12 - The ugly side of capitalism: what the young generation needs to combat

Summary

Introduction

Just as the last Marxists are disappearing from the globe, capitalism has shed the “soft” face it developed during its struggle with communism after the Second World War. Currently, capitalism resembles Karl Marx's description of it: harsh, cold, uncompassionate, anti-humanistic, crisis-prone, relentlessly exploiting every country and opportunity for the sake of profit – with the resultant huge collateral damage in terms of people, cultures, and traditions. Greed is omnipresent and even seems to have halted the mechanism that has been driving prosperity and – to some extent – humanistic advances since the Second World War. The failure of the Doha round appears to have been the end of a shared responsibility for an increasingly integrated globe.

This book does not, however, indulge in scare mongering; the focus is therefore not on doomsday scenarios, but on practical alternatives, which are relevant for young academicians. Consequently, this chapter describes what has happened since the collapse of communism and why (section 2 below) as well as the priorities of the required change. The latter focuses particularly on the finance sector dominance of the economy and companies (section 3), resource waste (especially energy [section 4]), and the reminder that life is more than consumption (section 5). In conclusion, some recommendations regarding what young academicians can do to stem these negative trends are provided.