Headline April 01, 2018/ '' 'NATIONS FAILINGS NIRVANA' ''

'' 'NATIONS FAILINGS NIRVANA' ''

WHY NATIONS FAIL : IN THEIR FASCINATING BOOK - ''Why Nations Fail,''.............

Authors James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu assert institutional capacity and inclusiveness create  the social freedom necessary for entrepreneurs, the backbone of any economy to flourish.

CAPITALISM, hence, is a tool that the state wields to further its socio-economic agenda.

Take Nigeria, for example, the only member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries  [OPEC] today imports most of its domestic use gasoline thanks to endemic corruption that stretches all the way to the top of political food chain................

The former governor of India's central bank and renowned financial wizard, Raghuram Rajan, issued a grim warning on BBC Radio 4 in mid-march that capitalism was ''under serious threat'' as it had ''stopped providing for the many.

''The 'many' in turn, would revolt against capitalism if the status quo remained unchanged. And as history testifies revolutions are rarely bloodless.

His premise is bewildering as it conflates capitalism, a system of organising the economy, with the duties of a state.

Revolutions are routinely the product of poor governance and absent accountability, and not the pursuit of profit. Otherwise, the long-defunct Soviet Union would today be the beacon of socio-economic equality.

In their fascination book. ''Why Nations Fail,'' the authors assert that institutional capacity and inclusiveness create the social freedom necessary for entrepreneurs, the backbone of any economy, to flourish. Capitalism, hence, is a tool that state wields to further its socio-economic agenda.

This is not to suggest that economic imperialism using the levers of capitalism, as the US often stands accused of, does not exist.

Or that capitalism has not created a culture of mass consumerism through advertising and  entertainment that racks up huge debts in increasingly credit-based economies.

Yet capitalism, contrary to what Rajan believes, has never feigned altruism. There is no evidence to prove such, barring perhaps the nanny state model in Scandinavia that can only work with small populations and high racial homogeneity .

Also, heavy government involvement in the private sector akin to Scandinavia is utterly antithetical  to textbook capitalism.

Captalistic societies steered by democratic forces to a great degree defuse the potential of revolt since since the inherent process of coalition-building makes it harder to clearly separate 'us' from 'them'.

That America's ''Occupy Wall Street'' movement and its obsession with the ''one per cent'' petered out over time proves it is simply impossible to find that one flammable ''let them eat cake'' moment in modern democracies that escalates simmering discontent into broad social upheaval.

If the so-called ''liberal order'' underpinning capitalistic societies is threatened, the blame lies with the government mired in corruption and cronyism that have focused their energies on feeding the propaganda machine instead of strengthening national institutions

Or have spent far beyond their means on specific electorates. 

The World Students society thanks author and researcher S.M. Noor, Ipoh-based journalist.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all  prepare for Great Global Elections and ''register'' on : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter- !E-WOW! - the ecosystem 2011:

''' Perceptions & Pantheons '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless