By Ronald Logan
Capitalism will fall, as those that live by the sword die by the sword. What we now experience under capitalism is economic greed of extreme proportions. At the inception of the capitalist era, the capitalist system was very healthy. One merchant competed with others for consumers’ patronage by increasing the quality of their goods, and this competition worked to increase quality and service. So it was a healthy system in the early days of the rise of the merchant class. But it is the natural flow of social cycle that every class that comes to dominance eventually deteriorates. It develops to the point where it can no longer sustain itself and it topples, or is toppled from power. In the case of capitalism, the people arise en masse against the domination of the wealthy merchants and create the workers’ revolution.

There has been a transition to a global society in which the key corporations of the grand capitalists have become multinational in scope, with subsidiaries in every country and owning hundreds of corporations under one conglomerate banner. They have become so powerful that they can exercise great influence over governments, so that the national governments’ powers and authority are weakening.pullquote pqLeft

These multinational global entities are also able to have great influence over the economies of different countries, playing one against the other to best get their profit-driven needs met. If they can get their cheap labor in India or China and sell their products to the United States, they will do so. They operate internationally, and they are not concerned with the welfare of anyone but their bottom line and themselves. They do not think ahead; they do not plan for global development. They simply plan based on their own greed.

Due to the power and control of such multinational conglomerates, they have been able to influence many countries’ policies. They come and take the cheap labor and they lobby for deregulation so they can operate as they wish. They have been able to change laws and regulations within countries to maximize their profits. Their goal is always profit. And because they have overextended their greed, they have slit their own throats with their own swords because they have weakened their markets, destabilized the world, and have brought the world to a point of crisis.

The present situation is often compared to the Great Depression of the 1930s, which was the first major sign of the deterioration of capitalism. However, global capitalism was not then developed as it is today; the economy of one country did not so affect the economy of another. In today’s world of global corporate entities, with many subsidiaries in many countries, there is a global economy. But there is no humanistic, thoughtful global entity to make decisions. Rather, decisions are made by this corporation or that, each trying to make more and more money.

So, when they put their factories in India, Philippines, or China and then sell their products in Europe or America, they are not thinking, “What will be the impact on the world?” They are simply thinking, “How much money can I make?” When they determine prices and manipulate markets, they are not thinking, “What will be the long-term repercussions for the society?” So, due to their shortsightedness and greed, they have caused a very precarious situation.

Need for Global Leadership

But there is a deeper underlying cause for the current situation. It is that globalism, the movement towards a global, one-world society, is without any governing body. There is no global body responsible for governance over these greedy corporate cowboys and for seeing to the welfare of the people of the world.

Naturally, without leadership and without policies to govern the situation, the multinational corporations have followed their own corporate capitalist instincts and made a mess. They are not out to harm anyone; they are simply following their dharma as vaeshyan merchants. However, they have grown so large and so powerful that they are destructive even to themselves. The economies of the different countries have become destabilized due to deregulation and economic meddling by multinational corporations and, in a deeper realm, due to the lack of a global body representing the needs of the people of the world.

So, first and foremost, the solution to today’s crises is to form some type of global body that can reckon with global economic problems, as well as with global political problems. This body can oversee the distribution of resources, taking the motive of desire for the welfare of all people. It can implement economic solutions that are cross-cultural and multinational.

Nationalism does not work in today’s world, and it is reaching its end. National autonomy assumes that a nation can exist separately from others and simply pursue its own welfare. But those days are gone, and today’s political leaders know it and they are trying to adjust themselves. They work for their separate countries but know that they cannot solve their problems independently of others. They know it. While each country tries to cling to its autonomy, yet their cooperation increases out of necessity. In today’s world, the necessity lies in collaborative summits, and in establishing governing bodies that can regulate and coordinate the world economic situation economically and that can prevent wars.

War is becoming too dangerous to pursue. As nuclear proliferation increases, the necessity for global regulation, supervision and coordination becomes extreme. Perhaps Russia and the United States have modeled some restraint, but what will happen as every little nation develops its nuclear arsenals. There needs to be regulation of nuclear weapons for world survival.

Following the Example of the European Union

The economics of one nation clearly affect the economics of all nations. And the United States economy, in particular, affects all nations. The Americans cannot solve their problems without the cooperation of others, and others cannot solve their problems when the Americans are in such trouble. So everyone is in trouble. Individually they cannot solve the problems and they recognize this. There is too much inherent interdependency within economic markets. The problems are international, and so the solution-makers must be international. This is a known reality in the political world of today. But what is said and what is ascribed to differs from what is needed, for there is a clinging to the autonomy of nations.

