© Eso Antons Benjamins
NOT-VIOLENT TERROR
39 The Horror (II)

(continued from blog 38.)

This is how it came to be that many Latvians who served the former Soviet Union came to serve Latvia within the European Union. The Soviet officials, who became officials in government and private companies, soon intermixed with agents who came from developed countries (Latvian-Americans, Latvian-Australians, Latvian-Canadians, Latvian-Germans, etc.) and opened banks with few credentials of their own to be bankers. They let “investors” come and invest in big supermarket chains to out-compete mom and pop shops and soak up whatever little wealth the Latvians had left. The system worked well for almost nineteen years.

Today Latvians are forced to deforest their land to survive. The butchery of the forests slows down the speed of Latvia with which it falls into the abyss. But it does not alter the direction to economic and cultural oblivion set by the political elite of parliamentarian Latvia. The method—slowing death in the near term, but doing nothing to ensure survival over the long-term, enables the liberal democratic establishment to justify “progress”. The doctor—as it happens, the current President of Latvia happens to be a doctor of medicine—needs only point at the patient and say: But, hey, he’s still alive! The Saeima and its ministers are doing just fine.

In order not to upset the populace and arouse populist unhappiness among its own, the haves of the European Union have guaranteed, the Latvian politicians a good living by paying no attention to their anti-populism, a near obsession with right wing (labējo) politics and near absent understanding why populism has become almost a hate word. But this does not seem to matter. Europe does not understand. Europe after all, is not only the home of the tradition of the Sacred King, but its victorious successor, the order of those who are “more-equal-than-others”. In short, the message from Brussels is that the Latvian political elite may continue to dumb down Latvia as the Latvians who served the Kremlin had done before them, just a little less obviously. They must do it “humanely” now, perhaps by encouraging the demographics of the country to go into a death spiral rather than sending Latvians off to the gulags. The old will get a pension cut to make them die sooner. Painful as all this may be to Latvians, the “more-equal-than-other” groups (whether in Latvia or elsewhere in Europe) will be in their life rafts and……………

These blogs tend to be a continuum of an idea or thought, which is why—if you are interested in what you have read—you are encouraged to consider reading the previous blog and the blog hereafter.

If you copy this blog for your own files, or to be forwarded, or its content is otherwise mentioned, please credit the author and http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/ 

Today Latvians are forced to deforest their land to survive. The butchery of the forests….....

I find this quote very dubious.  It’s like saying farmers are ‘forced’ to harvest their wheat to survive.  Trees are like any crop - they are harvested when they are ready.  If they are harvested too soon, the ‘farmer’ gets less for the crop.  If they are harvested too late they start to rot and lose their value.  Latvia has strict regulations for when trees can be harvested, and permission to harvest needs to be shown when logs are sold.  This permission is not given unless the trees are sufficiently old.  Of course I’m not saying abuse of the regulations does not happen, but it is difficult and gives little benefit to the owners.

The Latvian regulations, which are largely, to my knowledge, observed, are also designed to protect the wildlife that depends on the trees, so no contiguous area of more than 5 hectares (12.5 acres) can be felled at one time.  If an adjacent area is ready for felling, then the owner must wait 5 years before doing so.

One interesting fact about Latvian forests - in 1939, 25% of Latvia was forest.  Now it is about 49% and is still growing each year.  The time when Latvia was deforested to turn forest into arable or grazing land was during the first spell of independence.  My mother remembers her grandfather clearing forest, and digging the stumps out and dragging them away with horses.  Modern Latvia is not like Brazil where land is deforested to grow crops or cows.  Latvia has too much land that is not forest and is not used, so if we want land for crops or grazing there is no shortage - certainly not in the Limbazi area.

Just thought I’d set that straight!  :)

Džons

I take it then that those large empty fields that just recently grew cedar trees and line the road coming into Riga from Sigulda way shows the state at work—just when the prices on the world market are at their worst?

