Davos: How Will This Crisis Change Us?

by Jim Wallis 01-30-2009

In a plenary session titled “The Values behind Market Capitalism” yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, I started with this observation:

Every morning when I wake up in Davos, I turn on my television to CNN in my hotel room. And every morning, there is the same reporter interviewing a bundled-up CEO with the snowy “magic mountain” of Davos in the background. The question is always the same: “When will this crisis be over?” They actually have a “white board” where they make the CEO mark his answer: 2009…2010…2011…later.

But it’s the wrong question. Of course it’s a question we all want to know the answer to, but there is a much more important one. We should be asking, “How will this crisis change us?” How will it change the way we think, act, and decide things — how we live, and how we do business? Yes, this is a structural crisis, and one that clearly calls for new social regulation. But it is also a spiritual crisis, and one that calls for new self-regulation. We seem to have lost some things and forgotten some things — such as our values.

We have trusted in “the invisible hand” to make everything turn out all right, believing that it wasn’t necessary for us to bring virtue to bear on our decisions. But things haven’t turned out all right and the invisible hand has let go of some things, such as “the common good.” The common good hasn’t been very common in our economic decision-making for some time now. And things have spun out of control. Gandhi’s seven deadly social sins seem an accurate diagnosis for some of the causes of this crisis: “politics without principle, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.”

If we learn nothing from this crisis, all the pain and suffering it is causing will be in vain. But we can learn new habits of the heart, perhaps that suffering can even turn out to be redemptive. If we can regain a moral compass and find new metrics by which to evaluate our success, this crisis could become our opportunity to change.

Wednesday I attended an extraordinary session here called “Helping Others in a Post-Crisis World.” It was full of the insights of social entrepreneurs and innovative philanthropists, all discussing new patterns of social enterprise — where capitalism is again in the service of big ideas and big solutions, not just making money. But the session was held in a small room, not a big hall. And it wasn’t full. New ideas of business with a social purpose have surfaced here at Davos before, but, as in the global economy, social conscience is a sidebar to business. Social purposes have become “extracurricular” to business. It’s time for the sidebar to become mainstream and move to the main hall of discussion and to the center of the way we do business.

If we wait until the economic crisis is over to get back to business as usual, we will have missed the chance we now have for re-evaluation and re-direction. Some of the smartest people in the world are assembled here on the mountain. But are we smart enough not to miss the opportunity this crisis provides to change our ways and return to some of our oldest and best values? Almost half the world’s population, 3 billion people, live on less than $2 a day — virtually outside of the global economy. Maybe it’s time to bring them in.

Categories: Economics

KarlPMartim

German is the official language of Berne. Bernese German, spoken by most of the switzerland clothing inhabitants, is the local Swiss German dialect.

ANKoTP

there are positive externalities to providing comprehensive insurance for major health incidences that cannot be smoothed over through drawing on future earnings and savings. This is preferable to "free" health-care because it still keeps up incentives while helping workers with medical conditions not to have to pay for healthcare thru the nose or be tied down in the wrong job for healthcare reasons.

It also would help with the proliferation of decentralized local house churches that are only capable of providing at best part-time relief from having to get other employment to its "ministers"..., since most part-time jobs do not offer health-care benefits (for good reasons) or pay that well...

dlw

ANKoTP

I truly believe we live in a time of crisis of crises and that our gov't cannot do that much directly to combat the worse impacts of our sequel to the Great Depression. It is hamstrung by the system and ultimately, we need to reignite our faith thru yet another Awakening (going well beyond US borders this time) to surmount the depression. I believe this will be assisted significantly by enabling the proliferation of a host of decentralized autonomous local third parties via the use of proportional representation in state house of reps elections. Us political outsiders, as all of the early Christians were, would then be able to gain influence from under the still dominant two main parties. This is crucial...and I mean that in the crucis/cross sense of the word as critical for making all sorts of other changes in our world possible...

Free Markets are a metaphor whose metaphor-status has been forgotten. It is an exercise in utopic thinking that presumes folks could be totally self-interested in some-ways and not in others(ie, it takes a system of property rights as givens, when such is never in practice the case... and people game the system in all sorts of ways that go well beyond adjusting prices to mitigate changing degrees of scarcity/tastes/technologies/available resources.). So yeah war is not the right metaphor, as we never enforce rules for warfare too well. We do a moderately better job with enforcing our rules for economic conflicts, albeit far less so as of late...

dlw

JoannaCW

"Almost half the world’s population, 3 billion people, live on less than $2 a day — virtually outside of the global economy. Maybe it’s time to bring them in."

That might not be a kindness. We're living in the globalisation of economic collapse, and this hits the poorest hardest. I think we might be wiser to learn from these 3 billion and begin to live with lower consumption and provide more of the basic necessities of life for ourselves and our neighbors.

BuckeyeDon

Well, Squeaky, I hadn't seen these jerseys, so I went to the team's Web site and found out that, for what it's worth, what they were thinking of was a throwback to their 1912-13 team.

But you're right; they're weird looking. They look like referee jerseys gone color-mad.

Guest

I really don't see Cobra as anything except perhaps for someone who is so sick they have lost their job and the insurance can be kept up for their last few months of life so not to loose everything they have to medical bills .
Not really that much , but its better then no cobra I guess.

When I was in betwee, jobs " 18 yrs ago" with five kids , all i paid for was a basic medical policy that would pay for expensive hospital stays or medical care , I think the deductable was a few thousand dollars for each kid .

I changed somewhat my view on medial care , sort of a government plan with private sector competition to keep it
on the stick so to speak .

jonabark

My response was a mirror of your response to becky141 . I don't see absurd conspiracy theories. I see a cogent description of a system rigged by the rich and powerful , for the rich and powerful. I found your question to have a tone that I thought you would hear more clearly if it was mirrored. This seems to have worked. You seem to feel quite similarly to the way I felt about your comments.

In my opinion Calvinism has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Baloney is a mild expression of my revulsion for these ideas and it was not directed at you but at the ideas.

becky141

Witness for Peace, I beg to differ. You characterize my very well-informed opinions as "conspiracy" theory. That is a nasty technique often employed by people afraid to confront the truth of the flaws within their own ideology. It is indeed a destructive paradigm that has destoyed itself.

You may fail to see the first operating premise of your theories. Most of us have had more than ample time to fully understand "Trickle-down" Theory, by whatever name you prefer.

As for Weber, Rushdoony, Schaefer, et all, they start from the very same premise as Hayek and the Austrian and Chicago schools that spawned Free Market ideology. . Calvinistic thought is Patriarchal in origin. At the time the Bible was compiled by collusion between the Emperor and the Pope, the operating principle of society was "The Divine Right of Kings." According to the Feudalists, a certain superior ruling class of men was ordained by the Lord God to rule over all other subjects in his kingdom. NOBODY tells the Lord God how to do his thing. He is the undisputed authority. (Please look up who was called the Lord God in that era.)

Hayek "longed for a return to Feudal Society." He had a crafty was of tricking you, his book, "On The Road to Surfdom" being a case in point. The Fabian Society, which Hayek founded, was structured around putting the Royal Families back in control of things. GO CHECK YOUR HISTORY. It is not conspiracy. It is fact. No amount of obfuscating can throw off someone who knows better.

As for Rushdoony, he is the undisputed father of Christian Nation ideology. Many fundamentalist sects sought to distance themselves from his radically perverse doctrine, but his ideas informed and inflamed the "values voters" family-values agenda. It's just that most people had no clue what they were condoning.

I had to force myself to wade through Rushdoony's volumes. His rewriting of the Ten Commandments was so radical that it helped me see the absurdity of any and all Fundamentalist arguments. I mean, read what Rushdoony has to say about the minimum wage, and how the government had no business meddling in anything that came between a "master" and his property, whether that be his wife, his children, or some unfortunate cuss who happened to work for him. Rushdoony loved expounding as the moral man with a "duty" to treat others according to the dictates of the Lord God. I was bug-eyed by the time I finished it, but oh, how I could put myself in that man's head!

Yes, attending the Baptist church at the time it was taken over by the CNP made me ask a lot of questions that most people didn't. So I am not a "conspiracy junkie." I am a Bible scholar, and a life-long student of religious thought.

Watching Reagan and his cronies dismantle America was "connect-the-dots follow-the-money between religion and politics."

So, please, Witness, don't be so quick to spout "Conspiracy" theory like a Rush Dog.

PS Just who do you "disown" as a respectable scholar? Weber is not as well-known as most of the others under discussion. What about his thoughts do you particularly admire?

WitnessforPeace

Thanks for sharing the wisdom from David Mains, Ando. But I'm wondering if Dobson and Wallis ever did/do have that much power? The Federal Marriage Amendment hasn't been sent to the states; the new RNC Chair actually opposes it (although I expect on libertarian grounds). Abortion on demand is still the law of the land. The War in Iraq wasn't actually a pro-family item, although I assume Dobson supported it. So, will Jim succeed in some of the more interesting items under this website's FAQ's? Will people leave aside the debate on the definition of marriage and unite to protect homosexuals from execution in Iran and elswhere? Will vouchers be given a try?
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=about_us.i...

becky141

You did it so gracefully! I will have to remember your technique.

I admit it. I find myself gloating, every now and then, when one of those "malicious, superior, derogatory little digs" slips in unbidden. Must be a man thing with me, all those years of "obedience training" from the men of my culture, my Dad, especially my Father-in-law, even sometimes my husband.

Yet I know, truly, that the meek inherit the earth.

When I need a touchstone, I remember my friend Mac. I talked with him just hours before he died in Georgia's electric chair. What peace. What sheer compassion for everyone else. There was no anger, no malice, just a deep and abiding forgiveness that was soul-deep. I have never, ever had my heart so broken, yet so totally opened and blessed at the same time.

Thank you, Sister Marie,

Warm regards,

Becky Cope

Nathan Bedford

becky141,

You have learned a very important lesson that some of us have required six or more decades to embrace.. Please continue to "do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Though, at my age, I should know better, I occasionally find myself reacting to snide remarks with responses that are equally snide. I'm glad that we serve a forgiving God.

ando

I agree with letjusticerolldown. Thank you for your wise words.

I am reminded of a meeting a group of Christians had with David Mains in my city some 12-15 years ago. (time does fly). A few asked what can be done about Jim Dobson, who at the time was amassing an amazing amount of political power. Mains said that in the end people should be patient, and that if God's will was being done through Dobson's delving into the political arena, it will be revealed to us.

Well, I think Dobson's power in politics is now waning. Now it's the Evangelical Left's turn. What goes around......?

WitnessforPeace

LetJusticeRoll....
Good points. I suspect Jim is more comfortable as a critic rather than actually putting change into practice. I can't blame him, since I certainly fear change more, and exercise faith less, than I should
Brent, thanks for some interesting thoughts. The FDA over regulates most US companies in order to occasionally catch a few rogue outfits. Even European social welfare states have a more streamlined device approval process. Another major impediment to the common good you didn't mention is the tort system. Countless products, including medical devices, are designed with lawyers in mind, not customers. Many more devices in the $100 to $2000 price range would be reusable, for example, except for the threat of an outrageous legal settlement. Medical devices are only 15% of our health care bill, but FDA reform and tort reform could cut this amount substantially while still maintaining an extraordinary measure of patient benefit and safety.

letjusticerolldown

Well, you do well piling 150 ideas into a blog comment. Which doesn't work well, generally, for internet conversation. However, in this case I think absolutely appropriate---carrying me to my first point.

I think Sojo is significantly failing to fulfill its pledge some months back at bringing important voices/perspectives/writing dealing with this economic crisis. No, I back off that assesment. Come on Sojo! This is the time. The door has opened. The nation's mindset has shifted. There is an opening for change. We will guide and steward it---or it will run us over.

Your relative silence on this matter looks like fear to me. The government is shipping dollars out by the truckload. What happened to "Budgets are moral documents?" What is spending a trillion dollars without a budget??

No, I don't expect all questions and answers to appear on this blog. But fulfill your commitment. Fulfill your calling.

You have worked to reshape the landscape of faith and the public dialogue. The door just got shoved wide open. I know you care. I know you are working. But you are not delivering.

This is not a negative comment. This is a call to fulfill your word.

Step up your game.

Please.

squeaky

Speaking of hockey--I just saw the Montreal Canadiens horizontally striped jerseys and socks. What are they thinking?

becky141

There is a sober article on Alternet today about the exact numbers of
Iraqis that have been killed, displaced, widowed, or orphaned. The
numbers are so staggering, it is hard to comprehend why any nation
chooses such a path. Certainly, everyone needs to be aware of what has
been done, in the name of American "Democracy." An oxymoron, if ever I
saw one.
BC

becky141

Hi, Sister Marie,

Thanks for your wise words. It took both sides for me to understand the hidden agendas operating behind the scenes, both in politics and religion. I am curious, though. When one is detailed and explicit about sharing honest feelings, why do people perceive it as "rage" or "bitterness" or "anger?" Even at the time I walked out of the Baptist Church, I was not "angry" about it. Confused, saddened, wondering where I was to blame, but angry? I would not have used that adjective to express what I was feeling.

Verbose, certainly, judgmental, perhaps. I do not appreciate the fundamentalist's perspective, primarily because they were so all-pervasive in trying to force me to conform to their way of thinking. But isn't that a major part of the understanding that one gains, both from political and religious thought, as one "grows up" and does their own thinking?

Thanks for sharing!
Becky Cope

WitnessforPeace

How do I feel? I feel like you're violating the guidelines. There are millions of people who are members of Reformed denominations, including 2 million American in the PC(USA), Reformed Church in America, Christian Reformed Church and many others.

I will gladly accept your apology and continue our discussion. If you read becky's posts, she was advocating absurd conspiracy theories. Max Weber was a respected scholar; you are free to RESPECTFULLY disagree with him, as I expect I do on a number of points.

jonabark

The biggest mistakes made in the European economy was to invest in the junk Americans were selling. Your logic would have us equating the failures of the Charities who placed their investments with Madoff with the unscrupulous dealings of Madoff himself. Britain also bought into the immoral and costly war in Iraq.

As far as oversight, the model in the US has become Corporate oversight of government, not government regulation of markets.

The ideas you favor have been tried . They are bankrupt ideas and they have led to a literally bankrupt economy.

Free markets are just a euphemism for a war for resources. War is a fundamentally destructive paradigm . Jesus paradigm was the golden rule and the positive power of sharing, healing, love.

jonabark

Sounds like you think everything is just dandy. Promoting Max Weber may not help. Some people are questioning the Calvinist baloney Weber favored and the resulting multi trillion dollar ripoff of money invested with unscrupulous greed mongers, and the exploitation workers that generates the wealth they have emptied into the pockets of a few.

Are you familiar with Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King?

This is called mirroring. How do you feel abut it, Witness for Peace?