DIALOGUE
SECTION
The Market Economy System and the
Biological Crisis
Dr. Panayotis
Coumentakis
In connection with the review
articles of Takis Fotopoulos’ "Towards An Inclusive Democracy" by Peter
Zegers[1]
and Michael Levin[2]
I would like to contribute my thoughts on the link between the system of the
market economy and an important dimension of the present crisis which so far has
generally attracted little attention: the biological crisis.
It is a well known fact that we
face today a multidimensional crisis: political, economic, social and
ecological. It is also a recognised fact that the ultimate cause of all these
crises is the system of the market economy.[3]
There is however another dimension of this crisis which has not been considered
enough, or worse, has been entirely ignored, by most writers and political
thinkers of today: the so-called biological crisis. Still, ignoring this
crisis does not make it non-existent, as several studies carried but in the last
few decades have shown. Particularly so when the biological crisis is getting
worse with the passage of time.
This crisis is mainly due to
accustomed habits (many of which are not irrelevant to the 'needs' created by
the market economy and the consequent growth economy) and the commercialisation
of the medical system which, today, is largely controlled by those controling
the market economy system, and particularly the multinational companies.
The biological crisis has a
symptomatology seen all around us, without any difficulty: physical and mental
weakness, impairment and decline, early deaths due to a multitude of chronic
diseases, tooth decay, diseases of the eyes, baldness, malformations of the
spine, sexual decline, decline of the human sperm, numerous chronic degenerating
diseases, psychiatric and neurological diseases etc. All these problems strike
more and more people, increasingly at an early stage of their lives. It may be
shown for instance that there is a definite increase, in the last decades, of
child chronic diseases, such as cancer, juvenile diabetes, asthma, rheumatoid
arthritis, allergies, epilepsy, obesity, ulcers, colitis, mental retardation
etc. In Greece, which is considered a poor developing country, there is today a
striking increase in death rates from chronic degenerative disease,
cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes etc. which kill the Greek population
prematurely. A similar situation is taking place in all the advanced Western
countries whose budgets are heavily burdened by the rising expenditures for the
medical and pharmaceutical care of the population, without worthwhile results.[4]
There are several ways to show the
direct relationship of the biological crisis to the system of market economy.
This system is blamed for the pollution of the air, the water, the seas and the
land from the excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides-herbicides,
the greenhouse effect, the gradual depletion of the ozone layer, the promotion
of foods full of chemicals, even dioxins, harmful additives, hormones and drugs
of all kinds, as well as for the use of improper foods for raising animals and
the expansion of the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, refined and processed
foods, harmful soft drinks etc. The same system destroys the forests of the
planet in order to expand the land area for cattle raising and the subsequent
production of harmful to health hamburgers etc. Also, most of the grains and
soybeans produced all over the world are used for feeding the animals required
for the needs of the meat industry. Furthermore, vast fertile lands are used
all over the world for the cultivation of tobacco and coffee, grains and grapes
for the production of alcoholic drinks (beer, wine etc.) instead of being used
for the production of wholesome foods. At the same time, ample natural
resources are generally wasted in the production of a multitude of products,
processed foods, cosmetics, drinks, electronic machines and drugs, which
undermine human health and well-being and promote physical and mental decline.
Finally, the system of market economy, by controlling the medical system, is
promoting the over-prescribing of many unnecessary drugs.
Never before, in the history of
humanity was there a greater production of products, which are more or less
unnecessary and harmful to human health. And all this for a simple reason: to
make profit. Never before were used by people more addictive substances, like
alcohol, cigarettes, psychiatric drugs and narcotics, sugar, coffee, excess of
meat, which contribute to human degeneration and decadence.[5]
Everything today is commercialised in order to fit and serve the basic goals of
the market economy system. Big multinational corporations, in order to increase
their profits, poison the products of the earth and the earth itself on which
they themselves also feed. They poison the seas, which surround them and poison
the atmosphere in which they also live and breathe. The system of market economy
places definitely profits before people, before society and the environment,
before people's health, well-being and their physical and biological future. In
Marx's words, "the capitalists are willing to sell for profit the rope with
which they will be hanged up". There is an ancient myth about King Midas:
everything he was touching was made gold and finally he died from famine.
Something similar tends to take place in our civilised societies. Almost
everything is polluted, poisoned, chemicalised or distorted for the sake of
profit. The system of the market economy forces contemporary man to destroy
himself by cutting up little by little the branch of the tree on which he is
sitting. Contemporary man, because of an inhuman economic system, which creates
poverty, unemployment, misery and social chaos, is destroying himself/herself
gradually-- through ignorance, severe stress and anxiety, pollution and lack of
a healthy life.
People, generally, do not know the
means, the products, and the agents which promote health, vitality, well-being
and they ignore the causes of the human disease and suffering. The
over-consumption of meat, dairy products, refined foods, smoking, alcohol etc.,
according to many scientific studies and findings of the last decades,
contribute greatly to the development of many degenerative chronic diseases.