The following (in Latvian) is worth reading.  http://www.delfi.lv/news/comment/comment/article.php?id=27470539

Thanks, Džon, for the rare dose of clarity. As you said, the law isn’t always obeyed. The fact is that a good bit of the Latvian industry long consisted of illegally felled Russian timber smuggled across the border, for instance. But in the main I fully agree with you—Latvian woodlands are quite well-maintained, hover at around half the country’s area (very unusual around here!) and shouldn’t be used as a political prop in this way; we’re not talking about old-growth forests, which are few and mostly well-protected. Whether it is wise to sell woods off and how is another question, and cutting green belts around towns is yet another.

Is the Ulme worth reading? Poor Jaņdžs tried to mumble some stuff about populism and fascism not coinciding once, and then pulls this out? Spare me, Jaņdž!

Vysu lobu,
/P

NOT-VIOLENT TERROR
40 The Horror (III)
now at blog site, re http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/ 

Though stories of horror are not new and have been heightened to the point where the reader can almost feel horror not only in the abstract, but as claustrophobia [Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) is a classic example of this literary genre], the most ancient and horrific horror story is Sophocles’ famous tragedy “Oedipus Rex” or “King Oedipus”.

Heretofore, Sophocles’ tragedy has gained most of its notoriety for three reasons: 1) as a play that has a ‘perfect plot’; 2) as a story that involves a mother and son marriage; and 3) the ‘riddle of the Sphinx’. This writer would like to add a fourth reason for notoriety of the tragedy: 4) Oedipus’ rise to power causes the death of ten persons of his extended family, beginning with his (unwitting) killing of his father, and ending with the death of Tiresias, the seer. As the latter’s death is not an event that Sophocles wrote into the play, let me explain how I came to perceive that Tiresias died.

One may argue that “horror” as a subject matter in popular literature burst on the literary stage of the 19th century for a reason: it had, more or less,. become part of everyone’s daily experience. Perhaps it was the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the decapitation of the French King (1793) that triggered the Reign of Terror (1793-1794) that made terror a subject of daily discussion for the public.

Whatever the history of horror, when Joseph Conrad wrote his novella “Heart of Darkness” (1902), horror, barely hidden, had become a part of a way of life. “Heart of Darkness” is a story of a cynical romantic, one Kurtz, who goes to Africa as a Company agent to hunt for ivory and is ready to kill to get it. See http://tinyurl.com/yfqdwlc  The teller of the story, one Marlow, the captain of a ship sent to return Kurtz from somewhere far up the Congo River, finds Kurtz near death. Kurtz gives Marlow some papers he wants returned to England and a photograph of his Intended (bride) in England. When Kurtz dies, his last words are: “The horror, the horror”. The meaning of these words have been interpreted variously. One interpretation is that the words refer to life itself, as for example when one has a reputation of being a writer, a painter, a musician, a universal genius (Kurtz), yet has little hesitation to kill in order to become wealthy. In short, Kurtz stands for the character of Western civilization. Our civilization is the horror.

Upon his return to England, Marlow meets Kurtz’s Intended ..............

These blogs tend to be a continuum of an idea or thought, which is why—if you are interested in what you have read—you are encouraged to consider reading the previous blog and the blog hereafter.

If you copy this blog for your own files, or to be forwarded, or its content is otherwise mentioned, please credit the author and http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/

(Is Riga suffering from the plague that haunted the Thebes of Oedipus? Answer soon coming up.)

Jandžs wrote:-

I take it then that those large empty fields that just recently grew cedar trees and line the road coming into Riga from Sigulda way shows the state at work—just when the prices on the world market are at their worst?

