The Global Economic & Financial Crisis; Everything Is Interconnected.

Solving Our Crises Requires “New” Thinking.

By Jean-Pierre Ady Fenyo, Philosopher.

"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them." -- Albert Einstein


The World Economic Forum in Davos 2009 was a total failure! Instead of the brightest and best qualified minds telling the whole world what the real situation is, what the real causes of the crises are, and what the obvious solutions must be, we had one mediocre minded technocrat after another detailing information that lower middle class and poor people, as well as a very few formerly rich people, already know, all too well! Where are the fresh new ideas, where are the true intellectuals, the contemporary geniuses, Einsteins, Gandhis, Karl Poppers and others of the world?? I cannot accept the idea that the world today is devoid of such great, creative, innovative and deeply perceptive thinkers! Are they being suppressed and silenced?? And if so, by whom??

I turn on the TV and watch CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, SKY, etc., news, news and more news! And all I see are images of throngs of very frustrated, disillusioned and desperate workers and students in France, the UK, throughout Europe and the US and elsewhere sounding off the naïve mantra of radical revolution and failed political ideologies! I hear calls by masses of apparently superficially educated neo-Marxists demanding the resignation of governments, the defeat of Capitalist enterprises and institutions and the rise of totally unrealistic systems of governance and economy! At the same time I see a glimmer of real hope in Washington, as an intellectual man takes the oath of the office of The Presidency of The United States, and seems to fully understand the real causes and the real solutions to this most urgent and dangerous global set of crises! Unfortunately, I also see a Middle East on the brink of total disaster, which would surely engulf the rest of the World, and a link between events there and the global financial and economic crises.

At this point I find it necessary to disabuse you, the reader, of the notion that this article will also end up being just another well-intended failure to deliver sound advice, valid answers, and real solutions. It will not. This particular global financial and economic crisis, which can easily turn into a catastrophic global security meltdown, has its roots in systemic failures that are interlinked and deeply connected, that are socio-political and socio-economic, and which require a sophisticated set of both political and financial solutions, as well as the ability of responsible political leaders able to bring the public sector and the private sector to the negotiating tables and to hammer out truly sensible, intelligent, wise, long-term solutions, as well as immediate remedies requiring strong government intervention and massive infrastructural works and an overhaul of wasteful antiquated and environmentally unsound technologies, consumer productions and business practices! Again, let there be no mistake about it; for governments to be able to deliver urgently needed results, public trust and confidence in both the public and private sector must be restored, and that cannot happen without also strengthening Democratic and Pro-Social and Pro-Individual Freedoms, Liberties and Rights! For even as the masses rightfully sense that things are not right, they are generally mal-informed, deliberately so by political opportunists from both extremes (Right and Left), about the real causes and the real solution to the interlinked (connected) local, national and global crises we all face! It is exactly at a time like this that we need stronger voices of Universal reason and Humanistic wisdom, of true moderation and responsibly progressive liberal political orientation. Only when the masses of the people understand that the wealthy few cannot be violently overthrown or destroyed and the wealthy few understand that they need to share more of the world’s wealth and help restore public confidence in both government and the private sector, and that that can only happen if there are bright minded intellectual heroes who are afforded by the privately-controlled mass media a greater voice, only then will we be successful in diminishing the voices of extremism, of ultra-nationalism, of economically unsound protectionism, of religious intolerance, of racism, ageism and other chauvinistic and barbaric voices, that for too long have managed to gain public credence on account of a sickly mass media that feeds on extremism, sensationalism and vanities galore!

It needs to be said that the very first step to global financial and socio-economic (thus political and security) stability must surely involve a mass media willing to give much more of a voice and podium for those true intellectuals, some of whom are self-educated, who understand just how complex things really are and just how multi-disciplinary-minded one must be in order to see through the complexity the light at the end of the tunnel, the light of greater reason and understanding that shines brightly and reveals the true solutions, which are themselves based on an understanding of the interconnectivity, interdependence, and correlation of things that otherwise seem, to average mediocre minds, totally unrelated and unconnected! As long as the general public is distracted and divided by illusions of get-rich-quick schemes, or the false hope offered by extremists who sell intolerance and who get way too much media attention, the general public will not pay attention to those who offer real solutions to real problems and will not pressure their governments and leaders to take all the action urgently needed.