But only a small minority, for obvious reasons, know these facts and takes the
proper precautions. The media, all over the world, along with the advertising
companies, promote and spread products and services that bring a lot of profits
to the companies and multinational enterprises, ignoring and disregarding the
fact that most of these products and services promote disease, suffering and
premature death in the majority — not to mention that all these products and
services pollute the environment, waste the resources, devastate the flora and
fauna and gradually destroy the ecosystem. A further important source of human
pathology and degeneration is the multitude of machines and apparatuses which
emit ionising and electromagnetic radiation, the nuclear accidents and nuclear
tests etc. Again, there is a great ignorance concerning the safety and proper
measures that need to be taken in this field.[6]
The system of market economy
conceals or impedes the truth concerning the basic facts of life and
systematically impairs the promotion of truth about the vital problems of
living. At the same time it promotes only those products and services that
bring big profits and power to a small minority of privileged people. The
system disregards every system of ideas, every product, every effort and every
personality which could jeopardise it and undermine the organised commercial
interests.[7]
One of the basic characteristics of
the present western society — an inevitable by product of the competitive
environment within which the system of the market economy thrives — are the
feelings of uncertainty and insecurity that it creates to the individual. There
are numerous studies carried out in many western countries which show, beyond
any doubt, that poverty, part-time work and unemployment inevitably lead —
through their direct and indirect effects on physical and mental health — to
disease, misery, malnutrition and human degeneration. Furthermore, quite apart
from their effects on health, such feelings contribute to the decline of the
quality of life.[8]
Based on these studies and numerous
data and findings in our possession, we have arrived to the conclusion that the
multidimensional crisis of today culminates in a biological crisis. This
crisis, if it is not arrested on time, will progressively lead to a complete
biological decadence of the humankind. Accordingly, the consequences of the
system of the market economy and the consequent growth economy are not only the
present huge concentration of power and wealth and the corresponding symptoms of
political social, economical and ecological pathology in terms of unemployment,
poverty, injustice, great inequalities, crime, pollution and other social evils.[9]
These symptoms inevitably exacerbate the biological crisis paving the way for a
full degeneration of the genetic material and creating the strong possibility
that the fate of the human race may be similar to that of the dinosaurs. In
other words, the system of the market economy has created a social, economic and
ecological environment and a way of life and nutrition entirely adverse to human
health, unnatural and hazardous, which, if not changed on time, will inevitably
turn the present biological crisis into a destructive one. Humanity has entered
the procrustean bed of the system of market economy in order to fit to the
demands and serve the goals of the system. It is the duty of all the well
meaning people to fight hard and spend all their powers and energies in order to
overthrow this inhuman system of market economy and development.
To my mind, the
project of inclusive democracy (which is analysed and documented thoroughly in
the book Towards an Inclusive Democracy and which I consider a monumental
work) offers a realistic way out of the present multidimensional crisis,
including the biological crisis. I think that the view of some intellectuals
and writers according to which the inclusive democracy project is a utopia and
is practically not attainable in our days betrays a significant degree of
naiveté and ignorance of the facts. Their realism is in fact myopic and does
not conform to reality, as revealed by the numerous data and findings, which
show that the system of market economy leads to all kinds of crises, risks and
destruction and that no reforms within this system can really solve these
problems. This does not, of course, mean that any improvements in the present
social, economic, ecological and health state of affairs are not desirable.
But, the struggle for such improvements should always be part of a comprehensive
political program leading to the replacement of the system of the market economy
with an inclusive democracy. In the context of such a transitional program we
must start producing as soon as possible things and products not for profit but
for the good of human health, well-being, prosperity and happiness. Inevitably,
once the fight for an inclusive democracy intensifies, there will be a growing
tension between the present institutions and the institutions being established
for the creation of such a society. However, it is the outcome of the struggle
to replace the present institutions by the institutions of a genuine and
inclusive democracy which will determine the very survival of the human race.[10]
[1]
Peter Zegers, ‘Democracy
or Barbarism!’, Democracy & Nature, vol 4 no 1, pp. 170-73
[2]
Michael Levin, ‘Taking
Democracy Seriously’, Democracy & Nature, vol 5 no 2, pp. 383-393
[3]
Takis Fotopoulos,
Towards An Inclusive Democracy: The Crisis of the Growth Economy and the
need for a new Liberatory Project (London: Cassell, 1997), ch. 4 on
the Generalised Crisis of the Capitalist Growth Economy, p.p. 140-170.
[4]
See, for instance,
the UN Reports and particularly the Human Development Report 1998,
the World Health Organization (WHO) Reports (various years), the
reports of UNICEF (various years) and numerous articles published in
medical journals like: Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, New England Journal of
Medicine, Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Journal of Public
Health.
[5]
See various
Reports of the Club of Rome and articles in Health
Science the official journal of the American Natural Hygiene Society
(Tampa, Florida, USA)
[6]
See
"Health and Disease",
Life Science Library and the reports of the World Watch Institute
The State of World, particularly for the years 1994, 1995, 1996,
1997 and 1998.
[7]
See the articles on the
role of mass media in today’s society, Democracy & Nature, vol 5
no 1.
[8]
See
numerous
reports published in medical journals (fn 4) and scientific journals
like Science and Scientific American .
[9]
See
the main works by the
following distinguished authors:
Rene Dubos, Alexis
Carrel, Erich Fromm, Ivan Illich, C. Castoriadis, M. Bookchin, Noam
Chomsky, Takis Fotopoulos et al.
[10]
See Takis Fotopoulos,
Towards An Inclusive Democracy and articles
in
Democracy and
Nature (various issues)