In an unlikely place, an economy

        Maria Luz Ochondra lives on one of the world’s largest garbage dumps, a place incongruously called the Promised Land, just outside Manila in the Philippines. No one knows exactly how many people live on and around the Promised Land, but at least a couple thousand desperately poor adults and children spend their days picking through the garbage looking for anything useful. Father Joel Bernardo, a Catholic priest who works with the residents, notes that they are the “leftovers” of the world, the poorest of the poor. Another resident, Paz Calopez, describes conditions in the Promised Land this way: “There’s always smoke, there’s always fire, even when it rains. The garbage is glowing, even at night, and you hear popping sounds. We think it’s batteries exploding. It smells worse than a bathroom, especially when the bulldozers come through.” Tragically, during July 2000, weeks of monsoon rains soaked and loosened the mountain of garbage, causing it to suddenly collapse, killing more than two hundred people and two of Mrs. Ochondra’s sons.
        It is hard to believe that in this most hellish of places on earth, populated by some of the most desperate people imaginable, there is a sophisticated and, one could even say, vibrant economy. In 1994, the Philippine government closed a large dump in another location, greatly increasing the amount of garbage going to the Promised Land. Almost as soon as the Promised Land began to fill up, its economy sprang to life. At the base of the Promised Land economy are the scavenger families who live on the dump and spend their days picking through the garbage, looking for scrap metal, plastic bottles, rubber tires, and other useful materials. Sometimes they find discarded appliances, pieces of furniture, clothing, children’s toys, even edible food. The scavengers keep some of the material for their own use, but sell most of it to middlemen, who are the next link in the chain. the middlemen tend to specialize by type of material and have relationships with recyclers and manufacturers that purchase the metal, plastic, and rubber that the middlemen consolidate from the scavengers. Some middlemen even have recycling contracts with large companies and hotel chains. These contracts allow the middlemen to hire scavengers on a piecework basis to pick through their clients’ garbage first, culling the choice material before the trucks tip it into the general dump. The middlemen enjoy more efficient access to better materials, and their client companies are charged reduced tipping fees.
        At the next level of the economic chain are the various businesses that have sprung up to service the scavengers, middlemen, and their families. Various shanty shops sell products ranging from soap to shoes, bicycle parts, ice cream, and school supplies. Although the scavengers have a very difficult, unhealthy, and dangerous existence, the dump nonetheless provides a relatively steady income that keeps the majority of its residents from starving–an all-too-real risk in a country with 74 million people who earn less that one dollar per day. As Father Bernardo observed, “It’s raw capitalism working here. And it really generates money. Millions of pesos revolve through here every day.”

Excerpted from

The Origin of Wealth by Eric D. Heinhocker. Page 79.

Is Putin Going To Have Medvedev Killed?

Dmitry Medvedev is increasingly showing his, shall we say, “independence” from Putin’s ideology:

Medvedev takes apparent swipe at Putin – Financial Times

Being that Putin is an ex-FSB thug, won’t he take this problem to its logical conclusion (capping Medvedev)?

2009 is looking to be wilder by the day.

Cuba’s Prosperity Secret

Cuba became dependent on tourism after the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991 triggered savage austerity and a need for foreign currency. With a casual tip dwarfing state wages, scientists, teachers and other professionals quit their jobs to become waiters, chambermaids and taxi drivers. “Our most brilliant minds – serving coffee,” lamented Alvaro, a university lecturer turned tour guide.

As hard times bite, Cubans show little appetite for celebration – The Guardian

Christmas in Baghdad

The event takes place in a public park in eastern Baghdad, ringed with security checkpoints. Interior Ministry forces deployed on surrounding rooftops peer down at the scene: a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel; a red-costumed Santa Claus waving to the crowd, an Iraqi flag draped over his shoulders; a red-and-black-uniformed military band playing stirring martial music, not Christmas carols.

Even before I can ask Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul Karim Khalaf a question, he greets me with a big smile. “All Iraqis are Christian today!” he says.

Baghdad celebrates first public Christmas amid hope, memories – CNN

Vietnamese Customs Seize Tons of Dragon Meat

WTF is that?

Vietnam customs seize five tons of frozen pangolin meat – AFP

Ultimate Irony

As banks in the west tread water and get bailed out by taxpayers, Hamas is establishing a new bank in Gaza.

Hamas approves first Gaza bank under its authority – Reuters

Innovation in Bangladesh

New Portable Sewing Machine Lets Sweatshop Employees Work On The Go

Patron Saint of Drug Trafficking

The hardest-hit enterprises in this recession are the purveyors of the typical narco’s favorite toys and pursuits: Flight schools. Yacht and luxury-car dealerships. Dollar-changers. Love-in-the-afternoon motels. Even the Jesus Malverde temple.