Economy and Society: Strategies for a More Equal Distribution of Societal Power

Abstract

Unequal distribution of societal power is to a large extent responsible for poverty, hunger, the destruction of nature, and inhuman living conditions. From the perspective of its redistribution, we distinguish three basic means of power: The ownership of material and immaterial properties, the kind of organisation and the values according to which properties and their organisation are handled. This framework permits us to identify crucial power structures in less industrialised and industrial countries and within the financial, real productive, political and social subsystems of the society and allows us to sketch strategies for redistribution of societal power: Industrial countries have to reduce their real and financial capital inputs in favour of higher human capital investments and increase their direct investments in less industrialised countries, supported by a Global Marshall Plan. Less industrialised countries need to enhance both their industrial and alternative sectors, establish more democratic structures and human-centered educational systems. By these cooperative strategies the costs of former colonialism can be partly refunded. The main obstacle for such global cooperation is the global financial system, which has to be decentralised towards a multi-currency system, including regional currencies and barter. In the real productive sector, financial governance and capital-oriented hierarchies should be markedly reduced, which will increase creativity and productivity of work, underpinned by an enlarged human-centered education. Redistributing the prevailing power of the financial and productive sector rests considerably on democratic governance, which has to include increasing informal and legitimate interests and prevent plutocratic tendencies. For this, an economic democracy should be evolved where each individual not only has a vote, but also a guaranteed minimum income. Individual security, welfare and well-being are the foundations for higher creativity and productivity and ensure for each individual more freedom to organise themselves according to their own values. Extending the increasing individual social power to a large population creates social capital, which will accelerate the transition into a human-centered societal development.