In my last article I offered the idea, supported by few, that the current crisis of capitalism is systemic and terminal, and not just a cyclical one. In other words: the conditions for the continuation of capitalism have been destroyed, either because it has reached the limit of goods and services that it can offer, because of the devastation of nature and unraveling the social relations, controlled by a market economy where financial capital predominates. The prevailing theory is that we can resolve the crisis, returning to the status quo ante, with minor corrections, thus guaranteeing growth, regaining employment and assuring profits. Consequently, everything would continue, with business as usual.
The injection of thousands of millions by the industrial States saved the banks and avoided collapse of the system, but it did not transform the economic system. Worse yet, the States’ interventions facilitated the triumph of the speculative economy over the real economy. The former is considered the principal factor that unleashed the crisis, as it was run by real thieves, who put their own personal enrichment above the destiny of the peoples, as is seen now in Greece. The logic of maximum enrichment corrupts individuals, destroys social relations and punishes the poor, who are accused of impeding the injection of capital. The bomb remains, with its fuse intact. The problem is that anyone could ignite that fuse. Many analysts ask themselves fearfully: will the world order survive another crisis like the one we had?
French sociologist Alain Touraine maintains in his recent book, After the Crisis, (Después de la crisis, Paidós 2011), that the crisis will either accelerate the formation of a new society or become a tsunami, that can devastate everything in its way, putting our very existence on planet Earth in mortal danger, (p. 49.115). All the more reason to maintain the thesis that we are facing a terminal situation of this type of capital. It is extremely important to develop values and principles that could help create a new way of inhabiting the Earth, of organizing production and distribution goods, not just for us (anthropocentrism must be overcome) but for the whole community of life. This was the objective when elaborating The Earthcharter, urged by Michael Gorbachev who, as the former head of the Soviet Union, well knew the lethal instruments available to destroy down to the very last human life, as he has pointed out in several gatherings.
Approved by UNESCO in 2003, The Earthcharter contains in effect «principles and values for a sustainable way of living, as a common criteria for individuals, organizations, enterprises and governments.» It is urgent to study and to allow it to inspire us, especially now, as we prepare for Rio+20.
No-one can foresee what will come after the crisis. We have only hints. We are still in the phase of diagnosing its underlying causes. Unfortunately, it is mostly only economists are who are analyzing the crisis, and not sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers or cultural scholars. What is becoming clear is the following: there has been a triple separation: financial capital was separated from the real economy; the economy itself separated from society; and society in general, from nature. And this separation has created such a dust storm that we can no longer see the path to follow.
The “indignants” who fill the squares of some European countries and the Arab world, are putting the system in check. It is a bad system for most of humanity. Until now, they were silent victims, but now they shout out loud. They demand not only jobs, above all, they are reclaiming fundamental human rights.They want to be subjects, this is, actors in different kind of society, where the economy is at the service of politics and politics serves the good living, the people themselves, and nature. Wishing is not enough. A world effort is needed, the creation of organs that can make possible a different way of coexisting, and political representation linked to general aspirations, and not to the market interests. We must rebuild social life.
I see many signs of the appearance of an eco-and-bio-centered world society. Its central idea will be the life-system, the Earth-system and humanity. Everything must be based on that. Otherwise, it will be difficult to avoid a potential socio-ecological tsunami.
In http://leonardoboff.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/a-new-society-of-a-social-ecologial-tsunami/ - 02/07.2011
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