Explores whether the roots of poverty are social and cultural? And, if so, whether the kinds of economic initiatives we follow at present, have any real chance of eliminating poverty? Further, what kinds of initiatives can in fact eliminate poverty and produce the kind of development that most humans would recognise as worthwhile?
4. Please note
• I am a Hindu follower of Jesus the Lord
• He was anti-religious, so I am anti-religious too;
He was constantly in touch with God; I try to be in
a position where God can be at least sometimes
in touch with me
• I regard Christianity as a systematic attempt to
distort and subvert Jesus’ teachings and person
5. Structure of my presentation
A. General Principles
B. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
F. Tackling Poverty
5
6. 4 General Principles
1. Every nation should arise at least to the
Minimum Level of Prosperity – that is:
the value of its physical resources
divided by its population
7. 4 General Principles
1. Every nation should arise at least to the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
2. Most nations have never done so throughout
history
8. 4 General Principles
1. Every nation should arise at least to the
Minimum Level of Prosperity suggested by its
physical resources divided by its population
2. Most nations have never done so throughout
history
3. A few nations have succeeded in far
surpassing the Minimum Level of Prosperity
9. 4 General Principles
1. Every nation should arise at least to the Minimum
Level of Prosperity suggested by its physical
resources divided by its population
2. Most nations have never done so throughout
history
3. A few nations have succeeded in far surpassing the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
4. When achieved, the question is : How sustainable
is that achievement? Or, How can it be sustained?
10. Structure of my presentation
A. Four General Principles
B. *Why* nations do not achieve the Minimum
Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
10
11. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
• Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption... vs the Rule of Law
12. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
• Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption
• Structures of oppression that create
hopelessness, apathy, cynicism and paralysis
13. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
• Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption/ Murder
• Structures of oppression that create
hopelessness, apathy and paralysis
• A belief-system that torpedoes the possibility
of progress
14. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
• Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption/ Murder
• Structures of oppression that create
hopelessness, apathy and paralysis
• A belief-system that torpedoes the possibility
of progress
• Ignorance or unwillingness to put best policies
and best practices into place
15. In order to achieve/ surpass the
Minimum Level of Prosperity:
• Eliminate corruption/ looting/ stealing/ murder
• Instill a culture that will lead to prosperity
• Identify and remove (or weaken) the structures of
oppression
• Struggle systematically against pride/ arrogance/
complacency/ apathy/ fatalism.
16. Structure of my presentation
A. General Principles
B. Why nations do not achieve the Minimum
Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
16
17. Understanding what has caused
poverty
• At the most basic level: there are only five
worldviews
– Black
– White
– Yellow
– Green and
– Red
17
18. BLACK
• Dominant in all tribal societies
• But also influences many «modern» societies
even today – e.g.:
– Arab culture
– «green» movements ...
18
19. BLACK
• Dominant in all tribal societies
• But also influences many others even today – e.g.
Arab culture, «environmental» movements
•Fear of nature/
the gods/ «fate»
19
20. BLACK
• Dominant in all tribal societies
• (But also influences many others even today –
e.g. Arab culture)
• Fear of or harmony with nature/ the gods/ «fate»
•No progress!
GREAT sustainability :)!
20
21. BLACK• Dominant in all
tribal societies
• (But also
influences many
others even today
– e.g. Arab
culture)
• Fear of nature/
the gods/ «fate»
• No progress!
21
22. Exercise:
• In twos, please discuss: does the Black view of
the world exist in your country in any:
age groups, region, heirarchy, income level,
educational level....
22
23. WHITE
Historically dominant in most
non-tribal parts of the world; and
influences many others today – e.g.
Roman Catholic, Buddhist , Hindu...)
23
24. WHITE
Historically dominant in many parts of the world and
influences many others even today – e.g. Buddhist
and Hindu cultures
«the next world
is what matters;
this world is not important»
24
25. WHITE
• Dominant in many parts of the world historically
• (But also influences many others even today –
e.g. Buddhist and Hindu cultures)
• «the next world is what matters; this world is not
important»
•No progress!
