Human beings are flawed creatures. We are susceptible to bottomless greed, extremes of anger, revenge, lust and other malaise that constitute the suffering of the world. It has also become a convenient excuse for us to use its manifestations to justify our arguments.
Billionare Rajratnam engaged in insider trading for a paltry $ 20 million!!?? Bernie Madoff runs a ponzi scheme, Enron accounts for imaginary profits and countless other examples of the markets cheating have become the constant refrain of anti-market protesters. They have become the source of well-meaning regulation but have also resulted in meaningless rhetoric.
An agricultural officer is forced into suicide by an MLA!!?? Nixon and deep throat, the multi-crore scandals and innumerable other murky deals that represent government failure have become the constant refrain of anti-government protesters.
Our reactions to these instances are more often than not reactionary and governed by which side we earn our bread from. My reaction is always directed against the government because I cannot extricate myself from the blinkered vision of the “corporate”. My association with industry has made me empathize with it.
What both camps have to realize is that the problem is structural. Bad things happen on both sides due to bad people inhabiting these important positions. While that sounds overly-simplified I want to elaborate on the ramifications of this view. The government and corporate can no longer engage in hostilities based on transgressions that are attributed to individuals. The government and markets are larger than individuals, they are IDEAS. We have to acknowledge that both sides have been evolving.
The government has evolved from warring land-lords to kingdoms to dictatorship and finally today democracy. This evolution was not whimsical, it has been tested in time and slowly nations have moved from one format to the other after seeing the relative success of the new model. Each new model bought with it better degrees of peace, administration and framework for society to develop. Democracies are not perfect but the answer lies in constantly evolving towards better formats and not knee-jerk reactions to its failings.
The market has evolved from barter to communism/socialism to capitalism to neo–capitalism. This evolution is far from perfect and relies heavily on the framework provided by the government. The markets are in essence players in a playground designed by the government.
The answers lie in designing better frameworks and not shuttling blame between the government and corporate. The slinging match is a waste of precious time that needs to be spent in evolving better models for both the government and markets.
The answers lie in designing better frameworks and not shuttling blame between the government and corporate. The slinging match is a waste of precious time that needs to be spent in evolving better models for both the government and markets.
“While our stories are singular, our destiny is shared”