Free markets, violence and world progress

Free markets, violence and world progress

By Arief Budiman

SALATIGA (JP): When I visited the Australian National
University last year, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar
presented by Dr. Heinz Arndt. Professor Arndt is one of the most
influential economists who helped shape the New Order economic
policy.

It was for his invaluable contributions that he received a
medal of honor from President Soeharto recently. Though Arndt is
now retired, he is still very active.

In the seminar, Arndt talked about the global economic
condition, based on a paper he previously presented in Japan.

According to Arndt, the world is progressing toward a more
hopeful future. He noted that free markets are flourishing
everywhere following the downfall of socialist states. This gives
rise to more efficient lifestyles. There has been an increase in
the world economic growth rate. More countries are adopting
democratic systems. He expressed his happiness at this trend.

He also noted that there were still many problems. Violence
and terrorism, for instance, are still around, and there are wars
and famine in several parts of the world. However, he said, these
things will eventually disappear.

Arndt's presentation was followed by a heated discussion. Most
of the participants were trying to deflate his optimism by
arguing that there are many negative trends occurring alongside
his rosy pictures. The rise of subnationalism based mainly on
ethnicity that has threatened many nations and, the rising gap
between rich nations and poor nations, despite an increasing rate
of economic growth, were two of the trends brought up.

I also had the opportunity to talk and I raised two points.

First, I raised the topic of violence and terrorism. I said
that I could not condone violence but as a social scientist I
could not deny the positive contribution of violence and
terrorism. Nobody likes violence, except those who suffer
psychological problems. Violent acts, in many cases, are carried
out by desperate people who have no other choices.

From history we can see that in many cases nonviolent
political struggles can succeed when there is also a violent
political group. At the same time that Mahatma Gandhi was holding
his nonviolent political rallies, there was another political
group using violent methods in an attempt to achieve its
political goal.

The British in India realized that it was better to deal with
Gandhi, a lawyer who graduated from a British law school, than
with the other party. Thus, Gandhi was able to gradually lead
India to independence, while the other group was destroyed. It is
easy to see now that if this violent group had not existed,
Gandhi's group could not have been as successful as it was.

The same could be said about Martin Luther King's peaceful
movement in the United States. A more violent group, the Black
Panthers, was fighting for the same cause. King's group would
have been considered an extreme and radical party if the Black
Panthers had not existed.

The second point I raised concerned the triumph of capitalism
and its free market ideology. I said something valuable was
starting to disappear. Socialism, despite its many shortcomings,
was fighting for human solidarity, especially in defense of the
poor, the powerless and other marginal people.

A feeling of strong idealism was there. Many leaders had tears
in their eyes when they fought for the rights of dismissed
factory workers, or for farmers that were forced to abandon their
lands. The tears were expression of their humanity.

What happens now that free market ideology dominates the
world? There are two things which capture the minds of
contemporary human beings: to make oneself more competitive and
to capture material benefits.

Solidarity with the poor? This would be a good topic to
discuss in mosques and churches. But now we are dealing with the
real world. Here the main thing is to increase our comparative
advantages. There is only one commandment left now: Thou shalt
compete, or perish.

Two months after the seminar, having returned to my quiet home
in Salatiga, I got a letter from Arndt. He said that there was a
plan to publish the transcript of the seminar. He asked me
whether I could reformulate the two points I expressed in the
seminar. This, of course, I am very happy to do.

The writer is a researcher and sociologist living in Salatiga.