the executive, personal control over alloca- ASHES & DIAMONDS tion of resources in the economy, a scrim Piggies at market: By Alexander Cockburn of populist rhetoric. When Brazil's most dis- tinguished newspaper, the Folha de Sao The Brazilian their holders in twelve monthly install- restrictions on imports, which will further Paulo, featured a picture of Collor in mili- ments, thus tying up the confiscated funds erode Brazil's domestic economy. tary rig, the newspaper's offices were in- paradigm for over two years. What has Collor's program meant in the vaded the next day and its directors seized Whom did this confiscation affect? Most short term? There have been huge layoffs, by the military police, at which point the Privatization, launched in the First World bank accounts are held by Brazil's less with more than 20,000 workers idled in less by Margaret Thatcher and her British team Folha featured a similar photograph of Mus- wealthy—shopkeepers, unionized laborers, than a month. Up to 90 percent of the auto solini. of "free market" theocrats, is now raging cab drivers, small businessmen, etc. Those and machine capacity of the state of Sao through Latin America and Eastern Europe, Collor's economic strategy is reform by with more cash generally invested in Paulo—the economic core of Brazil—has dismemberment, the model presently being i at precisely the moment Thatcher's popu- Brazil's "overnight" market in speculative closed down, and more than 10,000 govern- \ larity plummets to record lows in the United essayed in Poland and nervously heralded bonds and currencies that yielded rates ment employees are soon to be laid off. earlier this week in Moscow by Gorbachev's ! Kingdom and Britain's economic "revival" well above inflation. Virtually all large cor- Banks and businesses have failed by the I turns out to be hollow. economic adviser, Leonid Abalkin. The plan porate groups held their millions in the dozen. outlined by Abalkin and reported in the I From Mexico to Argentina to Poland, econ- "overnight" or overseas. Well-publicized arrests of jewelers, super- omists trained in the United States are now Western press on Tuesday similarly looks Collor and his economic team froze the market and business executives, charged to the shutdown of state enterprises, un- pushing through drastic deflationary on- "overnight" in a manner quite different from with various economic crimes, have bur- slaughts on old structures of state ownership trammeled foreign investment, mass un- the confiscation of checking and savings nished Collor's populist image, while the employment and the annulment of workers' and employment, on subsidies and public accounts. Twenty percent of the assets in country spirals into depression and its as- patronage, and even on private assets. rights as the only way forward. Call that a given "overnight" account could be re- sets are thrown on the international auction fascism too, or perhaps Market Stalinism, The "free market" onslaught was promot- claimed, while 80 percent would be confis- block. Collor's popularity is running at 75 with "market discipline" imposed by dic- ed in its most disastrously naked guise in cated into the Central Bank for eighteen percent approval. The little guy says he has tatorial fiat—the worst of both systems. Bolivia, where Harvard's Jeffrey Sachs, now months. As the Brazilian economy went into the same bank balance—$1000—as the So the newly emerging world model is on retainer in Poland and Czechoslovakia, shock and prices crashed, those with any richest man in Brazil, ignoring the matter not the national "free market" but author- urged a scorched-earth assault on hyperin- cash at all—notably the 20 percent availa- of the "overnight." This popularity is ter- itarian capitalism as dreamed of by leaders flation. Under his direction, the state simply ble to "overnight" account holders—were rorizing Brazil's Congress, which, with elec- from Santiago and Buenos Aires through Lon- closed down, with about half the labor force in a relatively good situation to take advan- tions in the fall, is being compliant, with don to Beijing. For Thatcher an answer turned out on the street and much signifi- tage of such opportunities as a stock mar- the fierce exception of the Workers Party. came, violently, last week in the form of cant economic activity ceasing altogether. ket that lost 60 percent of its value or to protest against the poll tax. For the leaders Inflation stopped, but so did everything Brazil's powerful unions, who led the as- to purchase state enterprises for sale at 30 sault against the military, now find them- in Beijing, an answer came in Tiananmen else, and soon Bolivia's government was percent of their value. Square. Gorbachev awaits the response of urgently seeking advice elsewhere on how selves under direct threat. Their gains had Furthermore, people with substantial for- been most palpable in the state-controlled the Soviet working class. In Latin America, to get things going again. The Poles should tunes taken by the government are already moving from military fascism to market fas- take notice of this sorry tale. steel and oil industries. But state corpora- making arrangements for getting their tions—notably Siderbras, the state's steel cism (or enduring both simultaneously), A rather more ominous story is unfolding money back, negotiating for lucrative con- the fate of these strategies will similarly be in Brazil, which, in contrast to the Bolivian industry—will soon be for sale, with new cessions and so forth. In this sense Collor's and hostile ownership in view. settled in the streets. • economy sustained mostly by coca cultiva- seizure of assets has amounted to economic tion, is the eighth largest in the world. Collor's program amounts to a form of hostage-taking to consolidate his political fascism: abrupt concentration of power in Distributed by the LA Weekly. In December, at the climax of a desper- base. ately tight race between the socialist Work- The more than $100 billion now concen- ers Party candidate, Lula, and the former gov- trated in the Central Bank fund is at the ernor of Alagoas, Fernando Collor de Mello, disposition of Collor, who will decide which victory was snatched by Col lor. who had been companies get their money back and on denouncing state corruption and who had what terms. This of course creates a tre- seized some of Lula's lightning by a populist mendous potential for corruption. City/State/Zip message to Brazil's millions of homeless, If Lula—or Chile's Allende—had tried such Send my first gift to: abandoned and desperately poor. a program, the military would have moved No sooner had Collor taken office in at once, and the international press would NAME March than he announced a savage pro- , have echoed with denunciations of "totali- gram of retrenchment and deflation. His tarian" tactics. But no one who matters is plan entailed one of the most abrupt at- mistaking Collor for a radical or someone City/State/Zip X1990A tempts at centralization of power in politi- who is more than rhetorically wedded to G $34.95 one year D $ 18.95 for 29 issues cal memory, designed to give Collor and the dreams of Brazil's descamisadas. f ] New order Cl Renewal his advisers discretionary powers over Collor has also struck down barriers to Send my second gift to: state and private assets undreamed of by foreign investment, permitting interna- the military regime that had controlled tional investors to pick up tempting por- Brazil for a generation. tions of Brazil's crumbling economic mason- Address Collor's deflationary plan, enacted on ry, as well as mineral concessions, at bar- March 16, one day after he took office, was gain-basement prices. An unconfirmed re- City/State/Ztp X1990A to freeze all bank accounts and to change port in the Journal do Brazil recently had U $24.95 one year U $ 16.95 for 29 issues the currency. All funds over $1,000 would Japanese investors agreeing to assume re- Cl New order H Renewal revert from the accounts in which they had sponsibility for Brazil's external debt in ex- Send my third gift to: been lodged to named accounts in Brazil's change for rights to all the gold reserves in Central Bank, where they would remain for the Amazon. NAME eighteen months and then be paid back to Simultaneously Collor has cleared away

Qty/Stale/Zip X1990A MARIA SCALZiTTi LJ $ 19.95 one year LJ $ 14.95 for 29 issues r MATERNITY WEAR D New order LJ Renewal CHILDREN'S CLOTHING LJ Payment enclosed. NURSERY FURNITURE D Bill me later. TOYS. BOOKS. CAR SEATS f D Charge my MOVisa ETC. # ______exp. date. Or call our toll free number 1-800-435-0715. In Illinois | . call 1-800-892-0753. NC In These Times A gift card will be sent announcing your gift. QUALITY RESALE FOR MOMS AND KIDS E Please write any additional gifts on a separate sheet of (WE SELL ON CONSIGNMENT) !9l2DebsAve. paper. Each gift being sent to Canada or Mexico, please 3525 N. SOUTHPORT. CHICAGO. IL 6O657 • (3 1 2) 525-3887 add $6.50 postage for 29 issues and $ 13.00 for one yean All other foreign orders add $23.20 for 29 issues or 10% OFF WITH THIS AD. Mt. Morris, IL 61054 $33.00 for one year

IN THESE TIMES APRIL 25-MAY 1, 1990 17 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED

THE ARTS / woke up this morning the disc's only funny track, where Bent on destruction you can't even leave your house In my ivory tower without a hassle: "I took a little drive On the sunny side of the street down the miracle mile/ Cop looked I'm the last jet pilot at me with the cutest smile/ Said get With twenty-twenty vision on the floor, pancake style/ I'm And mind bending power gonna take you downtown to cool On a mission from God off for a while." There's no hope at -The Screaming Blue Messiahs all. The record's final lyrics find Car- "Four Engines Burning ter wailing, "I'm gonnna be here the (Over the USA)" rest of my life" from his literal and metaphorical jail. By Mark G. Judge Midnight Oil's still burning: CCORDING TO A RECENT M4C- The members of Australia's Midnight Neil-LehrerNewsHour, pop Oil also know that we're in hell but music Armageddon has ar- want something done about it now. A rived. Ten years after the They impressed critics with their Clash declared "Armageddon Time" 1988 breakthrough album Diesel and MacNeih "essayist" Penny Stallings' Dust, and it's hard to criticize them oddly bemused report noted the for getting preachy because they "bleakness" pervasive in pop these write great songs. The Oils seek some kind of pure, aboriginal nir- vana, but the dream is constantly MUSIC polluted by thugs and corporate fix- ers—like in "Blue Sky Mine," the new days. 1 guess Jim and Robin were album's title track: "So I'm caught at feeling a touch arthritic and decided the junction still waiting for medi- to send a correspondent to the cine The sweat of my brow keeps rock'n'roll trenches, even if only to feeding the engine Hope the crumbs mouth dispatches from the Office of in a pocket can keep me for another Propaganda. And what's the news night And if the Blue Sky Mining from the front? company won't come to my rescue Well, if Stallings' essay proved any- Bill Carter of the Screaming Blue Messiahs: something more than cartoon If the sugar refining company won't thing, it's that her radio is jammed save me Who's gonna save me?" on the top 40. With the exception of clever for their own good, who They wrap their despair in pretty Neil Young, the post-punk artists she sounded like they would blow the melodies falling somewhere be- chose to emphasize her misin- roof off but sang about cartoons. tween heavy metal and pop. and the formed point—we'll call them the Jagged rocks out On Totally Religious, Carter— effect is one of forceful conviction. Four Horsemen—are without excep- bald Barn-Bam if ever there was (Incidentally. Peter Garrett, Midnight tions paragons of the kind of sonor- one—decides to get serious. While Oil's singer spokesman, is as bald as ous, heavy-marketing, high-school- of the mainstream scream-along melodies are in short- a cueball, just like the Messiahs' Bill reunion-theme drivel that the late er supply than on their first two al- Carter. Coincidence?) Lester Bangs once referred to as "air plished, Joel's "We Didn't Start the Ultimately, rock'n'roll that con- bums (Gun-Shy and Bikini Red), lyr- Midnight Oil's specialty is the spray." The list reads like the CD col- Fire"—noted in Stallings' story—is jures images of the violent destruc- ically it's their most accomplished Rousing Anthem—you know. Never lection at a Georgetown cocktail party the worst single in years. Basically, tion of a person, country or planet to date. Consider "Wall of Shame," Forget, Fight Back, Don't Give In, etc. for the Young Americans for Free- the song cascades through a litany is widely shunned by timid radio which ought to be played as a rebut- And they know who the enemy is. dom: Billy Joel, Don Henley, Tracy of historical references and pop programmers and journalists. Thus tal every time "We Didn't Start the They've been writing ecologically Chapman and Phil Collins. (I'm will- icons, spanning a period of late-20th- rap is continually snubbed (ever Fire" pipes in: "1 used to be the wind conscious songs for years, and the ing to accept the possibility that Phil century American culture that is, of heard Public Enemy on the radio?), in the Holocaust/Blowing through line connecting environmental dis- Collins is the Antichrist, but he sure course, self-referential for the ego- and the Clash's only stateside hit was the dust of the souls that were lost/ aster and governmental malfeasance as hell isn't writing music like it.) maniacal Joel. the fluffy "Rock the Casba." So if you The betrayer of all trust The holder is drawn often on Blue Sky Mine. Taken individually, Tracy Chap- I'd like to quote the lyrics accur- take