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talkpoliticsRemember the Georgia Guidestones? There are plenty of conspiracy theories about the "instructions" that are written on them ("Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature"? Hmmm...) Well, here's a set of proposals that's a bit less extreme, and yet radical enough.
I'm talking about the dozen proposals to the industrialized nations that the Club of Rome has made in a recent publication. To put this in some context, that think-tank had come up with a report on the Limits of Growth as early as 1972, which is what made them so prominent. The group consists of entrepreneurs, industrial moguls, professors and other dignitaries. The HQ is based here in Switzerland.
Now two members of the club, Jorgen Randers and Graham Maxton have come up with a new report where they claim that after 30 years of globalization and economic growth, the world's situation has actually deteriorated. Millions of people have lost their job, and the gap between rich and poor has opened even wider. So they call for changing the system (what, again?) The economic system that relies on exponential growth, they argue, is not the solution - rather, it's the very cause of the problems. And this is because of neoliberalism, which is the dominant doctrine that people have been brainwashed into.
In order to achieve that change, the authors believe, a few requirements have to be met. This idea they've elaborated in their book One Percent Is Enough. Actually many of their proposals aren't that new. For instance the necessity for adopting a package of measures that would stimulate the economic infrastructure, and also raising the retirement age, and a consumer tax hike. And also the necessity for a guaranteed safety net (minimum wage). On the other hand, some of their proposals are quite radical: for example the One Child Policy, and having longer holidays.
Here are some of their proposals, in a nutshell:
- Higher taxes for the fossil energy sources like coal, and encouraging alternative energy sources, aiming to counter climate change.
- Subsidizing those workers who are forced to change their job because of climate change and ecological transformation.
- Tax reform, so that the bulk of the tax burden doesn't fall on work income, but on the use of energy resources, aiming to cut harmful emissions. Raising the prices of airplane tickets and home heating.
- Drastic rise of the inheritance tax, aiming to decrease social inequality, and raising public revenue.
- Guaranteed minimum income for those who need help most badly: the elderly, children, and the unemployed.
- Raising the retirement age to 70, so that people could look after themselves for a longer time.
- Higher taxes for the wealthy and the corporations, aiming for a fairer distribution of income, especially in the more automatized industries.
- Limiting population growth through a One Child Policy, to take some pressure off of Earth.
- Re-defining "paid labor", to include child care and care for the elderly, aiming to cut unemployment.
- Fortifying the positions of the unions, aiming for higher incomes and lower unemployment.
- Discouraging trade in the sectors where the most jobs are threatened.
The German federal minister for economic cooperation and development, Gerd Mueller has paid special attention to the book, and concluded that the authors are calling not so much for cutting economic growth, but rather for changing its very nature. He said he agreed with them in principle that the world is at a global crossroads and needs change. He sounded quite optimistic about the economic prospects of the region, citing robust innovation and technological development, which could help tackle the hunger problem globally. He argued that there's room for at least 10 billion people on the planet, but only provided that economic growth becomes more independent of the resource base. The Western consumer model is "about our cars and our way of life", he said, and it can't necessarily be transplanted to places like India or Africa, because it uses too much energy and resources (sounds selfish). However, he conveniently skipped a question from the audience why he would want to prevent people in India and Africa from having a living standard of better quality.
Now, the Club of Rome has definitely not been immune to controversy over the years. Some of its detractors note that the current economic system has had its successes as well. Millions of people around the world have escaped poverty, the middle class has emerged in places where it didn't exist before - like China and India, which are huge economies. And of course the most criticism was focused on the proposal for the One Child Policy, which has failed in China, and has been abandoned there, for the economic problems that it tends to create. The authors respond that a child in an industrialized country uses about 30 times the resources that an Indian child uses. Which is why the West should give an example by doing some effort to limit population growth at home, forst. Jorgen Randers insists that women should be granted fiscal benefits for having only one child.
As for bridging the income gap worldwide, the German minister for economic cooperation said the development aid should be doubled at least, and the globalized free trade that most of the world has had now for a while, should be replaced by fairer trade models offering fairer pay for labor, and more open access to the markets. He believes the developing countries need more innovation and better education policies. All in all, he seems to consider the proposals of the Club of Rome to be OK, and he has said that any specific proposals are more than welcome, because right now, all the vague doomsday drum-beating and apocalyptic warnings are not helping at all.
