Eastern
province Election Day activities and results confirm what was said
about the possible outcome in this column in the past few weeks. Both
the UNP and the TNA will have to answer the masses who are in distress
as to why they participated and gave credence to a colossal fraud like
this.
However, the
Mahinda regime will not be able to get away with its crime as mass
discontent is bound to rise in the coming period.
Inspite of
the magic of the victory, the food crisis is hitting the masses hard.
Scarcity, inflation and lack of hygiene are intolerable. Of course the
food crisis is an international affair. True, but the follies of this
government have extended the problem creating misery for everybody.
Internationally
the problem of food production and the related environment problem are
discussed in many forums. In the last decade attention was given to
industrial development led by MNCs.
Though the necessity of protecting the environment and valuable local traditions was accepted, the emphasis was for the elimination of ‘non productive’ petty production giving way to the MNCs system. Often traditional agricultural practices that go back to even ancient times were laughed off as irrational and non scientific. Now suddenly these technologies are given importance and the idea of human development has taken a new interpretation.
There was an increase in demand for food with development in India, China and other places but strangely this was not taken into account by the pundits of the global capital. In the mean time certain areas were shifted from food production to other commercial crops, while a part of food produced was used for fuel production.
World’s poor
On the other
hand, the protection of the environment was considered to be the
responsibility of the world’s poor. How could the poor who are
struggling for existence be thoughtful about the environment, when the
powerful are so negligent about it? For every cent invested in industry
it is vital to allocate a cent for the protection of the environment.
The question
is, who is going to direct the world on such principles? Neo liberalism
preaches of automatic working of the market economy where state
intervention is virtually non existent. A kind of anarchism par
excellence!
Marx showed
150 years ago that every development based on exploitation will be
followed by a rebellion of those who are oppressed by the very
development. Now James Boughton and Colin, two pundits of the global
capital tell us these shortcomings of global governance, if not
addressed will only worsen in the years to come and could undermine the
progress that globalization has brought about.
As the
historian Harold James (2001) has shown, history is replete with
episodes in which international commerce and finance have flourished
and generated bursts of economic growth and development, only to be
reversed because of popular backlash.” This shows that they have to
accept the incongruity, lack of equity and no sustainability of the MNC
backed development.
It is the
development of an agency class, at the expense of perishing lower
classes; haves develop at the expense of have nots. At the same time,
society is pushed into an ethical and moral crisis due to the loss of
traditional value systems. This affects not only the poor but also the
rich. One can see the problem even in India and China.
Questions are raised as to what human achievements are obtained by this development, what are the comforts? What is contentment? This is a global problem. It is a fact that, lack of hunger, habitat to rest, and security which are universal gains for humans.
Manipulated
It is really
a needful development that fulfils these basic requirements. But beyond
this, society can be manipulated to orientate towards a variety of
wants. All kinds of wants can be created by sales campaigns whether
such wants are going to enrich life or not. Technology can be used to
enrich life as well as to destroy it; that is obvious.
With every
gadget that one takes home for getting some relief, a new drudgery will
follow. It all depends on which one you prefer. What you consider as a
relief is inevitably a new trap that could be more harmful. Technology
can protect the environment and culture but it is far easier to destroy
both. Thus a new socio-ethical discussion has opened up encompassing
all sectors of the global community. Whether the market economy could
resolve all this has become the most important question. Even the
advocates of global capitalism have started raising the need of global
governance, a universal plan and supervision.
James and
Colin say in each case, hard decisions must be made about whose
welfare, which rights, and what goals matter most. This makes global
governance- whether it pertains to finance, trade, environment, or
health-one of the most difficult challenges of the modern world.”
Clearly we are entering a new era where pressing problems challenging mankind can be solved only by democratic socialized planning.