your revelations seriously, turn of a fatal charm." In Carter's bleak "So you cut all the tall trees down," man is the least offensive. (Her most ately but I can't, 'cause I'd rather the radio off and go down to your world of rubble and steel, the blood- Garrett.sings on "River Runs Red," caustic criticism thus far came from break my own arm than buy the local record store for two recent re- thirsty madmen have the upper hand "You poisoned the sky and the sea writer Mark Jenkins: "This revolution single. But I'm sure, with the relent- leases that offer a chilling foretaste and the streets are an inferno. You've taken what's good from the won't only be televised; it'll be CD'd less media saturation surrounding of hell: the Screaming Blue Messiahs' Totally Religious was recorded in ground/ And left precious little for too.") She's made clear in interviews the hit single, that you've all heard Totally Religious and Midnight Oil's Baltimore, and the sound of urban me." There's a fervent urgency to the and with the single "Born to Fight" it anyway. He does a New Yawk Blue Sky Mine. decay seeps off the tracks; victims music reflective of the doom the that she's uncomfortable with her white-bread rap, simply reciting Screaming blues: Totally Religi- are assaulted on the ground by cops leaders we elected have made for whitewashing by the mainstream names and events: Joe DiMaggio, ous sounds like a fatal car crash. and in the air by "nitro satellites." us, as well as an honest, anti-rock media, and her origins as urban Catcher in the Rye, Joe McCarthy, Launching off with "Four Engines Hell, a fellah can't even get a drink, star empathy with the salt of the troubador are genuine. Korea, Vietnam, Watergate, etc., then Burning (Over the USA)"—a Doctor 'cause "it don't go down in this dumb Earth—"Don't put me on your bed- Cartoon rock: The others don't comes up with the refrain "We didn't Strangelove nightmare scrawled in town." That's from "All Gassed Up," room wall," Garrett admonishes in get off so easily. Don Henley will go start the fire/ It was always bumin' craters by "the witchfinder general" "King of the Mountain." down in history as the frontman of since the world's been turnin'." who's "got four engines burning over Like Totally Religious, Blue Sky the Eagles, the most boring band in What does this mean? It means your town"—the album is incessant I'm willing to accept Mine ends on a hopeless note with the history of recorded music. He Billy's been writing lyrics while on mayhem from countdown to crash- "Antarctica": "There must be one couldn't get a reaction out of Daffy the crapper, that's what. We didn't down. Not that the music's sloppy; the possibility that place left in the world/ Where the Duck. Phil Collins will be remem- start the fire. In other words, hey, the Messiahs, a British trio headed musician Phil skin says it can breathe/ There's bered as the leader of the second man, this shit's been goin' on forever, by Bill Carter, maintain a taut, high- gotta be one place left in the world/ most boring band in history, Gene- man, and we're not responsible, octane thrust, particularly on post- "Filler" Collins is It's a solitude of distance and relief/ sis. He looks like Elmer Fudd. Both man; it's just the nature of the beast. nuclear crunch punk like "Mega City the Antichrist, but There's gotta be one place left in of them write pathologically dull Bullshit. There were people behind 1," "Big Big Sky" and "Gunfight." Up the world." That's why the Oils are songs that have lately reached op- and responsible for the Korean War, until now the Messiahs have been he sure as hell screaming—if such a place does pressive levels of hubris. But they the House Committee on Un-Ameri- jesters of chaos, particularly on their isn't writing music exist, you can be sure it won't be have yet to reach the pretentious can Activities—incoherent maniacs last release, Bikini Red, which had around for long. And if Armageddon heights of their comrade-in-alarm, like Joel, probably—as well as the songs like "I Wanna Be a Flintstone" like it. is coming, it will be a fire very much Billy "I'm the Italian Pat Boone" Joel, Yankees and Holden Caulfield. And and "I Can Speak American." They of our own making. [WJ the Wiley Coyote of the bunch. Arro- Jesus—if we didn't start the fire that were the Eddie Haskells of the under- Mark G. Judge is a writer living in the gant, doltish, perpetually unaccom- devoured Southeast Asia, who did? ground, smart-alecky pranksters too Washington, D.C. area. 18 IN THESE TIMES APRIL 25-MAY 1, 1990 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED