These are cars lined up before a food bank in America
Pic courtesy -- MotherJones
At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Economic Forum shared on Twitter a study
conducted by Statista, a German online portal for statistics. It listed the top ten countries where people are
losing faith in capitalism, where people agree “capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world.” Interestingly, India tops the chart with 74 per cent respondents agreeing, followed by France (69 per cent), China (63 per cent), and Brazil (57 per cent). Germany trails with 55 per cent, UK (53 per cent) and with Canada and United States at 47 per cent each.
The declining faith in capitalism comes at a time when Oxfam International in its annual presentation, timed a few days before the World Economic Forum meeting in January at Davos in Switzerland, presents the shocking report on income inequality. Accordingly, India’s richest 1 per cent carries four times more wealth than the combined wealth of bottom 70 per cent. Internationally, the report says 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 60 per cent of the global population. Ironically, the same wealthy corporations are once again on the forefront seeking massive Covid-19 bailouts. Such economic bailouts over the period have helped shape the popular thinking that global economic system in reality supports ‘socialism for corporate, and capitalism for the poor’. The worsening income inequality, which is increasingly coming under the scanner, is enough to fuel growing dissatisfaction with capitalism. As if this was not enough, the pandemic has further widened the social and economic gulf with the poor certainly faced with a much greater risk. With massive job losses, the challenge to stay safe and at the same time the struggle to provide food for the family has further deepened the gap between haves and have-nots.
Despite market reforms being pursued aggressively over the past four decades, one better way to understand how the social and economic disparities have only widened, comes from an insightful analysis of growing food insecurity and that too at a time of plenty. Writing in the New York Times, Patricia Cohen compares the long queues for food in America at the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s with the still longer queues of cars, stretching to several miles, before food banks during the 2020 pandemic. Separated by a time gap of almost 80 to 90 years, a memorable picture taken by photographer Margaret Bourke-White (of Time Life Pictures) shows a long line of poor citizens waiting for relief below a signboard showing a happy family in a car, with the banner claiming: ‘World’s highest standard of living’.
Nothing much seems to have changed. The economic model of growth has only made the rich richer, and the poor have been driven against the wall. In a country, which is known to be the world’s richest economy, pictures of cars lined up for an average of 2 miles or so before a food bank, is only a stark reflection of ‘profound, longstanding vulnerabilities in the economic system’. Not only in America, the distressing visuals of a traumatised migrant workers in India, with children in laps and carrying family belongings on head, trudging on foot to reach their homes several hundred kilometres away, will continue to haunt the nation for quite some time. Whether it is the long queues of cars in America or the long march in India, the pandemic has laid bare the inequalities perpetuated over the decades. A serious rethink is now required to radically overhaul the economic system bringing in equity and justice at the centre of human development.
It doesn’t end here. Four decades of neoliberal economics has also unleashed an environmental havoc. With temperatures soaring, ice caps melting and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) rising, climate change in no longer a distant reality. Many believe that the destruction of prime natural resources, forests and biodiversity hotspots has lead to the emergence of deadly diseases. A complex web of relationship exists between industrial farming, factory farms and bushmeat markets calling for an immediate fixing of the broken food systems so as to avoid the next pandemic. Whether it is the resulting environment destruction or the rampaging economic inequalities, the Covid crisis should act as an urgent wake-up call for governments to seriously move towards an economic system where the majority population is not deprived of basic necessities, where the emphasis shifts from economic growth to economics of well-being, where Gandhi’s talisman becomes the new development mantra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said the biggest take away from the global crisis “is to become self-reliant.” Although several newspapers editorials as well as lead articles have warned against returning to self-reliance and that too at a time when the world needs to quickly move into a trajectory of high growth, I think what the Prime Minister said is exactly what the country needs. Not only making villages self-reliant, where agriculture becomes the pivot for rebooting the Indian economy, the policy imperative has to swing to creating adequate farm, public health and education infrastructure thereby revitalising the rural economy. This has to be accompanied by a renewed emphasis on ‘Make in India’ programme – especially by revitalising the MSME sector -- given that too much dependence on global value chains is now coming under the radar.
The principle of self-reliance is based on according dignity to labour and living in harmony with nature. These two underlying principles for economic well-being come in direct conflict with traditional economics which continues to harp on productivity and growth, in short pushing for more aggressive market reforms. The bumpy road ahead however will need a clear cut change in policy direction where first providing a generous social security net for the unskilled as well as skilled industrial workers becomes an immediate necessity. Secondly, and more importantly, the focus has to shift from destroying nature in the quest for economic growth.
Staying indoors for several weeks has made people realise the importance of conserving and protecting environment. They now need appropriate policies that make it possible. Economic well-being is an idea whose time has come.#
Losing faith in capitalism. The Tribune. May 16, 2020
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