I assume you are talking about two clearances on the Vidzemes šosejs.  If so, I thought they were pine, not cedar.  I’m not aware of large plantations of cedar in Latvia but I could be wrong.  I’ve no idea who owns the land, or why the trees were cut, but it’s clear that the largest industry in Latvia hasn’t shut down completely - do you think it should? :)

Pēteris wrote:-

The fact is that a good bit of the Latvian industry long consisted of illegally felled Russian timber smuggled across the border

I didn’t know this, and it surprises me.  Having seen how much timber 5 ha. of mature forest yields, it’s not the kind of contraband that can be smuggled in a false bottom of a suitcase! :)

Džon, you are right. The trees are pines. I miswrote. As for the unseemly open spaces, that is the governbment making it obvious how its failure cannot escape public notice even on the physical landscape. Lumber is cheap on the world markets these days, and what we have here is a fire sale and fire like cutting of Latvia’s forests is commencing to satisfy this market. I would rather the government made a law that Latvia’s trees must be cut by handsaws until tree products are made and processed here in Latvia. But so it goes….

Wednesday, October 21, 2009
© Eso Antons Benjamins
NOT-VIOLENT TERROR
41 Tiresias Revenge (II)
This blog continues a play called Tiresias Revenge.

The play commences with blog 40 and has a few blogs (through 47) to run. I wrote the play some years ago using various sources for the text of King Oedipus, all scholarly books as I remember. Who would read this stuff except a student of literature? Yech! Nevertheless, I hope you read it. It actually is one of the best horror stories ever, and it fits Latvia like a good pair of shoes.

Chorus (as it turns the palms of its hands up in a gesture of receiving):

As for the unseemly open spaces, that is the governbment making it obvious how its failure cannot escape public notice even on the physical landscape. Lumber is cheap on the world markets these days, and what we have here is a fire sale and fire like cutting of Latvia’s forests is commencing to satisfy this market. I would rather the government made a law that Latvia’s trees must be cut by handsaws until tree products are made and processed here in Latvia. But so it goes….

Jandžs,

Do you have any understanding at all about the timber industry in Latvia?  Yes, 15 years ago most logs were exported unprocessed, but now there are hundreds of sawmills in Latvia processing timber, making everything from floorboards to parquet, not to mention the many speciality manufacturers of wood products such as furniture and toys.  I can think of 10 sawmills that I know of in and around Limbaži.  None have gone out of business yet, which means they are all buying logs from forest owners.  Sure orders are down, and one sawmill is closing down for two months this winter, but this is one that previously was importing some logs from Belarus when demand was high.  For these sawmills to continue in business, mature forest needs to be cut, and forest owners have to be willing to sell.  It’s a market, and if owners aren’t willing to sell, then the price will go up.

BTW, do you have any evidence at all that the clearances on the Vidzemes šosejs are owned by the state?

BTW(2), calling a forest clearance an ‘unseemly open space’ is absurd, and demonstrates an immature and inappropriately romantic view of forests.

Džons

.........calling a forest clearance an ‘unseemly open space’ is absurd, and demonstrates an immature and inappropriately romantic view of forests…........
..............................
A rose is a rose is a rose. A scar is a scar is a scar.
An unseemly open space is an inappropriately romantic view of the forest?
Who does the property belong to? My guess is the government, state or local. In another country, someone on the net would hv provided the answer for us long ago.
I am glad to hear that the Limbaži region is so prosperous. I just happen to live in the region and see no prosperity to speak of. Exceptions of course exist. I have no access to timber prices in Latvia, but here is a chart from the U.S. I expect the pattern in Latvia is no better. http://tinyurl.com/ygr5qpk
Blog 44 on view at http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/

Jandžs,

Before I spend more time conversing with you, could you please explain how trees can be cut down to provide the material for timber housing, furniture and other wood products that Latvia depends on, without leaving an ‘unseemly open space’?

Džons

Džon, you are one of the Wandering Johns, who pays no attention to the topic, but digresses to where the topic does not wish to go but in passing.

If you wish to display your knowledge of the forest industry in Latvia and how well it has done in bringing Latvians to their feet do so by bringing up a site on that matter. I do have 1-44 blogs for you to read at my site, and each blog has a place for letters. If it bores you, well, so be it, but leave it to the subject matter that the site is about. This post is to let the public know of my ruminations on why “populism” is a dirty among Latvia’s elite and why these have managed to turns the country’s demographics into a death spiral. The landscape scarred by fire sale forest cutting is just an outward sign of the destruction of Latvia.

