Vladimir Chabanov: Harmonious Economics or The New World Order

As the result, all contradictions accumulated in the past are aggravated, and the true values are substituted by the false ones. A considerable share of the fundamental concepts has come under the fire of ostracism; the previously undisputed truths have been questioned; the accrued experience has turned out to be unreliable, and the traditions – lost forever. That is why now it is hard to define what is erroneous and what is correct, where the truth and where the lies are, what the difference between business and crime is, what should be considered progress and what – regress. The society is revisiting the long-standing pillars of morality and culture, religion and science, physiology and psychology.

An unprecedented dissolution of manners has followed. Certain zealous and empowered persons and countries feel entitled to reshape the others’ destinies in accordance with their own petty ideologies and ambitions. The society has answered by the spread of social unrest, protests and revolutions, which claim lives and destroy cultural and material values. The result is the change among men of power, and the rotation of proprietors and social classes. However, as rules remain unaltered, these happenings have no significant consequences.

At the same time, it is widely proclaimed that the liberal economic model is the only possible one and that its key ideas are immutable. We seem to have returned to the Ptolemaic times, when they believed the Earth was born by whales, and no other version would have been accepted. In similar mode, the liberal economic theory is the very essence of the modern economics, while other systems are nothing but the fruits of ignorance. The numerous faults of this model are excused by the errors and the incompetence of the authorities, by the cupidity of certain individuals, and by the money grubbing of the proprietors and the government. Furthermore, there persists a naïve conviction that once these faults are eliminated, the existing economic system will provide for a decent living.

Such belief multiplies the ideas based on the liberal economic tools but used to change the situation and to get rid of some of its drawbacks. Nevertheless, in practice these tools are, as a rule, asymmetric and fail to bring any tangible advances on the existing issues. For example, if financing lacks, it is suggested that it be increased. If corruption ravages, new ways to fight it are found. These are just a few examples. In reality, it is impossible to eliminate the faults of the liberal economy through liberal methods,just as one cannot remove a spot with the substance that spotted the clothes. However, the theory of a different, non-liberal economics has not yet been worked out and, to tell the truth, it is not even visible yet.

The actual economics, as any other economics, is a rigid system held together by direct and reverse connections that make it integrated. All that conforms with the nature of the system flourishes within it, while everything hostile perishes. Indeed, every system has intrinsic qualities that cannot be eliminated as long as the model continues to apply. The fundamental concepts of the model will not survive any alteration, just as a cat will not grow to be a tiger whatever its food and living conditions are. A systemic crisiscan only be cured by systemic measures.

In addition, the faults of the modern economics constitute its very essence.This means that we cannot get rid of corruption because it reflects a specific way of doing business. We cannot set up a comprehensive healthcare system as long as illnesses are a source of income for the pharmaceutical corporations and healthcare centres. And do not even consider having a child, as this is a risky investment.

These faults are inherent to this type of economics, wherever and whenever it is implemented. There may be certain deviations from the described system, but it is essentially the same. This economics cannot be different – a wolf cannot live on carrots, it has a different function. Nevertheless, all existing projects of mending the situation suggest precisely such type of measures.

In these conditions, the productiveness of the world economy steadily declines, despite the considerable scientific and technical progress. For instance, even though by 1998 North America, Western Europe and Japan were consuming up to 86% of the world’s natural, financial, human, and intellectual resources, their economies make no headway. Inflation aside, the salaries in the developed countries have not changed much in the past ten years. So, according to the official statistics, by the end of the past decade, almost 80 million EU citizens and over 43 million US citizens were not provided any means of existence.

To sum up, the well-being of the “developed’ countries is not attained thanks to specific qualities or organisation principles, to more efficient labour, superior culture or civilisation, but solely through large-scale redistribution of the world’s wealth. The developed countries succeed at the cost of ecosystems destruction and shameless exploitation of the natural resources and of the entire Earth’s population. For instance, the US consumes twice as many goods as it manufactures. This is the reason behind the high productivity of the American economy, which feeds the myth of the indisputable superiority of the American economic model over the others. At the same time, it is evident that the American path of development is unacceptable for other countries, as the Earth will not stand another such “golden billion’.

What can be said of the developing or underdeveloped countries then? Obviously, the rest of the world population have to content themselves with the leftovers. The World Bank estimated that 2.6 billion people, that is, over 40% of the total population live beyond the poverty line. In accordance with the UN-Habitat Report for 2003, the number of people living in the slums across the world reached 1 billion and continued to grow. This was the only true reason of the soaring massive crime rate, unprecedented surge of violence, crime and terrorism. And, as the situation does not improve, no methods within the liberal economic model are capable of turning this tide.

Summing up all said above, we may conclude that the liberal economic model has been exhausted, has become decrepit and obsolete. It is no more up to the challenges of the twenty-first century.This economic model is inefficient both in the emerging countries and the most developed nations. This means that the reasons of such a pitiable state are strategicand not tacticalones. It is not about the mistakes, the covert intention, or the low competence of certain persons, it is about the very model of economic development.

In addition, the situation is aggravated by the impressive progress of the modern science in the area of physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, and technology. If these innovations end up in the wrong hands, will be appropriated by any immoral person, the entire planet, and the humanity, may be destroyed. Under the present economic conditions, this is not only possible, but, in the end, imminent. Suffice it to remember George Soros, who inflicted terrible losses on many states and became the object of public outrage. Therefore, in order to save the life on our planet, a new organisation is needed, a new economic model, a new vision that will block the access to power and management to immoral individuals. Otherwise, the humanity will be doomed.

This is an essential point to be taken into account, for the current economic model, with its objectives and priorities conditions the way states and peoples live.

The economy of a state can be portrayed as a beautiful lake where a huge exhaust pipe dumps all kinds of waste and rubbish. The law enforcement, legislative, and administrative bodies are forced to fish the waste out to prevent the lake from becoming boggy. Obviously, this is a continuous process; it is inefficient, and little promising, too. Would not it just be easier to tap the pipe?