Capitalism shapes peace and sustainability; a shift to conscious, inclusive models, led by India, can address today’s polycrisis.
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The evolution of human civilisation shows a distinct relationship between capitalism and global peace and sustainability. From mercantilism to financial capitalism, shaped by globalisation and liberalisation, shifts in capitalism have been accompanied by corresponding changes in patterns of violence, peace, and sustainability.
The mercantilist period was marked by slavery, colonisation, and a form of violence and oppression. It was about resource extraction by the West, which also imposed a system of oppression, violence and cultural invasion of the Global South. While colonisation and mercantilism brought peace, progress, so-called modernity, and sustainability for the Global North, such gains were not universal. Following this period, the transition to industrialisation witnessed humanity's unbridled drive to explore for coal and oil, which later also included gas. Historically, this resource-seeking led by the Global North has disrupted the Global South’s emphasis on peace and sustainability. As the paradigms of capitalism changed, the definitions of market efficiency, the unnerving nature of finance, and the pursuit of profits and wealth maximisation for the benefit of the few at the cost of others only increased. This has only destabilised the balance of global peace and sustainability. Many often say that Francis Bacon's early rationalism also led to the pursuit of greed's rationalisation by the human race, which eventually led to capitalism and the global history of violence.
The rise of market cannibalism, led by Wall Street, facilitated by new financial instruments and technological technostructures, and accelerated by integrated digital platforms and technologies, has only complicated the market's cannibalism.
As capitalism has progressed from the Marxian times till the end of the Second World War, to the new frontiers of a new world led by Americanisation, financial capitalism can be linked with the evolution of energy, culture, and the nature of international relationships, deciding the fate of human wars, peace movements, and sustainability.
The rise of market cannibalism, led by Wall Street, facilitated by new financial instruments and technological technostructures, and accelerated by integrated digital platforms and technologies, has only complicated the market's cannibalism. In the new economic structures, many households became homeless in mere seconds due to the fragile collapse of Wall Street. While numerous households were pushed into acute insecurity, the major companies were bailed out by the government in a country that is the Mecca of capitalism. Thus, the world, today, within its own polycrisis, fraught by a fragile multipolar world, declining trends in multilateralism, and a rising need for regionalism, is seeking to set a new development order.
The lynchpin of such a new development order has to be conscious capitalism, where wealth-making is not seen as a taboo or crime; however, it remains rooted in the fair, ethical equity principles of Antodyay, where every person in the social order benefits from it. India, which upholds the core principles of Sarvodaya in its political and civilisational history, can therefore be the torchbearer of such a conscious capitalism, where wealth creation, maximisation, and distribution are carried out on the principles of holistic, non-violent development and social equality.
Conscious capitalism, which India will propagate, will be based on universal welfare, truth, non-violence (ahimsa), self-sacrifice, and economic equality, aiming to create a just society. Today, India’s other initiatives, such as Atmanirbhar Bharat, Viksit Bharat, Made in India, Start Up India, Net Zero 2070 vision, are, in a way, an emblematic metaphor of such a conscious capitalism, which will be the need of the hour in the future to ascertain global peace and sustainability.
Human civilisation is at a crossroads, where we have to adopt each of the above with open arms, but through a moral and ethical lens of Antodyay and Sarvodaya, grounded in holistic, non-violent development and principles of social equality.
Conscious capitalism will become of paramount importance in the new age, futuristic revolution of Artificial Intelligence, renewable energy transitions, and the climate crisis, with widely varying standards of risks, challenges, and opportunities. Human civilisation is at a crossroads, where we have to adopt each of the above with open arms, but through a moral and ethical lens of Antodyay and Sarvodaya, grounded in holistic, non-violent development and principles of social equality.
India can demonstrate to the world how AI can be adopted to mitigate future energy and climate crises through a grassroots, people-centric energy transition and climate action guided by the principles of Antodyay and Sarvodaya.
If navigated effectively, human civilisation could write a new chapter of peace and sustainability, even as scepticism persists over whether AI will lead to a new form of post-humanism and fundamentally change human relations, global partnerships, and international relations.
Anandajit Goswami, Senior Research Fellow, Research Lead, Ashoka Centre For People Centric Energy Transition; Director, Manav Rachna Centre For Peace and Sustainability
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Anandajit Goswami, Senior Research Fellow, Research Lead, Ashoka Centre For People Centric Energy Transition; Director, Manav Rachna Centre For Peace and Sustainability ...
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