In recent years Western capitalism has done nothing more than shift possessions from the poor to the rich and it is aided by a complex monetary system that is holding us hostage. This form of modern capitalism does not only grind the faces of the poor, but also our natural resources. Nothing is replenished or compensated and everything is exploited and bled dry. This is no longer a sustainable model. What we have come to understand as democracy is a poor substitute for the essence of the words ‘demos’ (people) and ‘krateo’ (rule). As a people we have no say anymore. We have an immense economic problem, but do not expect any solutions from our publishers, car manufacturers, housing contractors or pharmaceutical companies. The established companies are not going to solve this problem and neither will our Western world political- or administrative structures.

Social market economy has ruled in Europe for decades. This system redistributed 65% or more of the national income via the government to all the social groups. Traditional capitalism is predominantly focused on enriching the stockholders and in doing so it is not only antisocial but also far from being sustainable. We will not be able to keep the temperature on the planet stable, restore our supply of fossil fuels and establish international banking control if we hold on to the redistribution policy of the Anglo Saxon (the capitalist macroeconomic model in which levels of regulation and taxes are low, and government provides relatively fewer services) and/or the Rhineland Economic Model (the capitalist macroeconomic counterpart which is founded on publicly organized social security). All things considered this way of redistributing wealth is an outdated concept. Why is our entire economic theory based on the scarcity of people, means and time, resulting in having to make choices? Why do we have to give up one thing if we choose the other? Thinking in terms of limitations, gets us deadlocked in an economic and social sense. We have seen many countries of the European Monetary Union have a larger budget deficit than others. In May 2010 the Euro almost collapsed because the collaboration and budget discipline was nowhere in sight. This threat still is here. Obviously this is not desirable in normal times, but in times of crisis it is deadly. We still reason from the viewpoint of limitations and boundaries, and we are building towering walls around our national interests.

This crisis will persist and will be felt for a long time. Many countries within and outside Europe will have to put up with a great deal in the next few years. There is nothing but a lot of hot air, which will convert into financial disillusions. Just think of the enormous rise of the ageing population in Europe and the fragile situation of the welfare state, the pension system and the connected level of spending of our municipalities, the rising costs of our health care and the inevitable depletion of our natural reserves. We are yet to experience the effects of these developments.

It seems as if the only system we have is a financial system. It is holding us hostage as an individual, an organization and a EU member state. Actually our money is simply gone. Already. And yet all we can think of is to produce more money, inject it into the existing structures, curtail expenditure with that money (!) and impose the largest part of that burden on the part of society that can’t carry it. Entire industries are still crying out for more money to bear the costs for new business models that are meant to postpone their end of life cycle yet again. These long-established companies are apparently not able to self-innovate and unfortunately terminating the business is not part of their corporate strategy. At the same time they are blocking the opportunities of newcomers with their unwieldiness, their managerial jumble and their monopolization of the big funds.

Large parts of society are under huge pressure. In this power play banks and other financial institutes are quietly collecting their outlandish profits and bonuses again. It’s no wonder that there is polarization in our society. It seems as if it’s time for a revolution, or innovation. What we really need is an Innovution!

to be continued...