hi all,
happy friday, and part 393 of the economic meltdown drama! sure, things picked up a bit today, but the point is not to follow things too closely because everyday (every hour) has the capacity to be completely different from the last. yes, 30 years of simplistic economic theory has left us hurting badly, and it ain’t gonna be easy for the next little while, but it should come as some solace that we have been through this sort of thing before, and there is always another side…a side, btw, that can look like anything we would like it to be.
john ralston saul, who quite clearly warned of this meltdown a couple of years ago, and an intelligent critic of the poor economic policy of the past three decades, suggests that in order to make change, we need a healthy dose of self-confidence:
to believe in the reality of choice is one of the most basic characteristics of leadership. curiously enough, many individuals who think of themselves as leaders find this reality very difficult. they believe that their job is to understand power and management and perhaps make minor corrections to what they accept to be the torque of events. but they take for granted the reigning truths of the day and so are fundamentally passive. as a result, change is eventually thrust upon them by reality. or they are replaced. in either case, the strength of that particular civilization — its ability to choose — is weakened (2005, p. 11).
in other words, saul thinks it silly to buy too much into these discourses that assure us that one theory is able to explain everything once and for all — like liberalized trade, or globalization without regulations and basic rules for the treatment of workers and the environment, for example.
instead, he reminds us that the world is complex, and so is better explained by many theories, and ways of living. for example, there is no reason globalization couldn’t function perfectly well (or much better indeed) if not only economic trade was standardized, but so too were environmental standards and workers’ rights. or, even, that very little need be standardized, but instead channels and systems be developed to accommodate diverse beliefs and rules about the environment and workers’ rights (again, for example)…in other words, trade without recourse to diminishing national perogative. point being: there are so many options open to us all to design the world that we think makes the most sense.
indeed, saul argues that the last 30 years has done us all wrong because it has failed to realize that trade, money markets and other economic considerations only explain a part of who we are…these last 30 years have failed to take into account our dreams, our social needs, our cultures, our languages, our love of art and creating things, on and on and on…
in basing all our decisions around one framework (the economy), we have failed to manage at all. and, thus, we are where we are today.
so, my point is this: right now certain people who have very specific, and rigid, beliefs are planning how to use this moment of uncertainty as a way to scare us into being very “practical”, which in their minds means cutting social programs, limiting government, continuing to think only through an economic lens…
this is, of course, wrong.
what we need now is to take notice of what got us here (exactly such neo-liberalized sorts of poor economic reasoning), and instead be bold and creative enough to plan for a better world.
it is clear that the world is worried about the environment, and interested in managing our conduct better in this respect…now is the time to make substantive changes in how we live on this planet.
not after the economic mess has been resolved, but in order to solve the economic mess.
there are parts of the world where unpayable debts have incapacitated entire countries, and so war and corruption reign. think of the congo, and all the horror and death that is taking place (and where the mountain gorilla will soon go extinct due to all this human horror).
we can cancel those debts and begin rebuilding today. we could have done this 25 years ago, but instead we thought we would wait for the market to figure out all our woes.
at this moment of reckoning for the horribly silly economic reductionism (and determinism) that has dominated world public policy for so long, we have the power and ability to change the world for the better. we need to remember that, roll up our sleeves and get going.
…and those small-minded leaders who are right now telling us that there won’t be enough money to support the public good (in terms of funding for the arts, health, sport, the poor, the environment) need to be put in their place.
we need to speak up vocally about what we think the world should look like, and have the self-confidence to speak up with pride…because if the last 30 years have taught us anything it should be this: the economists who have been hogging the world stage are far less insightful and qualified to run this show then we are…
hey, a good place to start could be obama’s website where he seems to collecting your input, or it could be any number of other community-based groups that are working right now to change the world for the better.
c.
