to.
Real productive enterprises provide goods and service that do something better than what existed previously: creating jobs and increasing productivity and overall efficiency. Economic growth and progress in the real world take place because of ‘product entrepreneurs' and the labouring community who make profit or earn wages, invest these earnings in creating new products or enterprises, or in consuming the produce of the real economy. According to one UN Report, since 1980, ‘economic decline or stagnation has affected 100 countries, reducing the incomes of 1.6 billion people. For 70 of these countries, average incomes are less in the mid 1990s than in 1980, and in 43, less than in 1970'.
For now, the real economy, which supports real people, their wages, production of real goods and creation of value, is in bad shape. Stagnation in the real economy has resulted in investors promoting the ‘financialisation of the economy', a strategy to make money ‘out of nothing'...some sort of economic voodooism!
Financial institutions are creating profits out of nothing. Trillions of dollars have been created out of nothing and there is a huge financial world out there that operates solely on it. It is just an empty world that solely plays on the rise and fall of trends within paper-money markets. If that amount was really available and justly distributed in the real economy, we would not have poor people going to bed hungry.
Financial entrepreneurship has become more dominant in the national and global economies. As many creative minds are absorbed by the war economy to support wars, entrepreneurial creative minds are being tapped by financial institutions to create various financial instruments of ever-fancier derivatives, collateralized loan obligations, mortgage-backed securities and bonds. These are strategies to create not value but just profits.
Competition in the financial economy is often a zero-sum contest. For every investor or speculator who wins, there's another who loses. It builds a ‘fictitious world'. But competition in the real economy generates creativity, better products and consumers. It builds the real world, however badly organised that is. .
We have all consciously or unconsciously participated in creating the fictitious world. Today, the fiction is breaking up and coming to bite us ... with a vengeance. The real economy is going to ensure that this bite is a really hard one so that all of us would remember it!
Aren't We Facing a Deep Cultural Crisis?
The present economic philosophy is gearing the world towards its slow destruction. The central tendency that drives us is profit and, closely associated with it, greed. Making profit anyhow is a value. That has become the basis of social life, and it influences every aspect of our everyday life expression. Our notion of progress, performance, success and achievement is also influenced by it.
Even within this profit-bottom-line economic framework, instead of paying attention to the real economy, we have allowed the financial entrepreneurs to lead. This has not only affected the real economy entrepreneurs who have been disciplined and held prisoners on the results for the ‘quarter' but also heightened the drive to achieve profit from ‘nothing'. Now, we are all floating on fictitious capital and building fantasy worlds on a foundation of ‘nothingness' generated by the vacuous values of speculated futures.
All these have gone on for years deeply affecting Earth and all lives. Without serious attention to ‘deep sustainability' in an all-round sense (not just in an ecological sense but in terms of socio-cultural life, politics, economics, and technology), we have been moving towards ‘multi-dimensional crises'. The scant real attention to sustainability by mainstream economic activity and contemporary entrepreneurship have caused Earth and human societies great harm and continues quite unabated.
Indiscriminate consumption without any sense of limits has pushed us towards an ecological crisis. In addition, the push of the darker side of the ‘American Dream', which is based on consumption and more consumption, needs resources of about 6 more earths to match American consumption levels for the whole world. We are already living on resources of the future generations!
The present global unsustainable economic activity is also based on the benefits of a ‘permanent war economy'; wars will be invented, which directly depend on labour and creativity for the production of weapons and on sound strategies for killing human life. This also involves hurting the environment in such episodes of violence. US war on terror could cost about $2.4 trillion by 2017 and many entrepreneurs see it as an investment in American security. This could progressively mean more of what was once seen as ‘war of independence' within nations or regions being re-designated by media and foreign policy as ‘war of terrorism' so that we can invest in them.
In addition, the present economic structuring of society contributes to inequality of haves and have-nots, which expose huge sections of the human population, including children, to "a permanent crisis". And, many more to periodic cycles of economic and financial crises. According to a 1999 United Nations report, ‘the income gap between the fifth of the worlds' people living in the richest countries and the fifth in the poorest doubled from 1960 to 1990, from 30 to I to 60 to 1. By 1998, it had jumped again, with the gap widening to an astonishing 78 to 1'.
In a deeper sense, and as a growing critique of the indigenous people movement of the dominant economic development paradigm, we have lost touch with the older holistic cosmology to the present ‘capitalo-centric' one. While the former created a culture and mentality of very close relationship between Nature and Society, the later separated them to the detriment of both. While the former created a deeper sense on ‘inter-being' marked by mindful inter-connectedness of all creations, the latter fashioned us into islands and as a species that dominates all living and non-living Nature and plays God. In this context, it is interesting to note that there is a growing popular cultural theme, to some extent generated by Hollywood films that depicts the human species as a parasite or a virus that needs to be controlled or exterminated for the planet to survive!
The dominance and arrogance of the capitalo-centric culture and mentality are certainly the basis of all economic/financial crises. But today this crisis must be seen together with all other crises we have brought upon ourselves: ecological crisis, a crisis in legitimacy and democracy and socio-cultural crisis. This is a period when we have to come to terms with ‘multi-dimensional crises'.
If you make a cursory examination of the online religious/spiritual interventions in addressing the present crisis, the focus is on the critique of values that animate us and the career of those values and on the need to re-evaluate our values orientation. However, mainstream institutional efforts today are directed only at seeking to treat the symptoms of a deeper socio-cultural crisis.
By design or default, a vast majority of us has chosen to ignore a deeper solution to the multiple crises-prone economic system we are in. A deeper solution would result in dismantling the basis of economic and political power, re-organising production, ownership and distribution of wealth, and re-structuring legitimacy and leadership for a global society based on principles of authentic justice, equality and freedom. There is much to lose and too many institutional changes for some very powerful people, corporations and institutions.
We, as governments, simply do not have the will to do it. Even with the growth of all kinds of philanthropy, including corporate philanthropy, global multiple bottom lines initiative and social codes of conduct, the hand that claws in, grabs and takes just refuses to become a hand that nurtures, protects and gives. That requires a massive cultural shift.
‘Going Down' as Part of the Script of a Global Human Drama
So, in the meantime, as the history of economic/financial crisis cycles goes, we will eventually come back to where we are today, maybe in another 10 to 15 years. The crisis then may not be as serious as today. It will be just another episode with its own specificities in a global human drama series that seems to continuously deny itself an all-together new season with a different breed of producers, authors, cast and crew. It is like watching some Hollywood or Bollywood film: we really know what is going to happen, but we still watch, don't we?
========================
(Originally published in the Malaysian Online Newspaper, Malaysiakini.Com, April 2009. Minimally revised here.)
About the Author
Dr. M. Nadarajah is a sociologist by training. He belongs to the Asian Public Intellectuals (API) Community, a community of filmmakers, theatre people, songwriters, poets, activists and academics working in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan for a sustainable Asia. His work focuses on cultural and sustainability issues. He lives and works from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Posted in 
Tags: 