My point is that the temple to John that I have built in Braslavas pagasts (I cannot yet get used to saying Aloja novads) in memory of “izcirstiem mežiem” (cut forests) is not to disciplined cutting of mature forests, but FIRE SALE CUTTING that currently goes on in Latvia. This is obvious everywhere you go or drive and have your eyes open to the facts. Incidentally, the price difference between low prices and high prices just could cover much of the debt the Latvian government along with the Swedish banks have saddled Latvia with.

Blog 44 on view at http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/ Hopefully, I will be able to enter the rest of “Tiresias’ Revenge” over the weekend, and resume on the subject of populism and what its denigration by the elite in Latvia means.

Jandžs,

I suspected you wouldn’t answer my question which is “How can trees be cut down to provide the material for timber housing, furniture and other wood products that Latvia depends on, without leaving an ‘unseemly open space’?”.  Also, I never said Limbaži was prosperous - I was just using this are as an example of the large number of sawmills in Latvia that depend on continued cutting of forests.

BTW, this is an open forum so I can comment on whatever I like.  If the rest of your blog demonstrates the same ignorance as your comments on forests, then I am sure it is not worth reading.

Džons

A scar on the landscape when left as a result of the mismanagement and corruption of the state by the elite with utter contempt for the rest of the population is what I am talking about. Latvia is becoming just such a scar on the landscape of Earth, both culturally and in physical appearance. The scarred roadside view driving from Sigulda to Riga speaks volumes. One of my neighbors a farmer, when told about this laughed and said (to paraphrase): “I return what I make to the bank to pay for the credits I have taken, and the bank returns me nothing. So, everyone is cutting down their woods to pay for the rest of their necessities.”

Blog 44 on view at http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/ Hopefully, I will be able to enter the rest of “Tiresias’ Revenge” over the weekend, and resume on the subject of populism and what its denigration by the elite in Latvia means.

Thought I didn’t have anything to say here (and probably shouldn’t), but I do know a bit about tree/timber prices. A client of mine is selling the trees on about 100 hectares of land. Though I am sure that it hurt his money hoarding soul, he got the “tickets” to cut the trees legally and is selling them to a large international saw mill. He will not do the cutting himself. The “tickets” (essentially the right to cut down the tree) will be sold for 25 LVL/cubic meter. He tells me that he could get a bit more than double if he did the cutting and hauling himself. All totally legal. What actually drove this (demand for legal documentation) is big changes in the lumber industry over the past few years. Almost no one outside of LV will buy lumber from untraceable (no legal docs) trees.

And, for the record, he is selling the timber to raise the balance of an investment that he is making in a non-ferrous metals extrusion factory in Latvia. The company will employee 30 to start with average wages in the 500/month range. I may actually be doing some selling for them. Any buyers out there?

populism < trees < non-ferrous metals !?
I suppose with the 6.8 billion consumers (9.1 billion by 2050) making it at least 4 billion too many and the “greens” in lockstep with the middle class, we should make it < God next? The subject matter at this site is “populism”. Of course, any irrelevant material is appreciated and will drive the original inputter open the topic of populism in another topic window, or simply remined you once more that….

Blog 45 on view at http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/ Hopefully, I will be able to enter the rest of “Tiresias’ Revenge” over the weekend. Note that Thebes = Latvia (for argument’s sake). I hope to resume on the subject of populism more directly after “Tiresias’ Revenge” becomes reference material.

1. This is a discussion thread on a forum, which is on a site.
2. You do not own it. You may have begun the thread, but it really is not up to you determine what directions it goes.
3. Non-ferrous metals are relevant because the effort toward industry (sustainable jobs at reasonable pay) should benefit the populace more than some 18th century idyllic fantasy. With all due respect.
4. My client is fighting against the stream (as are you) to bring something here.

Oh forgot - the metal to be used is scrap. That has a positive impact as well.