THE daughter of the KoreanAir chairman, herself a Vice President of the airline, forced a taxiing airplane to return to its gate to eject a senior flight attendant who angered her over the way macadamia nuts were served in first class.
Chief Executive C.Y. Leung, in the midst of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that demanded direct popular vote to choose his successor, rather than a hand-picked, pro-Beijing and pro-business selection committee, said that allowing free and open elections was undesirable, because it would empower Hong Kong’s working poor to dominate its politics.
In an interview with the International New York Times, he stated that the Hong Kong system of preselected electors ensures broad sectoral representation.
And his justification: “You have to take care of all the sectors in Hong Kong as much as you can. And if it’s entirely a numbers game and numeric representation, then obviously you would be talking to half of the people in Hong Kong who earn less than US$1,800 a month. Then you would end up with that kind of politics and policies.”
The Korean “nut rage” incident and the Hong Kong Chief Executive’s political stance strikingly illustrate two of the stark realities of our time: the arrogance and insensitivity of the rich and the authoritarian ruler’s utter disdain of the masa. Both seem to describe the suspicion and indifference the rich and the powerful feel towards their constituents. The powerful can blithely ignore public sentiment while the rich disregard individual dignity.
The upshot is the systematic hollowing out of the middle class and global youth unemployment. According to Credit Suisse’s 2013 Global Wealth Report, the world’s richest 15 percent holds as much as 83 percent of global wealth, while 70 percent of the global population holds only 3 percent. And as 2014 fades away and 2015 begins, we see horrific atrocities being committed and terrorism exploding even in opulent societies.
Five years ago, pundits were talking about democracy on the march. Now, we see the opposite happening because so-called democratic leaders are in fear and awe of the rich and powerful.
E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.