Monday, June 18, 2007

AN AMERICAN SANDWICH - 2

Another wonderful thing we noticed about America this time is how much more integrated it is – apparently, years of affirmative action are finally paying off in the evolution of a much larger black middle class. I know, I know, there are no black people left in America, only African Americans, but please pardon my political incorrectness, Im from India, after all. [While I scoff at political correctness, perhaps I should pay more attention, although to me it is simply really affirmative action gone over the top – this is America, after all].

Anyway, we saw and met a lot more black and white people partying together, even in New York, a far cry from the time I lived there. I remember one time back in the early 1980s, an old friend, Duane, had taken me to a club near Lincoln Center which was 100% black (plus one Indian) and, on my being surprised, said, hell man, black people and white people don’t party together in New York, not like they do on the coast. Well, Duane bhaijan, things are changing. The rooftop bars at 60T were quite mixed the few days we were there, although, as I recall, the ones midtown were not. Maybe downtown is still the cutting edge.

I spoke about this to Nicole, who has recently hooked up with one of my closest friends, and is part of a politically left-leaning mixed race couple, and was a bit surprised – left-leaning, remember – when she readily agreed that there seemed to be more mixed race couples around. Of course, this could simply be because she herself was part of a mixed race couple and you always see more of who you are around you.

But we saw colors mingling everywhere. In fact, on the West Coast (right on, Duane bhaijan) and in Miami, the integration is much louder, but its more Spanish-speaking in color. Of course, there were concerns. Momo, my cousin in San Diego was pretty pissed off that the bi-lingual education in the public schools pushed things down to the lowest denominator to where he had to put his daughter into private school, even though that required him to schlep her back and forth most days. But, on the other hand, his step-daughter-in-law (welcome to California), Shannon, is married to a Mexican kid, who shared Momos passion for the Padres and cigars.

Net net, I think my observation is correct. After all, theres even a black guy trying to run for president on a major political ticket

And this – the fact that there is a lot less racial tension around – is, to my mind, one of the most unremarked of invisible forces that is boosting the US economy. I mean, if there is less energy being spent in anger and hatred, theres more energy left for living and making money. Indeed, if I am correct and this new integration continues to grow, we will see US growth surprise on the upside, which means that interest rates will take longer to come down than people exect and the dollar will, notwithstanding the current account deficit (which, while high, is, incidentally, falling relative to GDP), get stronger, at least against the Euro and sterling.

Incidentally, the funniest example of this new integration we saw was in the pool at the Ritz Carlton in Miami, where, one evening, we met these two young (19 and 21) fat (sorry) black girls, who – prepare for more political incorrectness – looked like any number of media pictures of poor black inner-city kids, who spend all their time doing crack and having babies with a series of cool ass-holes. Turned out they flew to Miami from Baltimore first class and were hanging out at the Ritz. While the first class was probably simply a result of the Great American Travel Machine, it was clear – they were at the Ritz, after all - that they were doing alright financially. In fact, when Terrelito told them he was from California, one of them squealed, Oh, I want to go to Orange County. I – a foriegner, remember – was more than surprised by that and asked her, Why? She looked at me as if I was nuts, Shopping, of course, she tinkled.

Remember Bob Uncles description – a nation of shopkeepers buying from and selling to each other. My comrade-in-silliness, Terrelito and his wife Carmel, design and make some absolutely wonderful embroidered pillows and other houseware-tye gifts, decorated with funky maps of the different states and whatnots – they call themselves store-whores and I cant imagine a single day when they don’t buy something from some store somewhere.

In fact, to a visitor from Mars (or India), it would seem that every American house or apartment comes equipped with a minimum of fifteen phoos-phoos tubes (shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, body gel, body pel, body poo, etc) per bathroom, and an equivalent number (or more) of cosmetics (lipsticks, lip gloss, lip floss, lip boss, and so on) for each bedroom. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love lipstick and on this trip was delighted to be feted by the phoos-phoos girls at Saks in New York when Pravina was buying lipstick. More about that later, but the point is that America IS about shopping.

And there is such a wide assortment of things and brands of things to buy that you just cant help it. Neither Pravina nor I are serious shoppers – I mean we don’t drool at the mention of Dubai or Singapore – but even we ended up shopping so much that we had to buy another bag. And what a beauty we got in Beales (or something) in Bradenton – it was parrot green, had wheels, and was just so…so handome. And, IT WAS ON SALE. We got it for 20 bucks – couldn’t imagine getting anything so swish at three times the price anywhere. And this, I think, is another important force keeping the American economy rocking. With so many people making so much stuff and so many people sellling so much stuff, it stands to reason that the different cash flow requirements of so many businesses result in something or another being heavily discounted all the time. Which may explain why consumer spending has remained robust through all the ups and downs of the housing market and the occasional burp in equities.

Another very economically valuable aspect of this mad and everywhere consumerism is that at any time in America there are a sufficient number of people who will buy anything. My friend Tom told me that a few weeks or so ago he went on a zero gravity flight – they used to only have them out of Florida and Vegas, but they now offer it out of La Guardia. He said it was absolutlely amazing – you sit in a plane (or something) that zooms up to 40,000 feet and then swishes down to 25,000 feet (or something) and during the downwaves you slip into a zero gravity environment for a few seconds, which experience is repeated several times. He said it made him feel like a one-year old baby. Sounded like drugs to me but hey, all you have to do is pay for your pleasures. He said it was a bit expensive – it cost $ 3,500 a round. Now $ 3,500 is a lot of money but its also not a lot of money. And this to me was the learning – that there were enough people in America more than willing to shell out $ 3,500 to see what it felt like. Which is what made it commercially viable, and this – the fact that there are enough people in America who will buy anything – is what sustains entrepreneuership. If you know you can sell it, you can dream up any IT you like.

People have often talked about entrepreneurship being one of Americas great economic values. What I realized while nibbling on my American sandwich is that this value is underpinned – nay, perhaps defined by – the fact that shopping is one of the key essences of America.

To close this meal, I should mention a visit to Costco. I was stunned, terrified, amazed that, for example, there was so much toilet paper in the world. [On a long term basis, I would short Scotts, Kimberley-Clark and all toilet tissue manufacturers, but that’s another story.] Wandering around Costco in shock and awe, Momo ran into a very lovely woman - an early work associate, he said – who told us that she had retired and lived nearby. My chirpy self, I couldn’t resist – I said, so you’ve become a Costco queen. She flashed her diamonds and pearlies at me and said, smiling, All I do is watch Oprah and come to Costco. I think she was kidding but, you never know.

Weclome to America – MORE TO COME.

1 comment:

WOLFIE1969 said...

My brothers and sisters prefer to say BLACK! We are ALL from African descent, when it comes down to it. Most of my black friends have mixed blood, as do most "Americans." Let's celebrate the similarities and recognize the differences, but party on TOGETHER!!