Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,151,607 members, 7,812,997 topics. Date: Tuesday, 30 April 2024 at 02:37 AM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / An Alternative To The World's Economic System (787 Views)
A Better Alternative To N5,000 Monthly Allowance For Unemployed Nigerians / VP Osinbajo Leads Nigerian Delegation To World Economic Forum In South Africa / Pictures From World Economic Forum In South-Africa (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
An Alternative To The World's Economic System by Frizy(m): 8:14pm On Apr 07, 2009 |
[center]An Alternative System to the World’s Monetary Economic System.[/center] Our society in the world today is made up of several institutions, the financial institutions, legal institutions, institutions of common value, religious institutions to name a few. It is therefore important to note that understanding the phenomenon that differentiates us from every other individual is based upon on the ideologies these institutions lay upon us. The problems we have in society today such as poverty, unemployment, human abuse, inflation, racism and the list can go on— cannot be properly addressed if the root underlying cause of these problems is not looked into. Man for ages has tried to compete with his fellow-man either because of superiority in status or personal gains that leaves the care of others secondary or unimportant. Our resources, are plundered only to benefit a few that may be less than 10 percent of the world’s population while others are made to work tirelessly in order to keep up with a deteriorating economy that is far from fixed by the best brains in economics. At this point obviously, I come to the conclusion that something is definitely wrong. “Science is a systematic method of continuing investigation, based on observation, scientific hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, and theory building, which leads to explanations of natural phenomena, processes, or objects, that are open to further testing, revision, and falsification, and while not believed in through faith are accepted or rejected on the basis of scientific evidence” (Douglas). By definition this is backed upon the “human wisdom”. There are several fallible theories such as the existence of man—evolution that seeks to rationalize humans as competitors for a common goal, survival. However, what science has to offer man and his environment should only be guided by certain principles or ethics that is sustainability, reliability and efficiency. Economists argue that the world’s resources are scarce therefore distribution of these resources should be socially stratified. The ideas that incentives are necessary to enable people do their best to be rewarded is obsolete. To take man back to the primary objective of environmentalism and mutual respect for his fellow human being there has to be a “Guardian, known as God” who should be believed to advocate human prosperity without the merit that we be rewarded by other men. Great scientists of the old namely, Galileo, Al-Kindi, Isaac Newton were fundamentally giving to the society without a reckon for what they got in return as rewards such as money. Money has been the fundamental, drawback of our modern society; the developed world holds the third world countries into ransom for economic depravity, the employers lays off factory workers because they have a new technology that could create goods faster and maximize profit, the banks take off your home because you can’t pay for the mortgage. For any positive transformation to occur in our modern society we have to change our motive in the respect of why we live. Wars, violence, tyranny and oppression nullify human unification and cooperation in maintaining the only planet God has given us, earth. A path that is often confused by atheistic intellectuals and moralists as a self defeating unscientific approach to life is religion. The theme of one religion to the other differs, but a science provable religion is most likely the integral pathway every man and woman ought to work with. A unification of all humans to build an economy not of a fallible banking system that practice interest that results to inflation, nor of industries disposing toxic waste harmful to humans, plants and animals to avoid extra spending, nor of a corrupt government squandering its people wealth to have bank accounts in heaven1—is the Modern Islamic resource based economy. Arguing not from an Islamic scholar perspective, a field not often discussed to a wide audience is “the science of religion”, the science of religion explains and accepts scientifically proven theories that are infallible to the natural phenomenon of how the world is. In other words, scientific methods that benefit man positively are welcome while those that seek human extermination or derogation are rejected. Our world has to see that the form of “differential advantage” based on color, class, or ethnicity is a form of extermination or human derogation because these factors would create hatred in place of love, violence and crime in place of selflessness and justice—and ultimately war instead of peace. Resources allocated (by God) to a given part of the earth could be used to help develop another area but not by deterministic purposes of exploitation without making any credible change to the people that own the resources at the first. Many African countries are being exploited by western powers, using their resources to better their own developed countries, damaging the environment on purpose or otherwise without any meaningful growth on the individual citizens of these countries, or their society as a whole. Nigeria for example has been plundered of its major natural resource, crude oil, by chance of massive corruption or intellectual deficiency of its leaders the country still remains as stagnating as it was since 19602 (Smith, Harold). However, the western powers never really had the intention of shaping the society towards development, but deprives the region where the oil is exploited its natural merit- water and grass, for the area is now in arable and entirely polluted (Kurlansky). The idea of the