The misery unfolding out of the current economic crisis simply doesn't seem to slow. On the contrary, the misery only seems to be increasing by the day, taking newer dimensions & reaching greater troughs than any one ever imagined. This crisis is termed as being worse than the "great depression" of the 1930s. It simply fails my rationale, why we humans never learn from our past mistakes? Why are we (at least our intelligent economists, policy makers, & political leaders running our Governments) not a little more thoughtful, have a little more foresight, be a little more conservative, & be respectful of others' needs as much as our own, when making policies & decisions? Can we say, this crisis could in a way at least, herald a re-thinking among our thinkers & intelligentsia on the long term sustainability of our natural resources based on the current fundamental economic theories & principles? There do not seem to be even a small ray of any answers we can get for these questions. The "great depression", the oil crisis, the Asian economic crisis, the tech bubble burst, & now, the present one. Time & again, it appears, we have been hit by recessions not necessarily due to cyclicality but out of our own making - by way of wrong economic policies & assumptions. Now, nobody seems to be willing to commit to whether we have weathered the worst of the crisis or, is the worst yet to come. The fundamental question is - why? Why have we not been able to pull up our socks & encourage conservatism? Why should one man's greed cost the lives of a few men? Is it fair that just because one person (or society or Nation) has more economic muscle, others can be allowed to go to the grave? It is true that resources are not equitably distributed around the world. For example, some countries are blessed with rich natural resources whereas others have to survive at the mercy of the others. However, shouldn't it be our endeavor that all of us share the wealth of resources bestowed upon us equally to become a progressive mankind?
What kind of development can we envision to achieve collectively, when only a handful of individuals, societies, & Nations hold the rest of mankind to ransom? How moral & logical is it to encourage profitability as the sole purpose of business enterprises, when people & their families are coming to streets due to such crises? In my opinion, profitability is important, no doubt, but, to what extent is the question. How much profit is enough profit? Is there a number we can give? Certainly not. For, there is no end to how much profit we want to make. It is like a bottomless pit. Sustainable profitability with the overall view of sustainable development is extremely important if we don't want many of us to lose our jobs & come to streets bringing our families along. Sustainable profitability calls for conservatism. We should refrain from being greedy & resist greed. One man's greed can take 100 families to the grave. In my opinion, such unchecked greed is the attitude of the devils. So, what is the solution? We need economic policing by way of checks & controls on executive packages so that no one person can get a compensation more than a few times the lowest salary drawn in the enterprise. For example, if the lowest wage is $ 1000 per month, then, the highest wage drawn (mostly by Chairmen & CEOs) can be, let's say, $ 50000. Such strict checks & controls brings accountability to executive compensation, which otherwise is humungous at current levels.
There is urgent need for redistributing wealth so that large population of people are not wiped out of the face of the planet. Development is a must for achieving progress of societies & Nations. But, let that development be humane, environmentally sustainable, economically viable, promoting peace & cooperation among peoples and Nations.
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