Islam Times - The global financial crisis and the Arab spring

Islam Times - In his book “The bread and guns” / the global economy is facing a crisis/ Nigel Harris wrote: In order to control the capital, the state needs to spread its power to surround the world and this is true regarding work.

Islam Times: Capitalism causes pain to the peoples. The main pillar of the contemporary imperialist regime is the United States of America. The Americans are making desperate efforts, through the control of the U.S., to keep colonialism and to plunder the riches of the people, by using new ways and forms, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. is seeking to remain dominating the reins of economic control and political influence in many countries such as in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. It will not ensure the rapid progress of economy regarding its vast majority of the black population; either weary toil for the enrichment of capitalists, or joining the army of the unemployed people.

The petty bourgeoisie would be crushed in the competitive struggle with the huge capital and thus culture and education remain beyond the reach of the masses, and the intellectuals will find themselves obliged to support their talents and pens. The capitalist monopolies, when they came in the wake of the capitalist free competition, were avoiding dodging the weak producers and competitors out of the circle of production and market, taking advantage of the material progress in all the technical and intellectual aspects, and of the concentration of the capital in the hands of a few people to build strong irresistible companies. When there were many varied monopolies that became generalized in the production and the market, the monopolistic competition emerged as a struggle between small numbers of giants, including the multinational companies.

The U.S. indebtedness was growing, and the indicators of classifying the debts, especially the long-term ones, have changed from stability to negative indicators. The economic crisis reached its peaked when the United States was unable even to pay the interest rates on loans, especially in 2008, when the crisis of mortgages erupted in the United States, which made the dollar become the most important reserve currency in the world. It has become at the present time not only unable to pay its debts, but is unable to pay the due interest rates of debts. In reality, weakening the economy will have serious repercussions on the overall economic and social conditions. We are witnessing many of their premises and practical instantiations in the European street these days, which are expected to face more interaction and aggravation in the future days.

The rate of unemployment increased and the latest statistics in the United States indicated the high unemployment rate by 9.1%, and the rate of employment and hiring in companies decreased, what indicates the progress in technology, computer, and information technology. On the other side, there was a corresponding decrease in the rates of employment and the absorptive capacity of big, small, and multinational companies. Based on this background, we can see the demonstrations that roamed the cities and streets of Europe as a practical result of this critical economic reality.

Regarding what is witnessed in Europe these days, the news implied that the noisy demonstrations included 82 countries throughout the world and roamed 100 cities demanding dropping the capitalist financial regime and calling for becoming free of the constraints of the International Monetary Fund and the debt. Finally, the Arabs obtain what could be exported to the first world as an advanced model of the public mobility that deserves to be emulated.

The Western intellectuals considered that the victory of capitalism is the end of history. It is not only Fukuyama alone who reached to this conclusion, but also Samuel Huntington shared it with him. Thus, are we in front of a big question that forms a call to re-read the history, in a way that makes the real end of history not the one represented by this distressed plan with all what it has of grievances, hunger, and poverty that lead millions of people to the streets!