It is not
new that humanity has a gap between rich and poor and that economic growth may
benefit both rich and poor but does not narrow the gap between rich and poor.
Also not new is that since Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Antonio Gramsci,
many authors have exposed economic inequality and called for protest. Notably
after the Second World War a long train of other critical writers stood up: Mao
Zedong, André Gunder Frank, Harry Magdoff, Ernest Feder, Teresa Hayter, Noam
Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Norena Hertz, Naomi Klein, Kishore Mahbubani, Thomas Piketti, Rana
Dasgupta and Hervé Kempf, to mention just a few. Also not new is that their
exposures and calls for action have in the long run not changed society.
INCORPORATED
New is that
most of these authors are no longer seen as dangerous outcastes who have to be
silenced or at least ignored. They are co-opted or incorporated by the dominant
system and seen as part of the intellectual class. Many are regularly discussed
in universities and in the media.
EQUALLY ROGUE
In the Non-West
economic growth shows itself in a rogue character that has no parallel. In
Jakarta, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, Lagos, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Delhi,
Johannesburg, Beijing, Caracas, Bandung or Cairo there arises a generation of
arrogant, aggressive, ultra-materialistic new wealthy people that unleash a
savage type of capitalism. They benefit from both cheap labor at home and
liberalization and privatization policies initiated by the World Bank and the
IMF.
Meanwhile, this
rogue capitalism is not only seen as an unavoidable stage in economic
development as happened in the West, but is increasingly expected to not calm
down, as in the West, and remain as it is. Along with this reality, the West, after
a relatively 'calm' period, now breeds an equally savage type of capitalism. In
this state, western capitalism gets closely related to its savage partners
elsewhere while now operates on a more equal footing.
GROWING
CARE
Along with the
rise of global economic roguishness, protests are changing in character. They
seem to transform from street marches, riots and outright physical violence,
under the banner of class struggle and led by trade unionists, politicians, generals
and guerilla fighters, to the undermining of the credibility of political
systems and private corporations by growing information, including the use of
social media. The awareness results in boycotts of political elections and
questionable consumer goods.
Next to
that, initiatives arise which focus on psychological and spiritual change at
the personal level. Inner peace is hoped to divert attention to the rat race of
the economic growth model and a growing care for the inner self, other people and
the physical environment.
SCARCITY
So far, proclaiming
that continued economic growth will ultimately destroy the planet and human
life has neither stopped large masses of people from aiming at more consumption,
nor stopped the ultra-rich from their roguish practices. The first key question
is how long and in what ways economic growth will remain to be jointly embraced
by the masses and the ultra-rich. The second key question is at what point in
time a looming environmental disaster will make the roguish rich start
reserving sparse resources for themselves. The third key question is whether the masses will let the
gap between rich and poor grow further or finally start open fights with the roguish
rich and narrow the gap.