I'm talking about the dozen proposals to the industrialized nations that the Club of Rome has made in a recent publication. To put this in some context, that think-tank had come up with a report on the Limits of Growth as early as 1972, which is what made them so prominent. The group consists of entrepreneurs, industrial moguls, professors and other dignitaries. The HQ is based here in Switzerland.
Now two members of the club, Jorgen Randers and Graham Maxton have come up with a new report where they claim that after 30 years of globalization and economic growth, the world's situation has actually deteriorated. Millions of people have lost their job, and the gap between rich and poor has opened even wider. So they call for changing the system (what, again?) The economic system that relies on exponential growth, they argue, is not the solution - rather, it's the very cause of the problems. And this is because of neoliberalism, which is the dominant doctrine that people have been brainwashed into.
In order to achieve that change, the authors believe, a few requirements have to be met. This idea they've elaborated in their book One Percent Is Enough. Actually many of their proposals aren't that new. For instance the necessity for adopting a package of measures that would stimulate the economic infrastructure, and also raising the retirement age, and a consumer tax hike. And also the necessity for a guaranteed safety net (minimum wage). On the other hand, some of their proposals are quite radical: for example the One Child Policy, and having longer holidays.
Here are some of their proposals, in a nutshell:
- Higher taxes for the fossil energy sources like coal, and encouraging alternative energy sources, aiming to counter climate change.
- Subsidizing those workers who are forced to change their job because of climate change and ecological transformation.
- Tax reform, so that the bulk of the tax burden doesn't fall on work income, but on the use of energy resources, aiming to cut harmful emissions. Raising the prices of airplane tickets and home heating.
- Drastic rise of the inheritance tax, aiming to decrease social inequality, and raising public revenue.
- Guaranteed minimum income for those who need help most badly: the elderly, children, and the unemployed.
- Raising the retirement age to 70, so that people could look after themselves for a longer time.
- Higher taxes for the wealthy and the corporations, aiming for a fairer distribution of income, especially in the more automatized industries.
- Limiting population growth through a One Child Policy, to take some pressure off of Earth.
- Re-defining "paid labor", to include child care and care for the elderly, aiming to cut unemployment.
- Fortifying the positions of the unions, aiming for higher incomes and lower unemployment.
- Discouraging trade in the sectors where the most jobs are threatened.
The German federal minister for economic cooperation and development, Gerd Mueller has paid special attention to the book, and concluded that the authors are calling not so much for cutting economic growth, but rather for changing its very nature. He said he agreed with them in principle that the world is at a global crossroads and needs change. He sounded quite optimistic about the economic prospects of the region, citing robust innovation and technological development, which could help tackle the hunger problem globally. He argued that there's room for at least 10 billion people on the planet, but only provided that economic growth becomes more independent of the resource base. The Western consumer model is "about our cars and our way of life", he said, and it can't necessarily be transplanted to places like India or Africa, because it uses too much energy and resources (sounds selfish). However, he conveniently skipped a question from the audience why he would want to prevent people in India and Africa from having a living standard of better quality.
Now, the Club of Rome has definitely not been immune to controversy over the years. Some of its detractors note that the current economic system has had its successes as well. Millions of people around the world have escaped poverty, the middle class has emerged in places where it didn't exist before - like China and India, which are huge economies. And of course the most criticism was focused on the proposal for the One Child Policy, which has failed in China, and has been abandoned there, for the economic problems that it tends to create. The authors respond that a child in an industrialized country uses about 30 times the resources that an Indian child uses. Which is why the West should give an example by doing some effort to limit population growth at home, forst. Jorgen Randers insists that women should be granted fiscal benefits for having only one child.
As for bridging the income gap worldwide, the German minister for economic cooperation said the development aid should be doubled at least, and the globalized free trade that most of the world has had now for a while, should be replaced by fairer trade models offering fairer pay for labor, and more open access to the markets. He believes the developing countries need more innovation and better education policies. All in all, he seems to consider the proposals of the Club of Rome to be OK, and he has said that any specific proposals are more than welcome, because right now, all the vague doomsday drum-beating and apocalyptic warnings are not helping at all.
(no subject)
Date: 15/9/16 20:15 (UTC)And Gerd Müller sounds surprisingly down to earth...
(no subject)
Date: 15/9/16 20:30 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 18/9/16 11:22 (UTC)Probably why it sounds like good ideas to me :)