25
26. Exercise:
• In twos, please discuss: does the WHITE view
of the world exist in your country in any:
age groups, region, heirarchy, income level,
educational level....
26
27. YELLOW
• Dominant in most empires and dictatorships
• From ancient times to the present
• May or may not take a disproportionate share
of the benefits of the system
• Has to maintain and display sufficient power
to avoid or counter any real or perceived
threat to the top individual or group
27
28. YELLOW
• Dominant in most empires and dictatorships,
from ancient times to the present
• «Don’t ask challenging questions; this
arrangement is the only one that will work, and
it is for everyone’s best»
28
29. YELLOW
• Dominant in most empires and dictatorships,
from ancient times to the present
• «Don’t ask challenging questions; this
arrangement is the only one that will work, and
it is for everyone’s best»
• Progress ranges from huge to very little,
depending on the nature and skill of the
dictatorship or empire
29
30. Exercise:
• In twos, please discuss: does the YELLOW
view of the world exist in your country in any:
age groups, region, heirarchy, income level,
educational level....
30
31. GREEN
• Dominant in Europe following the Protestant
Reformation from the 16th century AD
• But today influences most other parts of the
world
• Though the reformers may be Marxist, Hindu,
Muslim or whatever, the inspiration, the
objectives, and the standards by which reform
has to be evaluated continue to be clearly
from Jesus Christ
31
32. GREEN• After the Protestant Reformation, from the
16th century
• Everyone should be free to read, think,
debate, organise themselves and
improve their lives as they like,
provided everyone works actively to
support the poor/ disadvantaged, and
takes care of the environment.
32
33. GREEN• Dominant principally in Europe following the Protestant Reformation from the 16th century
• But also influences most other parts of the world today, including formally Communist and
therefore atheistic China, majortity Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, majority-Buddhist
countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, and majority-Hindu cultures such as Nepal and India
• Everyone should be helped to be free to read, think, debate, organise and improve their lives,
provided we are responsible for helping the poor and disadvantaed and are environmentally
responsible.
• Historically unprecedented progress:
Northern Europe went from always
having been one of the poorest parts
of the world to one of the richest!
33
34. How come the whole world has come to accept what were
strange and even “unrealistic”understandings of:
economics, justice, human rights, heroism, optimism,
compassion, family, morality?
• Why does a U.S. President put his hand on the
Bible to take an office that is secular?
• What made even a King like Henry VIII submit
to moral authority?
• Ever heard of Martin Luther, Tyndale or Wycliffe
– or considered that they might be history's
greatest progressives?
• Why and how did Europe become a historically
unique civilization: technical and tolerant,
scientific and free, prosperous and just ?
34
35. Exercise:
• In twos, please discuss: does the GREEN view
of the world exist in your country in any:
age groups, region, heirarchy, income level,
educational level....
35
36. RED
• Now the dominant philosophy of the global
elite, represented by the USA
• Though many middle class people around the
world are influenced by this too
36
39. RED• Corporations should have the same rights as
individuals, in addition to the privileges they
already have as companies
39
40. RED
• Morality and law are «necessary inconveniences»
around which I should find as efficient a way as
possible, while I focus on making as much money
as I can, as quickly as I can, without thinking too
much about the context or the consequences
40
41. RED• Technology will solve all problems
• Society will look after itself if markets are left free
• Corporations should have the same rights as
individuals, in addition to the privileges they
already have as companies
• Morality and law are necessary inconveniences
around which I should find as efficient a way as
possible, while I focus on making as much money
as I can, as quickly as I can, without thinking too
much about the context or consequences
41
42. RED
• Historically unprecedented global «progress»
• But has created the largest number of poor people
that the world has ever seen
• The largest global gap between the poor and the
rich
• The greatest environmental impact
• The most unstable and volatile monetary system
42
43. Exercise:
• In twos, please discuss: does the RED view of
the world exist in your country in any:
age groups, region, heirarchy, income level,
educational level....
