The Utopia-Dystopia, rich-poor, developed-underdeveloped/developing juxtaposition between the global north and south needs no Sherlock mind to be regarded suspicious, if anything it seems as though in our globe the common equitable (if such a word is accurate) system of trade whereby a transaction involving two sides tend to be mutually beneficial has been rendered limited to a specific, relatively small part of the world, off course, that part being the more stable global north that represents roughly three quarters of the global income despite having a comparatively smaller population density. But what about the rest of the globe?, what are the common thematic interactions between both sides of the sphere? and why does it appear as though one’s prosperity is dependent on the other’s maldevelopment?.
That’s what many political scientists of the likes of Michael Parenti and Noam Chomsky would have you believe. Admittedly, I am somewhat a fierce proponent of the ‘aid in reverse’ idea which argues that the global south in all manner of ways is being utilized as a physical credit card of unquantifiable spending limits and what’s often benignly labelled as ‘foreign aid’ which is usually offered to economically/political afflicted countries, is by far the most degenerative factor. Sadly, this is a trend no recent in the history, and it’s what gets dismissed when talking about the immigration crisis. Richer, more powerful states, rather, richer, more powerful entities within rich, powerful states enact policies that afflict usually resource-rich countries, the affliction usually coming in the form of an engineered political turmoil that directly engenders division, anarchy and then a civil war. Afflicted countries often accept “foreign aid” without so much as question the motivations behind it. Economic interdependence between states and nations decreases the probability of war, increases the value of trade, and prevents states from engaging in political disputes, which is why you can’t easily sanction Russia or China. Obviously all which within the context of political sanity which, with the presence of the phenomenon ‘megalomania’ is all but elusive.
Economic interdependence is just not enough for some political circles, and in a context where interdependence takes precedence over security in a constantly shifting global political environment, that maybe unsustainable. This patterns reminds me of complexity theorist Stuart Kaufman’s idea of the ‘equilibrium’, specifically the ‘far-from-equilibrium’ side of the theory in which dynamic systems (like politics and states) appear to be deeply entrenched, that is, if we think of peace as an equilibrium. What caught my attention regarding Kaufman’s complexity theory is his argument that complexity is a backlash of both self-organization and the aforementioned far-from-equilibrium dynamics. On the other hand scholars like Nassim Taleb, best known as the author of ‘Black Swans’, polishes Kaufman’s argument with a touch of his own “For them, a state of normalcy requires a certain degree of volatility, randomness, and continuous swapping of information, and stress, which explains the harm they may be subjected to when deprived of volatility”. Taleb dissects the idea within the framework of ‘antifragility’, or systems that gain from disorder, the very title of his book. If one were to internalize these theories, peace, or stability is surely one hell of a rare state to which humans (being natural manifesters of complex systems) is unaccustomed by default.
Marx’s theoretical outlook on the post-industrial revolution period centres mainly around production and the means by which its achieved, his ideas would in fact mould much of the 20th century after being picked up by a revolutionary admirer of his. Historical materialism in Marx’s image perceives human societies, heritage, philosophy and institutions as an outgrowth of collectivized economic activity, i.e. much of history and man’s achievements and misadventures are the product of economic forces and availability of material goods. This is a subject extensively explored by American anthropologist Jared Diamond, the author of ‘Guns Germs and steel’ who found that chiefdoms and complex political organization is highly correlated with food surpluses. essentially, food surpluses and and political organization were contemporaneous to one another, the former allowing people enough time to form the latter since food and sustenance is not much of a priority, in addition, surpluses of food and the means to transport them gave way to wars conquest. The human history is one riddled with such themes, and the more you delve into the historical evolution of civilization the more elusive an idea peace becomes.
