It’s hard to judge the true depth of crisis developing in the foundations of our political and economic system when you are living, day in and day out, in the middle of it. But it is clear that something deep is fundamentally broken with capitalism, and that fixing it requires thinking seriously about what might emerge as what can probably only be called “a next system.”
This is not a radical judgment. Perhaps surprisingly, you can find this perspective resonating within the most powerful citadels of the system itself. Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, for instance, introduced a recent Davos meeting of the global financial and political elite with these words: “Capitalism, in its current form, no longer fits the world around us […] We have failed to learn the lessons from the financial crisis of 2009 […] A global transformation is urgently needed and it must start with reinstating a global sense of social responsibility.”
Even more encouraging than Schwab’s informal comment is the consideration serious business and financial experts are giving to questions about the future of capitalism and the long term possibility of a successor system. I have found receptive audiences for my work on this subject (and my book What Then Must We Do?) at major conferences dedicated to socially responsible investing like SOCAP and SVN. I have also found that many people who have spent the last decades pioneering innovative projects that put their business acumen to use in the service of economic and social justice are beginning to realize that the system itself may be broken. And that, if so, we need to begin to think about alternatives that might be developed, even if over the long haul.
I admit that I was a bit taken aback, however, when I was asked to deliver a keynote address on August 11th at the annual Academy of Management meeting whose theme this year is, quite simply: “Capitalism in Question.” Read More