The nations need to be in a coordinated whole, much as the countries of Europe have come into the European Union. In this way, the world must come into some type of union for political welfare and safety and for economic coordination. Has the European Union helped Europe in general? Has the softening of the national boundaries so that the Europeans can go here and there helped Europe? Definitely. Europe is thriving, relatively speaking. So the example of the European Union needs to be taken up by the world.

A global body should be created, and it should set up an economic council to coordinate global economic development. This global economic council should develop a true global economy, responsibly managed, with goals for global economic development, coordination and distribution of resources — development not based on corporate greed but based on human needs as perceived by a responsible international council representing all countries. In this properly managed global economy, the corporate entities would operate under firm the regulation of the global economic council.

Transition to a New Era

Today the world faces a shift away from the dominance of the age of capitalists. This shift will get advanced through the workers revolution. And who is it that makes the workers revolution? It is the disgruntled people who have been forced into shudra-hood by the capitalists. It is these people, existing throughout the world, who want change. The disgruntled workers, the viksubdha shudras, of today are not peasants on the farm. They are intelligent people who are tired of the illogic and inhumanity of the current situation and want an improvement. Through their mass demand will come change. It is coming from the bottom up, from the populace spurred and led by the ideas of the viksubdha shudras — by the alternative thinking, intelligent people in the society.

So these intelligent people who see that the present system is not working are beginning to demand something else. And their ideas are catching on and becoming very popular. The masses of society want change to occur. They are beginning to side with the alternative thinking people and to realize, “Hey, these people have the right idea. These corporations are leading us down a false road of economic hope, but we are just getting used by them.”

In all countries, the ideas of progressive thinking, intelligent people are becoming more and more accepted in the society. This kind of thinking en masse will increasingly come into prominence. This is just the beginning. There is a change that is gaining momentum — a shift from vaeshyan dominance to the dominance in the workers revolution led by the vikubdha shudras.

After the workers revolution, in order to sustain it the revolutionary change, there will be need for more discipline and regulation in the society. So the society will quickly shift into a well-disciplined ksattriyan society. It will be a society of very good quality. We should not fear, but welcome, the coming of the values of the ksattriyan society — which will place duty and dharma over money.

That is where it will end, in the dominance of the values of duty, discipline, and dharma and in establishing a strict chain of command in the society. A well-regulated society is needed in which one cannot simply wage a war if one feels like it, or greedily profit the way one wants. The regulatory discipline of the society will increase, and this will be a good thing. The value of sustaining duty, sustaining one’s pledge to the welfare of humanity, will become dominant. It will no longer be acceptable to engage in economic development at the cost of others.

All societies have had merchants, and there will still be merchants. There will still be corporations; there will still be a vital economy. In all societies, there is economic enterprise; in all societies, there is money and there is trade. So all of these functions will go on, but the values of the society will shift. The glory will not be in becoming an economic giant where everyone admires you because you have become the very rich entrepreneur. No, what will be of value is the noble person who is dutiful and follows dharma. That is the prime value in a good ksattriyan society, and that will be seen as the road of success.

The Emergence of a Well-Regulated Global Economy

People say, “Oh, we will restore capitalism.” But capitalism will not be as it was. There is now much government engagement in bringing solutions to the troubled economic situation. And this will only increase. If the people are smart, they will start to build a strong global political body that can implement strong global economic solutions — solutions that arrange the rational distribution of resources and that strictly regulate the multinational corporate entities. There needs to be a regulatory body that guides these decisions in a cooperative way between different nations so that there can be a coordinated policy that produces good for everyone.

Naturally, some nations will be richer than others. The world regulatory body will not produce complete equality. Equality is not the goal; welfare is the goal. Some parts of the world are more sophisticated, more developed. Some parts are a little backwards. Each nation grows at their own rate, even in a world society. Distribution of resources will not be the same everywhere; there will not be equality. But if the principles of Prout are implemented, the basic necessities will be provided for all in a humanitarian way.

What is at stake is the survival of this age that faces pollution, over-expansion of population, destruction of species, economic collapse, and natural disasters. If all of this is to be faced, it cannot occur under the dominating influence of corporate power and corporate greed. It must be managed by a responsible global council that addresses human needs. Who will address the crisis of massive natural disasters? How can the economies of countries be coordinated so that everyone can be living in security and welfare, rather than in collapse and destruction? How can the world protect itself from the threat of nuclear proliferation? How can the food supply be maintained to feed the ever-growing population? These are critical questions that, along with several others, must be addressed and answered.

Necessity demands that these issues be properly addressed. For this, there must be dutiful and intelligent people who come into power in a global society, rather than the big corporations being the dominant power. Thus, we are seeing the end of capitalism, the end of the vaeshyan era, and the transition to the social dominance to the well-disciplined and regulated society of the ksattriyans.

Copyright The author 2012