43
44. Structure of my presentation
A. General Principles
B. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
44
45. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same
culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
46. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same
culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
• Within 9 years, Pakistan had abandoned
secularism and become Islamic
47. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same
culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
• Within 9 years, Pakistan had abandoned
secularism and become Islamic
• Two years later, it descended into a dictatorship
48. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same
culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
• Within 9 years, Pakistan had abandoned
secularism and become Islamic
• Two years later, it boasted a dictator
• By 1971, it had lost the eastern part of the
country, which became Bangladesh
49. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
• Within 9 years, Pakistan had abandoned
secularism and become Islamic
• Two years later, it boasted a dictator
• By 1971, it had lost the eastern part of the
country, which became Bangladesh
• Pakistan per capita income $2,960
• India $3,851
50. Pakistan and India
• At Independence in 1947:
– Same food, same music, same clothing, same culture
– Same Constitution and political institutions
• Within 9 years, Pakistan had abandoned secularism
and become Islamic
• Two years later, it boasted a dictator
• By 1971, it had lost the eastern part of the country,
which became Bangladesh
• Pakistan per capita income $2,960
• India $3,851
• Bangladesh $ 700
51. Structure of my presentation
A. General Principles
B. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
F. Tackling Poverty
51
52. Tackling Poverty
1. No one does it
2. Government does it
3. Markets do it
4. Government drives it, with help from markets
5. Government creates the framework, and
markets do it
52
53. Tackling Poverty
1. No one does it
2. Government does it
3. Markets do it
4. Government does it with help from markets
5. Government creates the right framework,
and markets do it
China: from 1, to 2, to 4/5
India: from 1, to 6:
6. Entrepreneurs try to do it in spite of the best
efforts of government to stop entrepreneurs!
53
54. Structure of my presentation
A. General Principles
B. Why nations do not achieve the
Minimum Level of Prosperity
C. The social or worldview aspects that cause
poverty
D. Comparison between Pakistan and India
E. Comparison between China and India
F. Tackling Poverty
54
56. Fundamental reforms for world
finance and economy
- Allow only stable currencies for countries that
want to be part of the world trade system; OR
introduce complementary currencies
- Abolish usury (the use of money to make money)
- Move the Stock exchange system from Short
Term Orientation to Long Term Orientation
- Tobin Tax
- Green taxes into special accounts, and Required
Social Investments on the part of the richest 0.5%
of the population
56
57. Global Culture of Greed and Fear,
how to transform it
• Education for nurturing citizenship and
genuine personal fulfilment
• Truth-telling and the media
• Direct democracy
• Fundamental and applied research to be freed
• Global minimum wage
• Global rules for health, safety &
environmental responsibility
57
58. “Ecological disaster, financial volatility/
vulnerability/ meltdown, dwindling oil reserves,
terrorism and food shortages are converging
symptoms of a single, failing global system, that is
falling apart like worn out old cloth and needs to
be rewoven together.... more wisely”
– post on an internet chat forum
58
It is an honour to be asked to give the last presentation related to the content of our conference – Different worldviews assign decision-making to different kinds and levels of people, and the decision-making is on bases that are different from each other, and there is a different sense of boundaries, direction and objectives. That is partly what constitutes the global values clash.
Now, as my material is relatively complex and dense, I am giving you my blog site so you can keep up with my occasional thoughts if you like; these slides will be on the www.academia.edu website along with all the other presentation slides as you know, and you can find my other public statements and presentations on related topics by looking for my name on the internet – thanks to my parents, Prabhu Guptara is a unique name, so you will find it immediately!
This particular presentation is based on one that I was invited to give at a conference in Munich, organised by the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Propertty, and published in the Proceedings of the Conference, titled LAW AND ETHICS IN A GLOBALISED SOCIETY. If you are interested in getting hold of a copy of that paper, it should be available on the Internet but, if not, do contact me.
I must point out that I have a large topic and a tiny amount of time, which will have certain consequences, meaning some exaggerations and distortions!
My presentation could be considered to have only two parts: the first focuses on exploring what causes poverty, and the second actually puts forward some proposals – you can get a much fuller list of my proposals if you like, by looking for my articles and book chapters on the internet.
Of course, there are questions such as: are the resources extractable, but we leave those aside for the moment
What is the Rule of Law? Implies that every citizen has the protection of the law, and every citizen is subject to the law. It stands in contrast to the idea that the rulers or the elites are above the law, for example by some concept of the divine right of kings (or its equivalent for Presidents and Prime Ministers) or sheer wealth, or access to power. Trying to elude the rule of law is the reason why so many kings ascribe either divine descent, or divinity, to themselves.
There are "thin" or formal definitions of the rule of law, as well as “thick” or substantive definitions. Thin/formal definitions do not make any judgment about the "justness" of law itself, but put forward procedural attributes that a legal framework must have. Thick/ substantive definitions go beyond mere proceduralism, and include certain basic or fundamental rights. Of course, if your culture does not believe in God, as Red cultures do not, then you have the possibility only of a “thin” understanding of the Rule of Law.
Identify any areas where the Rule of Law exists clearly and absolutely in your country…
Identify one or two areas where the Rule of Law exists very little or not at all in your country….
What are such structures of oppression in your country? To what extent are you yourself part of such a “structure of oppression”?
Please identify specific aspects of your culture which make it difficult to progress:
- fear and greed, - structures of oppression,
- beliefs,
- ignorance or unwillingness
- other....
In your country, identify one area in which there is ignorance of best policies and practices, and one area where global best practice is being implemented.
In your country, identify one important area where there is ignorance or unwillingness to implement best practices.
Singapore....Japan.... Korea... And other countries have tried to put in place structures of justice and the rule of law in contrast to their traditional cultures.
Jesus the Lord said that his teachings could certainly be debated but we’d find out if they really led to life fulfilment only if we practice them.
Mahatma Gandhi put that message in these words: «BE the change that you want to see»...
I want to suggest to you that essentially there are only 5 views of the world, that I call
I could give many other examples of non-tribal and even «modern» societies that are influenced by what I call the «BLACK» worldview
So what characterises what I call the «black» view of the world? Originally, it was a fear of nature and of the gods, or an acceptance of «fate» - though nowadays also a reaction against the kind of «progress» we have today, whose challenges and disadvantages are so clearly to be seen; a desire to, as they say, «live in harmony with nature» even though it is clear that nature is «red in tooth and claw» as Alfred Lord Tennyson put it.
I am being ironic of course: does «no progress» equal sustainability? NO, it simply means «no progress»
But this worldview is beloved of many romantics who would like us to worship «Gaia» or the earth mother, this worldview is idolised by many who would like us to be like the First People in Canada, or the native Indians in the USA or Brazil, or the Aborigines of Australia or the Maori of NZ.
Which is of course totally impractical. So let’s move to the second worldview, which I call:
Usually, this view of the world systematically ignores or even justifies the rule of an elite, that is usually exploitative and oppressive
In other words, this view is «so heavenly-minded as to be of no earthly use», beyond allowing or even justifying cultural, social and/or economic oppression
This does not mean that there were no specific achievements; just that the achievements were specific and did not result in much social transformation towards justice - or opportunities for most ordinary people.
So let’s go to the third worldview, which I describe as «Yellow»
We could say that this is characteristic of all ancient empires, and of most empires and dictatorships that are more recent: an individual, family, clique, tribe or group dominates; such a political system can be stable over a short or long time, depending on various factors
The official ideology cannot be challenged, for example, the ideology of Anglo-American financial capitalism must not be challenged if you want to succeed in it; however, ideologies that are perceived to be non-threatening (usually «White» ideologies) are tolerated or even encouraged
Usually there has to be at least enough stability and material progress to stave off threats to the ruling group; the difficulty such systems face is in enabling transitions either from one generation to another, or to transitions in or from the system. So let’s go to a more helpful worldview, which i describe as:
including formally Communist and therefore atheistic China, majority Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, majority-Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, and majority-Hindu cultures such as Nepal and India.
This worldview takes us to President Merz’s opening remarks at our Symposium, with his quote from Martin Luther, though John Calvin and Zwingli and – more important – many hundreds of millions of unknown people have been part of this.
We could say that, whatever our beliefs and faith-commitments, ALL of us are Protestants today!!!
What I mean is that no one believes that only priests, or only people from a particular class or group, should have the right or the duty to read, or that the Pope should determine what we can or should believe, or that any Church or other organisation should combine in itself religious, political, economic and military power.
Please note that I am not saying that the Protestants were perfect – they had their share of problems, for example because they too allied themselves with state power in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus the Lord.
Only those few Protestant groups who rejected alliance with national elites (e.g. Quakers, Huguenots, Baptists, Methodists, Amish, Mennonites, Brethren) had even the remotest chance of following the teachings of Jesus...
But that is a different matter from the view of the world, which is what we are talking about right now, and whether particular worldviews produces cultures that are more or less likely to produce prosperity or poverty.
It was not just global education and modern science that resulted from the Protestant Reformation, it was the Rule of Law and the work ethic, and the development of a sense of responsibility both among the elites and among everyone in society.
As the example of Singapore and Japan show too, countries do not remain corrupt because they are poor, they remain poor because they are corrupt.
In fact, we could say that the entire modern world owes its best features to the influence of the Bible – and if you want to have proper documentation of that, do read the latest book by Dr Mangalwadi.
The book has just been published in the USA, in English; and it will certainly appear in Spanish, Indonesian, Korean and possibly Japanese, Russian and even Chinese relatively soon.
Unfortunately, as people become rich, they also tend to become arrogant, and then to try to increase their power, if necessary by abandoning the morality and view of the world that brought them prosperity to begin with, thinking that they can maintain and perhaps even increase their prosperity if they do so.
Such abandonment by the arrogant rich in Europe led directly to the dominance of what I describe as the Red worldview, which is ...
With the propaganda of the West’s elite from the 1880s focusing on Rationalism and Evolutionism, as well as from the 1960s, the propogandisation of the work of Ayn Rand, the influence of the Bible was increasingly lost, and so we moved into a phase where moral, human and environmental boundaries became increasingly marginal – with increasing specialisation, instrumentalisation (commercialisation) and globalisation – with all the results that we see around us - for example, in the global economic crisis which started in 2007 and has, in my view, not come to a resolution but has merely had its resolution postponed.
What marks the Red philosophy or approach?
First, the idea that technology will solve all problems
Do you believe that? If you do, you share at least one Red belief.
If you detect a trace of criticism or negativity in my voice, I am sorry, I can’t help it:
All technolocial developments have what are sometimes described as «unintended consequences» or «side effects».
Do keep in there are no such things as «side effects», there are only «effects» – and consequences may be unintended, but they remain consequences.
So isn’t it a shame that we rush nowadays to commercialise technology before understanding the effects and consequences sufficiently?
But there is a more fundamental challenge: each technological advance itself creates new challenges which are more complex!
And every technological advance increases the gap betwen the technological haves and the technological have-nots.
So let’s be quite clear that technology offers us many advantages, but certainly cannot solve all problems!!!
The second Red belief is that society will look after itself if markets are left as free as possible. Do you believe that?
If so, again, you share an essential Red belief.
However, I feel that, for most of us in this room, that view may be discredited right now as a consequence of the crisis - even though, as a result of such disillusionment, we may sadly now get markets that are improperly burdened with regulation, and may simply be distorted in different ways than earlier, rather than have the right legislative framework, which I have elsewhere described as fair, light, effective and humane.
We don’t have time to discuss this right now, but you might want to take this up with me later.
Finally, the belief that morality and law are «necessary inconveniences» around which I should find as efficient a way as possible, while I focus on making as much money as I can, as quickly as I can, without thinking too much about the context or the consequences.
This is of course what the red worldview is «really» about, driven as it is equally by greed and fear.
People who hold this belief preside over our largest institutions and make hypocritical statements about human and environmental responsibility in public conferences and forums and symposiums such as ours.
If you think I am exaggerating TO THE NOTES ON THE NEXT SLIDE
Please understand that I have nothing against the particular institution that I am about to name but am simply using its name for convenience, and I could name similar things not only from almost any major bank but also from also any other major company in the world: it is now public knowledge that Goldman Sachs acted against its clients’ interests as well as against the Government or public interest - and then lied about it (see the US Senate report), showing us clearly that that there is a whole layer of professionals that are leading and manipulating our largest organisations and institutions to behave like thieves and pirates all over the world.
Anyway, here (above) is my summary of key beliefs that are held by Reds.
What has been the result of the Red worldview? I have put «progress» in inverted commas because of the way progress is defined. As has already been pointed out, the way we calculate GDP and our fixation with the rate of economic growth, don’t take into account the value of good relationships or good health or a good education or the feeling of freedom, or safety, or happiness.
Nor does it take into account that we have today the largest numbe of poor people at any one time in history.
Further, the Red view has created, through tax loopholes and tax giveaways, the largest gap ever seen in history between the rich and the poor, as well as the greatest environmental impact AND the most unstable and volatile monetary, financial and economic system ever seen in the history of the world.
Perhaps a comparison of the Yellow, Green and Red worldviews provides a clue regarding why we so often get the wrong sort of «development» in the world!
These are the latest figures that I can get from the IMF...
These are the latest figures that I can get from the IMF...
The difference between China and India is that China prospers because the Communist Party, backed by the People’s Liberation Army, organises and drives the country to success.
India prospers because of the entrepreneurialism of its people, in spite of the best attempts of the government to get in the way and slow down or stop progress.
In addition to measures that are already being discussed, for example to increase capital requirements for banks, and banning naked short selling, here are four proposals: - Allow only stable currencies for countries that want to be part of the world trade system
- Abolish usury
- Move the Stock exchange system from Short Term Orientation to Long Term Orientation
If you ask how any of them is to be achieved, there is plenty of material on that subject on the Internet, and not only from myself. But I have proposed, for example, that we introduce an additional class of shares for all publicly quoted companies: there is no reason why there should be only one class of shares: those that can be instantly bought and sold. And there is no reason why everyone who buys any of these instantly tradeable shares should not be required by law also to buy an equal value of shares that cannot be sold for for a year. I see of course that there would develop a secondary market in these LT shares, but the very existence of these LT shares would force consideration of LT factors. You can raise many questions in relation to this, I am sure, and I will be happy to discuss them, but some such mechanism as this could certainly be used with no negative effects on the global financial system. In the same way, the introduction of complementarey currencies with opposite characteristics to the currencies we use today, would do a lot to stablise the global financial system.
But if we want to transofm our global culture of greed and fear, then we need to reform education, the media, democracy; scientific and technological research need to be freed from the military compulsions of nations as well as the commercial compulsions of companies; and we need to introduce a global minimum wage as well as minimum standards around the world for health, safety and environmental responsibility.
I want to conclude with a quote from a chat on an Internet forum.
IS our global economy wearing out? Can it be rewoven together? More wisely?
Or to take it further, Why is it that we have no sustainability and no genuine development?
Why don’t we have leadership?
Why does society increasingly refuse to take responsibilities seriously?
Because we have moved from a Green to a Red worldview.
As far as I can see, a culture of sustainability can only be achieved by moving from a Red to a Green worldview.