Apocalypse now?

Observing today the results of the human civilization development some certain conclusions can be suggested. They are purely subjective. This does not mean that they are correct, but at the same time, I have the right to express my opinion and my point of view. Strict criticism and low efficiency of capitalism, the rejection of financial speculation through the absence of sense, the collapse of materialism and simplified understanding of the world, increased attention to the alternative economy, to the need for civilization in a single planetary harmony of development. Here are the main theses that are constantly rotated in society in recent times. The need for a philosophical perception of the world is growing, as the world is in danger and salvation is possible in changing of the outlook on it. In any case, the concept of “full world” in this situation of the American philosopher and economist Herman Daly falls into place. Human civilization was formed in the conditions of “empty world” — a world of unexplored territories and an abundance of resources. The prevailing religions, political ideologies, social institutions, habits of thinking are still rooted in it. In reality, humanity has entered a “full world”, filled up to the brim with very vague prospects of further possibility of expanding the borders. If we continue to live by the rules of the “empty world”, the collapse will not take us long to wait. If, however, humanity can soon begin to expand in space and invade it, then it has the right further to use the ideology and rules of the “empty world”. And if it cannot?? However, in this case, can you disagree with the opinion of Herman Daly?

What we can see now? The current situation is not encouraging, as the planet civilization degrades; authoritarianism and fundamentalism are on the rise, speculative capital triumphs above all. Today’s crisis is not cyclical. It is not limited by nature around us, but includes a social, political, cultural, moral crisis, a crisis of democracy, ideologies and the capitalist system as a whole. We are witnessing today a number of global problems that intensify the trend of degradation, to wit:

· The crisis of capitalism, however it sounds odious

· Negative human activities affecting the environment, however it sounds trivial and banal

· Excessive social consumption along with a global food disruption

· The risk for the digital economy to become a weapon of uncontrolled and unethical use of innovative technologies

And now more about the degradation causes. In the eighties of the last century, capitalism started to degenerate when the main source of profits was just the financial speculation. This was one of the main reasons for the global financial crisis in 2008–2009, but the bankers not only retained their positions, but also emerged victorious from this problem. Almost 100% of financial transactions are now speculative. Up to 35 trillion dollars are hidden in offshore areas. There is an overabundance of capital in fictitious, but profitable sectors of economy, as they guarantee short-term profits, while the directions and sectors of economy on which the future of the planet depends are in short supply, because there the possible profits are hidden behind long-term plans. Scientists-economists are not able to see the problem, because they are still inclining to evaluate ecological, financial and industrial capital as equivalents: “as long as financial capital increases — everything is fine”. Such self-deception leads to economic collapse.

Evolution led us into the anthropogenic era, where the mankind activities became the determining factor for the future of the planet. Still, global warming remains a major planetary problem. The problem of such influence can be solved only through a rapid and fundamental transformation of production and consumption. Such transformation is long-term, and therefore is not interesting to financial capital.

The existence of a nuclear arsenal remains a huge threat. Even a local conflict between nuclear states can lead to disaster globally. Today it is worth to comprehend that the policy and strategy of guaranteed mutual destruction, the strategy of nuclear deterrence, can no longer serve as an excuse for preserving nuclear arsenals, since the factor of irresponsibility of politicians for decision making around the world is growing very rapidly. Mutual threats can lead to trouble, because sooner or later someone can give up their nerves.

There is a global failure in the food distribution. A billion people continue to starve, while two billion are overweighed. But the question is not just how to produce enough food for the growing population, but how not to ruin the planet in this process. The future of mankind depends on cities. 200 years ago there was one millionaire city — London, now there are three hundred, including twenty-two with a population of more than ten million. By moving to the city people begin to consume four times more resources. Territorially, the ecological footprint of cities far exceeds the area occupied by them. How to deal with this?