monetary system that implies “life as a profit making avenue”, is not to the interest of every human being, because it leads only to one end—ruthlessness. For every person believes resources are scarce and must strive to pull from the limited money supply enough wealth to fulfill his needs or wants, competition leading to greed, dissatisfaction, and violence is systematically built into the system. Take for example “diamonds” a precious stone; there is a limited supply of this precious stone in South Africa not because there can’t be abundance for every “jewel-lover” to acquire as he so desires, but because the monetary system designs an artificial scarcity to make it valuable (Golds and diamonds). As we know, abundance is an enemy to the profit based economic mechanism. “They burn diamonds at the Kimberley diamond mines and make it carbon to sustain the price level” (Fresco). Science does not say there is no technology to provide for all, in fact if there is an abundant supply without a given value for the resource (diamond); people would use them just as they breathe air or drink natural water. The reason why the monetary system we have today may not have taxed you for the air you’re breathing is because there is no technology to keep this resource “in a confinement” that may be released as you pay. If there was a way to keep air scarce, it would have been worked by your government. The Modern Islamic Resource based Economy guarantees food, water, and shelter for everyone but the current monetary system where it’s believed to be most successful cannot. The World Bank which publicly claims to help poor countries towards development and alleviation of poverty has done nothing but to increase poverty and wealth gap. “In the 1960s the income gap between the fifth of the world’s richest countries against the fifth poorest countries was 30 to 1, by 1998 it was 74 to 1—while Global GNP rose to 40% in 1970-1985, those in poverty stricken countries increased by 17%. It is important to note that those who live by less than one dollar a day between 1985-2000 increased by 18%” (Gates). How can you advocate policies to better other economies towards development when you can’t eliminate poverty, crimes, unfair distribution of wealth, when you’re responsible for killing innocent people all over the world? How do you give lectures on human rights and liberty when you’re focused on the acquisition of wealth? Do you really care? Of course not, because life is now defined as “a profit making avenue regardless of the social or environmental cost” (Perkins). “People cannot be ethically or fair in the monetary system” (Fresco), someone comes to you in a bank and says, “we sell the cheapest stocks” of course he is a salesman. He cannot say “. . . but the bank next door sells cheaper stocks with higher dividends”, he won’t be in business for long. There has to be an understanding that businesses take the well-being of people secondary but profits first. The father of economics Adams Smith in his book titled, “the Wealth of Nations” states that self-interest and competition leads to social prosperity as competition leads to incentives for survival” (Smith). However, what is not discussed in this theory is how self-interest and competition leads to systemic corruption, power and wealth gap creation, social stratification, technological paralysis, labor abuse and ultimately loss of spirituality. Natural resources must be distributed for all; “happiness can only be measured not by the size of your bank account but by your contribution of knowledge and understanding to what you do” (Abdullah). In other words, contributing to the well-being of the world, that essentially means contributing to the well-being of your fellow man. In a Modern Islamic Resource based economy, your love for wealth would be immaterial for the society would focus on the natural elements for the progressive well-being of every person with the use of science and technology. When people consider the use of automation as a threat to the jobs say a factory work their employers hire them for, the real advantage to such technology is to relief people of working tirelessly with sufficient production at a considerable short time frame. With the monetary system we have today, no one will pay you if a machine could do your job better and faster however, has the thought occurred to men of the relief that comes about replacing people with machines for hard labor is a benefit if money did not exist? If it did not, people would start to see technological innovations as break through and not a threat to their jobs but as a relief to focus more on the importance of life itself that is the preparation of an afterlife3. Therefore, with the scarcity created among ourselves eliminated, and the belief that money is all that gets what you want taken away, what we have is our resources—earth’s resources. It is irrefutable to say the earth’s resources is sufficient for 6 billion+ people to enjoy health care, energy, food, housing, education, transportation and communication if guided shrewdly by the principles of this Islamic model and technology. I would mention a few because of the lack of space in this article; “Energy”, the fossil fuel used to power our machinery or the use of radioactive elements are dangerous and only used to maintain our monetary system’s profit mechanism. “Solar energy” often undermined as expensive by our media houses is an example. “The power we can get from the sun in just the mid-afternoon of a day could power the entire earth in a year if used sincerely not for profit to rival existing energy industries, by the technology we have today” (Zeitgeist). The wind energy is known to be weak and location deterministic, this is not the case—the United States Department of Energy admitted in 2007 that if 3 states in the country’s wind area are captured, it could power the entire nation. “Wave power”, that extracts surface motion from the ocean, it is estimated that about 80 thousand Terawatts of power can be derived from this source, that means about 80% of the entire world can be powered from this energy alone. It is therefore, important to note that these forms