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Inequalities, dreams and realities

This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) summit started last Tuesday in Davos with the theme “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” We are going to follow the reports and speeches about the meetings throughout the week. The subject I want to stress about this year’s Davos Summit is that: at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump and the team which planned the strategy that brought him to power waged an open war against globalization and globalists, the theme of the summit was selected as “Globalization 4.0”. It seems that we are entering a period where things are going to become more strained.

What will be discussed in Davos?

The issues that are going to be discussed in this year’s summit at the WEF are quite comprehensive. For instance, Brexit, the rise of populism, technological developments, the impacts of medical developments on society, robotics, digitalization and artificial intelligence constitute the main agenda of the summit. However, I presume that everybody is waiting impatiently for the trade war sessions, the war Trump waged against globalization and his protectionist policies. As a matter of fact, Davos, the heart of the neo-liberal policies, is for the first time facing the defiance of a U.S. president. This year Trump is not going to attend the Davos Summit using the federal government shutdown because of the temporary budget crisis as an excuse.

Why is liberalism being questioned?

The questioning of liberalism is an issue we are used to seeing after every crisis. In this respect, the questioning of liberalism is not a novelty. What is new is that the world has still not been able to emerge from the 2008 crisis and the crises that run like a wealth transfer mechanism irrevocably increased the inequalities this time.

A report published right before the Davos Summit by Oxfam, an aid organization, has been occupying the world’s agenda for a while. According to the findings in Oxfam’s research, the 26 richest people on earth own the same amount of wealth the poorest half of the world have in total. Moreover, the number of billionaires have increased by more than twofold compared to the numbers of the 2008 crisis.

Oxfam claims that the governments that decrease the share of the tax big companies pay while funds allocated for the public services-- which the majority of the public are benefiting from-- are cut, are responsible for this. Another striking finding in the report titled “Public Good or Private Wealth?” is that last year while there was a 12 percent increase in the wealth of the people who own more than 1 billion dollars while the wealth of the 3,8 billion people which constitute the poorest half of the world’s population decreased by 11 percent. In short, the inequalities are increasing day by day and this problem is seen by everyone thanks to the spread of mass media, thus creating an awareness which in turn creates an environment where we see a more strident questioning of liberalism.

Dreams and realities

Francis Fukuyama, in his book titled “The End of History and the Last Man” that was published in 1992, tells us that thanks to liberalism, many political and economic issues which have been problematic in the past are not going to be problematic anymore and that the new system where democracy, human rights, free markets, and the government are only involved in social services is a blessing which removes all the barriers. Since that day, however, more people fell victim to terrorism, and it was revealed that global actors indirectly interfered in the elections of many countries. In the 2008 crisis, without waiting for the markets to find balance out on their own, governments intervened in the markets and as a result, more people were deprived of their rights to get healthcare services while they were struggling with poverty and hunger.

Of course, the entire system is not going to be questioned immediately today. However, even the fact that all this is being discussed is a huge beginning. In this respect, analyzing how Trump won the elections, the fundamental motivation behind Brexit and why the leaders who concentrated on the problems of the people are getting public support and not the establishment can be a good beginning.

#DAvos
#economy
#Trump
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