Breaking the system: Ramesh Shrestha

This is where we are

Capitalism as a model of economy dates back to the 18^th century and worked well but the serious influence of Capitalists in politics is reasonably recent which distorted not only the economy but the entire geopolitics.

As a result, we now have autocrats in the governance system but they still claim to be democrats. The use of artificial intelligence in the hands of this wealth worshipping autocrats is going to further exacerbate inequality in our society. As the money is taking center stage in everything surrounding us, social values and cultural norms will continue to be perverted. These issues could eventually become an expensive political risk for all governments.

This is how it started?

Two main events shook the economic system and landed us a new arena. First, is the idea of deregulation that started with President Reagan's famous speech on 20 January 1981 declaring that 'in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem…'. This declaration by the President became the 'mantra' – a sacred message, for the capitalists to break the regulatory chain ... to the imprisonment of the national economy… It was the beginning of the emphasis on small government and prioritising the desires of the private sector in all major economic policy decisions in the name of efficiency gain and GDP growth. The private sector in the driving seat of the national economy altered the government's economic authority on economic policy forever, but is not fully acknowledged even today. It is not just an American problem anymore where it all began but with their global influence, this system of economy spread everywhere making inequality a persistent element of our society. The second major event was the fall of communism in Europe which gave unobstructed authority to the United States on global political economy. People seem aware of this corrosive system but remain inept to address or do not want to acknowledge as there is no clear pathway to resolve it for fear of retaliation by the US businesses and industries. A solution must be found to reverse this economic system for the survival of future generations.

Talks are cheap

A common axiom we often hear is 'in every crisis there are opportunities'. Is it just a glamorized axiom or are there real opportunities? In recent decades we have seen a fair share of crises in the economy, environment, health scare with new viruses, uncontrolled technology harming nature, degeneration of the education system, etc. Where are the opportunities that were generated following these crises? It is becoming evident that modern leaders are incapable or impotent to mitigate crises or generate opportunities for the benefit of the general public. No doubt there are improvements in the lives of groups of people, but the growing inequality and the looming environmental disasters people are facing will easily neutralise whatever gains the economy and technology have contributed in improving people's lives. There is an urgent need for an unblemished balance between economic development and nature for our own survival.

There is yet another nice sounding aphorism, 'evidence-based problem solving'. Academia has gathered enough evidence on fallouts derived from capitalists driven economic policy and environmental degradation worldwide; so where are the suitable national programmes based on all such evidence? There are of course initiatives in expanding the use of renewable energy to help reduce GHG emission but the GHG emission continues to remain on a linear scale of increase. The biggest issues such as energy waste and excess energy consumption for which there are no public education campaigns; it is similar to drug rehabilitation programmes without publication education on addictive drugs. The governments seem unable to accept the recommendations of the COP and the academia to devise an economic policy and environmental protection programme that would benefit the economy as well as the environment. Citizens elect leaders of different political shades during various election cycles but all these problems remain stubbornly unresolved irrespective of who is in power.

Are people being passive?

There are annual gatherings of protesters wherever the annual G7 meetings take place to advocate for changes in global economic, social and environmental policies. But it has simply become an annual ritual which dissipates once the Heads of G7 countries leave the venue on their national carriers at the end of their close door consultation. The decisions taken and narratives promoted by the G7 Heads of State make global impact, yet the citizens of the world who protest in almost every G7 gathering are never taken seriously by the G7 leaders.

People may be separated from each other by their religious belief, ethnic backgrounds, political belief, or a variety of other characteristics but the prevailing economic crises and environmental destruction impacts everyone irrespective of who they are and where they reside. Is it time for people everywhere to unite in one front in persuading the political leaders to change their economic model and environmental programme? What is required is a sustained people's movements in each country to make their leaders open their deaf ears.  

Media complicit

The prevailing universal income inequality and environmental crisis are not issues of Left or Right leaning politics. People are living in a system created by the minority to rule the majority. It is no longer for the people by the people. It is for the majority by the minority who remain in the shadow of the governance. There is a general decline in trust and expectation by the people on the politicians everywhere yet, the mainstream media firmly promote the narratives and political agenda of the leaders knowingly that the decisions are made by the minority in the inner circle of governance which is not in the best interest of the majority. It is a moral pragmatism to create the system that will cater for the minorities, destitutes, marginalised and other underclass population to demolish income inequality. The mainstream media must engage with the general public to push people's agenda against the agenda of the Capitalist minority to break the system. Social media is playing its role but it is chaotic to say the least with a mixture of unverified news, views and contradictory messages.  

There are clusters of intelligent groups of people in all countries but their voices have been muted by the system dominated by the oligarchs. It is not in the best interest of the country or the economy; it will eventually lead to a disparaging outcome for the future generations. There are clusters of affluence in all countries and there are huge sprawling areas of dark, dangerous and deprived areas not reached by the national economic umbrella. This situation is further exacerbated by the fast moving AI in economic policy decisions which will speed up job replacement resulting in mass unemployment. In addition, inappropriate use of AI could result in depreciation of the value of education as everything can be accessed through AI without knowing or studying. It will create a new cohort of uninformed and undereducated future generations. The current system of political economy must be reformed. Finger pointing to others for current misery in economy and governance will not solve the problem. 

Read more articles by Ramesh here.
Or contact Ramesh at ramesh.chauni@gmail.com
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