of energy do not require burning energy to provide powers as it for coal, hydrogen, uranium or crude oil. Another is “geothermal energy”, this uses water and produces clean air for energy, an MIT report states that 13,000ZJ of energy is readily available and an additional 2,000ZJ could be tapped with our technology of the 21st century. The total energy used on the earth per year is about 0.5ZJ this means more than 4,000 years—the earth could use this energy if God doesn’t call the world an end. “Transportation”, the prevailing mode of transport we have today is the automobile and aircraft which need fossil fuel to run. For automobiles, the battery power required to power a vehicle for over 200 miles exist however, due to the self-preservation of the oil-industry, this development have been seriously hindered—causing electric vehicles to be more expensive than the conventional. There is no reason for such action except in the case of corruption. The airline we have today is an inefficient, slow and cumbersome technology causing air pollution. A Maglev train uses magnet for proportion, it is fully suspended by magnetic fields and require about 2% of the energy used by the aircraft for plane travel. This train has no wheels, so nothing can wear out, an organization called ET3 has established this model and said this Maglev train can travel about 4000mph in a motionless, frictionless tube that can go underground or underwater. Just imagine traveling from Ohio to Mecca for Haji4 in less than 1 hour! We can do this if we don’t go back to the profit making society5. For jobs, a Modern Islamic Resource based Economy would eliminate 90% of jobs that involves hard labor with the replacement of humans with highly efficient machines. Technologies such as nano-technology and pico-technology would create higher reliability and efficiency “freeing people to live their lives without servitude to men but God Himself”—because that is the point of technology. As I conclude, some may consider this irrational or even having a terrorist undertone, but in fact it is not, we must develop a true economic order to the world by massive revolts and protests against those that annex human wealth and must insert a universal fair treatment for all. Expand the infrastructure of the entire world through the Modern Islamic Resource Economic based model. No longer can we live in a self centered modality that breeds man for contempt for his fellow man, we must learn to reward innovation but balance the uneven tendencies of wealth and power by inserting universal principles that can develop quality life for all against systems that oppress the majority and only reward the rich. This recent economic meltdown creates the opportunity to work a viable alternative and to come to the truth—that is the Message of Allah your Creator, as perceived by the men of divine understanding that are so few in number today. “He it is Who Hath made the earth manageable unto you, so transverse ye through its tracts and enjoy of the Sustenance which He Furnishes: but Unto Him is the Resurrection”.(The Sovereignty: 15) 1- Switzerland 2- Year of independence 3- In Islam, the prime cause of allegiance to faith is the belief of another world after death, known as the hereafter. 4- An Islamic ritual believed to be practiced by the believers of One God since the days of Abraham 5- Some concepts from Jacque Fresco’s Venus project +- Approximate 6.6 billion as from the 2007 World Population Data Sheet [center]Work Cited:[/center] Abdullah, Younus Muhammed. Dawa’h on Wall Street. New York: 2008 Fresco, Jacque. "The Venus Project." Futurist 29.6 (Nov. 1995): 66. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96 01101244&site=ehost-live>. Gates, Jeff. Counsel to the U.S Senate Committee on Finance. “World Bank.” Counsel to the U.S Senate Committee on Finance. 13 Mar.2009. “Gold and Diamonds”.U.S. Library of Congress. n/a. 3 March 2009. < http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/66.htm> Kurlansky, Mark. "Oil, toil and tyranny." Audubon 98.2 (Mar. 1996): 128. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96 03255231&site=ehost-live>. The Meaning of The Glorious Qu’ran, Rev. Edition. Picktall M. Murmaduke, Chennia: Tariq Publications, 2002. Perkins, John. "CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN." New African (Oct. 2005): 46-51. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI.13Mar.2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=18 52568&site=ehost-live>. Shrake, Douglas L., et al. "What is Science?." Ohio Journal of Science 106.4 (Sep. 2006): 130- 135. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=23 532610&site=ehost-live> Smith, Harold. "HOW BRITAIN UNDERMINED DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA". New African (May 2005): 8-13. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar.2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=16 940116&site=ehost-live>. "Smith's Wealth of Nations." Nation 11.265 (28 July 1870): 64-64. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=14 145168&site=ehost-live>. "World Population Highlights: Key Findings From PRB's 2007 World Population Data Sheet." Future Survey 29.10 (Oct. 2007): 5-5. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. AUC Library, Cairo, CAI. 13 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.aucegypt.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=27 593576&site=ehost-live>. Zeitgeist Andendum. Joseph, Peter, Google Video, 2008. Salawudeen, Femi is an undergraduate student in the American University in Cairo. He believes in science but strongly upholds “a religious –scientific connotation to life.” At his leisure time while not writing computer programs he watches documentaries that seek to answer questions on building a sustainable society For Easy Readability check: http://www.scribd.com/doc/14051922/An-Alternative-to-the-Worlds-Monetary-Economic-System |
(1) (Reply)
The Story Of Nigeria's 'untouchables' / Igbo States Sit Atop Federal Ministries: Gain Of Massive Venture In Education / Why We Can’t Disclose Suspects Now, Says Presidency - Thisday 17 May 09
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 42 |