In turn, the digital economy under the exponential development can create a new world cult of techno utopia. There is a real danger of uncontrolled development and unethical use of technology and it is not yet clear how to avoid it. In addition, the promises of techno utopians are demotivating people to work and develop themselves: if technology solves all problems, there is no need to search for complex, integrated solutions that require a lifestyle changes. If there is no need to search or to study, then the evolution of mankind is in question. What is the danger of techno utopia? In fact, today begins the implementation of the segregation policy of people to ‘’Elite and unnecessary people’’. The access to new technologies, perhaps, will become an instrument for such segregation. And such access is possible only through the opportunity to pay for these technologies. Mankind through a couple of generations of such segregation can be divided into two biological types. Some will look like cyborgs that can live much longer, better, thanks to access to the results of the technological revolution. At the same time, they will not need the rest, even as servants or slaves. Such a sad forecast was made by philosopher Yuval Noah Harari. And it is impossible not to agree with him. If the masses in the future lose their importance for the economy, the defense capacity, the state, then at least it will be no need to invest in their health, education and well-being. And you cannot say that people do not feel this now. Undoubtedly, the global economy is playing a significant role in these processes. But the situation here is much more complicated and confusing. While the elite consume the delights of the global world, and undoubtedly will take its results to the maximum, the poor people are not unique and welcome. They are just strangers in this life celebration. And most likely, they will be strangers in the dark future for them. In the context of rapid progress in biotechnology and bioengineering, we can for the first time in history come to the opportunity to turn economic inequality into a biological one.

There is an opinion that globalization only aggravates the existing income inequality: the richer countries demonstrated higher growth rates from 1980 up today than the poorer countries. The rich countries became even richer; it followed up that international exchange, outsourcing, foreign direct investments and other components of globalization are nothing more than the tools by which developed countries strengthen their economic hegemony. However, if we analyze the situation of people, not countries, we can catch one frightening tendency: poor people in the poor and rich countries became victims of globalization; they began to live even worse. They lost the most. The number of unemployed is growing, but at the same time the number of working poor is growing, and employment does not guarantee a decent life at all. Employment is not a salvation from poverty. Salaries do not increase, and prices — on the contrary, the quality of life deteriorates, guarantees and stability are not sensitive. And people feel disappointed. This frustration turns into annoyance when they hear the daily assurances that things have gone better, the economy is growing, swelling and getting richer. Political leaders are telling about economic growth. This agenda is confirmed by the heads of corporations and economic commentators. The media is talking about new opportunities and prospects. And people see that the things have become worse. Inequality increases instability in society. Under the threat is not only social justice, but democracy at all. Do not be surprised if desperate poor people will look for ways out in radical cures. Nowadays, capitalism faces a threat to its own existence. Apocalypse today has a face of social inequality. Now mankind is facing another technological leap of the “fourth industrial revolution”. The development of biotechnology, the emergence of artificial intelligence, the ability to remove a huge number of workers from the production conveyor belt — perhaps, will threat not only the victims of globalization in rich countries, but also a large number of people in the poor countries who trying to live better. In the modern era, equality has become a dominant value in human societies almost everywhere. Partly, this was due to the growth of new ideologies, such as humanism, liberalism and socialism. But this was also due to the industrial revolution, which made the masses more important than ever before. Industrial economy relied on the masses of ordinary workers, as the army relied on the masses of ordinary soldiers. Governments, both under democracy and under the dictatorship, invested in health, education and the welfare of the masses, because they needed millions of healthy workers to work in factories and millions of loyal soldiers to serve in the army. But now we are entering a post-industrial world in which the masses are left out of work. You do not need them. Robotization of the economy is not only technically beautiful and scientifically progressive, but also socially scary. It will take less cheap conveyor labor. Work duties that machines cannot do better than a human will be very, very little. Millions of vacancies will disappear. Many good old professions will also disappear.

The apocalypse is inevitable? Probably yes. But then, how to mitigate its blow, how can society be prepared for it? And here we come to a key point — to the idea of a fundamental transformation of thinking, where the result is a holistic worldview. Humanistic, free from anthropocentrism, open to development, but appreciative to stability and taking care of the future. There are several areas in which it is necessary to achieve a balance:

· In the relationship between mankind and nature — sustainable development, ecological consciousness

· Between short-term and long-term prospects

· Between speed and stability — changes and progress should not be perceived as a self-worth

· Between individual and collective, recognizing the importance of personal autonomy — one for the most important gains of the European Enlightenment. Here we need a balance and consideration of the common good; in the economy it means that the state (society) ought to establish rules for the markets, and not vice versa

· Between equality and fair remuneration — the state is required to provide mechanisms that guarantee social justice

· Between the state and freedom of private opinion

To achieve such a global balance is possible, most likely, only through the emergence of global rules that are mandatory for all countries. Some states do not have the right to do whatever they want, especially when it comes to the consequences that affecting the whole planet and civilization. For a better world to become a reality, the economy can and should function differently. With all the differences in details, the overall picture resumes to the fact that the economy of the future should strive for sustainability, not growth, and increase the overall good, rather than maximizing private benefits.

Sergiy Golubyev

EU structural funds, ICO projects, NGO & investment projects, project management, comprehensive support for business, expert with AgroChallenge foundation