The people of the world would be better off if the government was allowed to have more control over the welfare of its population. The free market does not allow the poor much opportunities and they are destined to a life in crime, violence and prostitution. The global south is the victim of global free trade; they have to suffer poverty of a grand scale without decent housing, electricity, clean water, education, health services and plumbing. As a result of people living in the Hobbesian jungle, conflict is inevitable as the people are unable to divide their resources effectively. The free market is the death of the human race as conflict over resources will lead people to a nuclear war ending what miserable lives they had due to an inactive government.
The free market is inherently competitive, which limits opportunities for people born into lower socio-economic conditions. The extreme capitalist economy does not allow for much social welfare. For Example, if one is unemployed in countries like the USA, there is a only a bare minimum sustenance payment for a short time and then they are left to fend for themselves? (reference the reality of american social welfare) ! The capitalists believe that by putting a person in this sort of position of need, they will be motivated to strive. Most people in the lower socio-economic class do not own houses, or have bonds and stocks. They probably might not have much of an education or any skills they can trade with. Once they face unemployment, they have the short term payments of a small welfare payment after which they are on their own. They still have bills to pay. The rent has to get paid or else the whole family gets evicted. Then it is battling the weather on the street or queuing up in lines at the homeless shelters and soup kitchens. There is however the other option, which is the norm for the poor of capitalist countries; crime (Antonaccio, 2007), violence (Gordon, 1997), drugs (Brant, 1990) and prostitution (Bertone, 2000). It is a hard fact that women living in poverty in capitalist states might turn to prostitution. It may be the pressure of having children or parents to support, as all the women who resort to prostitution are not drug addicts, however it is an interrelated factor. As the men find it difficult to prostitute, some sell drugs while others turn to crime and there are obviously weapons and violence intertwined with these type of activities as well.
In contrast an economy with heavy government regulation can put an end to these sorts of problems. The government should be responsible for providing employment. If large industries are left to the private sector and regulated minimally, there are still insecurities generated from competition. Every industry should be owned by the government; Extreme communism where the state is managed like one large business where the entire population is the workforce. In this scenario, the ideal outcome would be zero unemployment. The only people who would be allowed payments without working for the state are the elderly, disabled and children. The best thing about government regulation is that there is no competition. Theoretically everyone would be equal. Everyone withdraws the same amount from the economy (Marx). A system of debits and credits monitored electronically. Communism rather than the free market is the best way to effectively solve problems.
A globalized free market economy has proven to be detrimental to the global south (Barnes et.al, 2010), (Keigher et.al, 1998), (Nissanke et.al, 2010), (Hill et.al, 2009). Since Imperialism collapsed, with the apparent conclusion to the second world war, there has been no sign of strong leadership from any of the southern sub-continents. Instead, there has been reports of conflict and misery. There has been no inclination towards a government regulated economy as the west have had their way in spreading their free market ideology. As America designs computers and television for every state in the world, they are able to advertise their products and broadcast their services globally. Hence America’s GDP increases, while these third world states who have nothing to export, spiral into debt (reference please sire).
The main problem was that most of the subjects of Imperial Britain were illiterate at the point of liberation (reference). As the slaves of colonies, they were not afforded the luxury of education. That is basically why a large percentage of the Africans, Asians and Arabs are living in poverty stricken nations. The people of the global North have to keep in mind that they have a duty of care. They have social responsibility to intervene and help those in need. The global south are in need and a free market economy will not work there. These people have nothing of value to trade with. The entire global south is lacking in a basic education and are living in hostile territory with an unstable environment for foreign investment. No education means no production of commodities required to play the global game of trade. No education and no foreign investment means no trade! With no trade, a weak currency! No money and no ability to purchase anything in the foreign market and the whole state suffers.
The South were not able to embrace capitalism. They were not enabled to maximise the resources of the rich land. That is where the wealth of the globe comes from; the land. The seven billion around the globe are able to live off the land and prosper. All that needs to be done is coordinate the demands with the supplies. The global south have to have help in regulating their economies and this aid must come from outside the state. It is not impossible to reap the land of its riches (reference). However free market capitalism has left the regions unstable. The people need their basic necessities. What needs to be considered are the requirements for a person to be adequately happy in the west; housing, food, water, electricity, gas, telecommunications, sewerage, healthcare and education basically covers the list! This is an acceptable and modest list. This is the demand list. Pure economics. Now we have to arrange the supply for seven billion people. The best available solution to organise the supply of demands for seven billion is by extreme communism. It is pure logistics; manufacture planning, agricultural planning, infrastructure planning, training planning, housing planning, energy planning, packaging and transport planning. Government regulation is the only possible way to meet all the demand with adequate supply.
Conflict is inherent in a free market economy. Hobbes was the first to understand that the individual without a state is a state where every individual is his own security. Between him and a piece of leftovers from a lions meal is only a small barrier; his fellow brother, the one who also wants to scavenge. When food is scarce, evidence from research with monkeys shows that we are no more than a pack of wild dogs; one that will fight with their own species for food. When land and food or oil, energy requirements, are scarce, survival mechanisms kick into gear. What man needs is the state to intervene and provide a solution of how to divide scarce resources. This is the only way to avoid conflict between mankind. What is necessary is a world federated communist government to intervene and solve the peoples problems. A free market between seven billion people is bound to fail. It has failed in the past and it will fail again. Hobbes’s concept of the individual in the jungle with no law can be taken one step further to analyse the state in relation to another state: there is no overarching body to intervene and diplomatically resolve the problems. At the moment, the problem is the conflict generated from the free market.
Government regulation is better that the free market when it comes to the welfare of the people. In a capitalistic world, those without skill or capital are left to fend for themselves, turning to crime, violence and prostitution as a last resort. The inequalities of the capitalistic free market leave the global south vulnerable to exploitation. Finally there is conflict generated from the free market when there are scarce resources. The free market is not the right path to take when deciding the fate of the globe.
Recommendations are to have a team draw up plans of the infrastructure and some concept of the numbers of value !
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Hobbes
Kant
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Marx
