A soaring oil price that’s breaking all records is hardly news these days, but what’s news to me today is the reason behind the latest rise: that the rescue work after China’s earthquake may tighten the demand on diesel.
I started hurling verbal abuse at whoever said those words as soon as I heard them. From a purely economical point of view, the rescue effort will be stretched out over a rather long period of time, and surely it’s not going to strain the global supply of diesel or other petroleum products in an instant. It disgusts me that someone is profiteering from such a massive humanitarian catastrophe, when we should be caring about the welfare of the survivors as the first and foremost priority. How different is it from, let’s say, a scum who is lifting the price of food or other vital supplies in the disaster zone?
Another recent development has been bugging me for some time, namely the skyrocketing prices of foodstuffs. I was particularly disturbed when I first read about the hike in the price of rice, because it’s going to hit hard on some of the poorest people in the world. For them, rice is their staple food and they don’t really have any alternatives. Very, very few of them will be able to stock up on their own supplies, leaving most people at the mercy of those who hold the greatest sway on rice prices. Those are the traders who make their living from financial speculations, and they stand to reap most of the benefits - certainly a lot more than the dilute gains that manage to trickle down to the lowly rice farmer.
Making money is not a sin, but it’s plainly sinful to be banking on the misery of others!
國際油價屢創新高，投機炒賣方興未艾，今日又有最新炒作藉口，就是四川地震後重建，可能需大量入口柴油。
聽罷第一個反應，就是破口大罵。從純經濟角度考慮，重建非一朝一夕之事，真的會一下子抽緊國際柴油供應嗎？而且在這個危難的時候，竟有人藉此把本已高企的油價再拓高，根本就是發死人財，本質上跟（比喻）在災場把每瓶礦泉水由5元抬價至50元的無良行為無異。
最近另一則令我不快的消息，就是國際糧食價格不斷上漲。打從第一次讀到米價上升的新聞，我就心想：這回全世界的窮人遭殃了！世上以米飯為主食的人，不少都活在低收入國家，不吃米飯別無他擇，有餘錢的還可貯糧，再窮的就任人魚肉了。雖然米價上漲也能提升農民的收入，但相比起靠炒賣為生的那班人，我想是微不足道吧。
發達有誰不想，但生財不祇要有道，也得講講良心啊！
I started hurling verbal abuse at whoever said those words as soon as I heard them. From a purely economical point of view, the rescue effort will be stretched out over a rather long period of time, and surely it’s not going to strain the global supply of diesel or other petroleum products in an instant. It disgusts me that someone is profiteering from such a massive humanitarian catastrophe, when we should be caring about the welfare of the survivors as the first and foremost priority. How different is it from, let’s say, a scum who is lifting the price of food or other vital supplies in the disaster zone?
Another recent development has been bugging me for some time, namely the skyrocketing prices of foodstuffs. I was particularly disturbed when I first read about the hike in the price of rice, because it’s going to hit hard on some of the poorest people in the world. For them, rice is their staple food and they don’t really have any alternatives. Very, very few of them will be able to stock up on their own supplies, leaving most people at the mercy of those who hold the greatest sway on rice prices. Those are the traders who make their living from financial speculations, and they stand to reap most of the benefits - certainly a lot more than the dilute gains that manage to trickle down to the lowly rice farmer.
Making money is not a sin, but it’s plainly sinful to be banking on the misery of others!
國際油價屢創新高，投機炒賣方興未艾，今日又有最新炒作藉口，就是四川地震後重建，可能需大量入口柴油。
聽罷第一個反應，就是破口大罵。從純經濟角度考慮，重建非一朝一夕之事，真的會一下子抽緊國際柴油供應嗎？而且在這個危難的時候，竟有人藉此把本已高企的油價再拓高，根本就是發死人財，本質上跟（比喻）在災場把每瓶礦泉水由5元抬價至50元的無良行為無異。
最近另一則令我不快的消息，就是國際糧食價格不斷上漲。打從第一次讀到米價上升的新聞，我就心想：這回全世界的窮人遭殃了！世上以米飯為主食的人，不少都活在低收入國家，不吃米飯別無他擇，有餘錢的還可貯糧，再窮的就任人魚肉了。雖然米價上漲也能提升農民的收入，但相比起靠炒賣為生的那班人，我想是微不足道吧。
發達有誰不想，但生財不祇要有道，也得講講良心啊！
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