Sunday 8 March 2009

Solving the credit crunch

We know that the economic quandary we find ourselves in at the moment is as a result of the greed of a few privileged people, the banking corporations, and the system of governance we have in place, and since it is obvious that this greed, which by the way is a basic instinct thrown back from the days of early man when survival in a harsh world was the driving force behind almost every action, has been fueled by the inadequacies of the socio-economic system we have in place, then it doesn't need a mathematician to figure out that we need to change our current socio-economic model in order to effect a real and lasting solution.

So what are the models we have? Well, no point making a list because the majority are just variations of three main models: communism, socialism and capitalism, which all fail for a single reason - none of them is capable of finding the right balance in allowing the individual the freedom to express himself or herself in a manner that fulfills their unique potential that will at the same time be subject to and in compliance with the demands of the group - the group being in this case society. In other words, the group which is a single unit in its own right must evolve, develop and make progress. It must fulfill its own unique potential. However, the individuals who make up the group are also groups in their own right as well. Each individual is a group of billions of cells working together in total unison of purpose under the direction of the Mind. This group of cells that is man, has to fulfill its own potential. It has its own aspirations and must be allowed to pursue them.

Finding the right balance between man and society will eliminate at a single stroke the deficiencies we have in society today - war, poverty and the class system. It will elevate man to the next level of evolution - the discovery of self and all the ramifications that go with it.

So, how do we do this? The answer is simple in theory but as we would expect not as trivial in practice. We must move from a demand based socio-economic model to service based model. Why? Because demand, which is a natural phenomenon but is open to abuse by human beings through the creation of artificial demand that targets specific sub groups to the detriment of the rest, should not be used to preempt service. Instead, service should be made to feed demand. In this manner we would have a model that marries service - because it would reflect the inherent need to express the uniqueness within each individual, to demand, which would reflect the inherent need of society to express its own uniqueness.

And how would we achieve this in practice? Well that is a discussion for another day.

Sunday 1 March 2009

The Credit Cruch - An economy on its knees

Switch on the radio, the TV, get on the internet and one finds the media airwaves replete with news of the worsening global economic crisis we find ourselves in which has come about as a result of what is now generally agreed to be the unchecked unregulated implementation of a flawed financial model. A model that has its roots in the capitalistic mantra of accumulation of wealth as the only way to advance the lot of man.

Of course we conveniently forget that the accumulation of wealth by some must result in the dispossessing of others. And so it surprises me that people are shocked that we find ourselves in the crisis we are today. It isn't rocket science to understand that in a system where 5% of the population earn a total income that is equivalent to the income of the remaining 95% such a system will eventually fail. It isn't rocket science to understand that the people in this 5% bracket need the people in the 95% band to make the money that they do. In other words, those in the top 5% live off the rest of the population. If this is not a recipe for disaster then I don't know what is. History is littered with lessons of the masses pushed to the brink of despair, hunger and misery, rising up in desperation and taking back power from their wealthy overlords very often in bloody uprisings. While I am not advocating such, it would be stupid to ignore such warnings for the simple reason that the signs are everywhere.

The government of this country and indeed of other countries have been so unanimous in their conclusion that I'm inclined to smell a rabbit. They say the collapse of the world market was due to a few greedy speculative investors. The crisis was global. It had nothing to do with any member of their government nor did it have anything to do with their perpetuation of agendas for economic superiority. And the solution? Oh well change a few laws, redefine the roles of banks, and voila! the problems will magically go away.

Excuse me...what a load of nonsensical drivel. The collapse of the markets is symptomatic of a systemic phenomenon - inequality. Financial inequality! Our societal economic model is predicated on a premise of demand that defined by the financial institution. Cue the recipe for disaster... Money is the vehicle for quantifying demand. The value of money is determined by the financial institution. The distribution of money is controlled by the financial institution. When one sector of society dominates all others in such a fashion the notion of even distribution of wealth becomes nothing other than a pipe dream.

What this means is that irrespective of whatever promises we are made to swallow by the government, as long as this economic model persists we will keep repeating the mistakes of the past and experiencing the problems of the present. And each time with more drastic consequences.

The question then becomes: what is the solution? what model do we use? How can we restore societal equality in the true sense of the word.

See next posting.