Capitalism has never failed humanity at all! For what has been going on, more so these past eight years under the Bush Administration, has not been real Capitalism at all, but what should properly be identified as and called Global Mass Piracy, in which a significant number, albeit not all, of the world’s richest few have plundered and pillaged societies, wrecked havoc upon and destroyed much of the Middle Class, who are the backbone of any healthy Democratic and Capitalist Social Democratic society!!! This Global Mass Piracy, which still operates as a vast conspiracy of thuggish thieves, cannot be brought down to its knees by mere public anger and government reprimands! This Global Mass Piracy has only managed to get its way because of a combination of weakness and selfish opportunism on the part of a fear- and hate-mongering mass media and inept, technocrat-riddled, cowardly governments!

The world needs to be regularly and properly educated and informed by the mass media and by governments about the interconnectedness of things, about the real dangers of extremist ideologies, about the real nature of and benefits of true Democracy, about the fact that without Capitalism and Private Ownership there can be no Privacy Rights, Personal Liberties, Freedoms and thus no Personal or Public Security at all! Social Democracy, regardless of whether it is slightly Right-of-Center or Left-of-Center is the only viable option! Social Democracy is what insures both the rights of Private Individuals and Capitalists, as well as the rights of the greater public in general, especially the rights of properly paid and relatively protected working class people and properly educated and compensated middle class people, without whom society, Democracy and Capitalism, is doomed to fail! When moderate political forces lose, the extremists win and subsequently plunge the world into total chaos and a final catastrophe!
It does not take a genius to understand all that I have said thus far!

And once the mass media is once more on the side of reason, of wisdom and of moderation, then it will be able to help herald the news of all those massive public works projects and giant infrastructural works that will provide the kind of employment and income needed to restore the world’s economic health! And then the overhaul of big business away from manufacturing junk and antiquated transportation and energy technologies towards quality, green, environmental technologies will be possible! Yet there is one other very important change needed; and that concerns the availability of truly affordable housing, both in the suburbs and within our great city-state cities! For without relatively safe, efficient, comfortable, compact and truly affordable housing there will be no healthy and new mass of long-term home owners! It is clear as can be that over-speculation in private housing drove up the cost of housing beyond the real means of the working and middle classes, and that this also created a false economy in which millions prospered at the expense of billions, and vast fortunes of digitalized wealth were amassed at the expense of entire economic sectors and financial institutions, which have since begun crumbling down unto our own heads!

We need to do in principle much of the same things that were done by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and The New Deal, but in a fresh, new and much more sophisticated, visionary, long-term-considerate way!

Remember, it all starts with the right attitude on the part of the mass media and the governments, properly informing the general public about what are the real causes and what must now be done, and then going to the negotiating tables to negotiate with the world’s wealthiest few about the terms of not just a Global Sociological Ceasefire, but a long term Viable and Just Peace! The days of violent revolutions (not that they ever really worked) are over, but so must the days of unscientific and illogical and inhuman attitudes and conditions be over! We do not have a moment’s time left to waste: is the mass media going to do the right thing and share this understanding with the world, or is it going to ignore the voices of reason and wisdom still alive and kicking?? Perception sells the product first, and the product continues to sell if the perception has any real basis! The mass media are responsible for perceptions, and we must be responsible for the product!

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities." -- Albert Einstein


Jean-Pierre Ady Fenyo, also known as The Free Advice Man, is a Self-Educated Philosopher currently residing in London, where he is busy writing his books and ceaselessly communicating his ideas on the need for responsibly progressive liberal social democracy and unity-in-diversity!