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 PrintableVersion The Silent TakeoverWhy democracy is dying?THE SILENT TAKEOVER The argument of this important book is that large multi-national companies have such a stranglehold on politicians that the very foundations of democracy are in jeopardy. The author is the Associate Director of the Centre of International Business and Management at the Judge Institute of Cambridge University, and seems to have her finger on the pulse of international affairs, and every relevant statistic and big business story at her fingertips. This makes for a very stimulating, if uncomfortable, read. In a fundamentally materialistic world there are no other convincing values except economic ones. This puts the money makers rather than government in the driving seat. The old political order is changing and probably not for the better. Reagan and ThatcherMuch is laid at the door of Mrs. Thatcher and President Reagan. 'By the early 1990s, the laissez-faire neo-liberal capitalism of Thatcher and Reagan had unquestionably become the dominant world ideology. Even the traditional Left now embraces many of its key tenets... The legacy of the Thatcher-Reagan era is now ineradicable. In Britain for example, the shareholding class created in the Thatcher revolution has made the policy of renationalisation unfeasible for any party seeking election.' The approach adopted by the two leaders more or less deified big business. But the influence that multi-national companies now have means that many of the areas of life over which politicians in the past had power, are no longer in their hands. A national government needs to see that there are jobs available for its population. But politicians less than ever have the levers of power for such things in their hands. One classic example which Hertz draws to our attention here is Tony Blair's dealings with BMW over the Rover Car Company. International businesses will make decisions with their own profits and share-holders in mind rather than the good of a nation. The authoress goes on to spell out the massive lobbying power of business organisations compared with those of the ordinary citizen. Similarly, it is clear that mega media empires now wield vast political power. The electorate are to vote for political parties in a democracy. But who is shaping the thinking of the electorate? Obviously Tony Blair believed that TV and tabloid newspapers held the key. His visit to see Rupert Murdoch before the 1997 election was followed six weeks later by The Sun's historic shift away from the Conservative Party, telling its four million readers that 'The Sun backs Blair.' As Dr. Hertz says, 'Blair's courting of Murdoch seemed to have paid off.' With such political power under the control of big business two things have begun to follow according to this book. First, politicians no longer have the power to bring about radical changes in a country. Is this one reason why the party manifestos are all so similar, just slight variations on a theme? Second, with politicians having less power to deliver on promises the electorate has begun to lose interest in politics and the democratic process. The turn out at the last election, if you remember, was one of the lowest on record. Is this, too, why the opinion polls seem now to show little variation, with the Tories making no impression since the advent of Ian Duncan Smith? Do the electorate feel that to switch from New Labour would actually mean very little practical difference? Business with a conscience?If to a great extent big business has our politicians in their pockets, then who do the multi-national companies take notice of? Well, they are not quite a law unto themselves. They do take notice of consumers, and the consumer protests. This, in a way, is where the heart of politics has now moved to. A consumer boycott, threatened or actual, can still frighten the board room. And if consumers perceive a company as unjust and oppressive, say, of workers in the third world, woe betide the company! However, it would be untrue to caricature all big business as heartless and hard-nosed. Many big companies have a modicum of social conscience and have become involved, at least to some extent, in good deeds and relief work. It is also true that often private companies have a better track record of delivering services than that of the state. But Dr. Hertz warns that, when push comes to shove, companies are in business for profit. They are not charities. Business can be a great provider. But what happens if there is a dramatic world economic down-turn? Will they still feel duty bound to be caring providers? To underline her warning, the author directs us to the example of Japan. 'Until recently in Japan, trading groups, keiratsu, once provided extensive social security systems for communities. It used to be the norm that companies would spend up to 70% on top of actual wages to ensure the provision of welfare systems - 'corporate communities', they used to be called. And many of the welfare functions normally associated with the state - housing, job creation, local economic development, education - were provided by corporations. But in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and faced with the demands of ever more competitive global markets, Japanese companies have been unable to continue these practices. The lifetime employment system that effectively provided social security for the nation has disappeared, and with it the security of countless families. The head of Toshiba says that they are no longer 'a charity'. Dr. Hertz links this with an increase in suicides in Japan. This raises many concerns as we in Britain inch further and further into private company involvement with health, education and pension provision. In bed togetherThe fact that US (and British?) governments are in bed with big business was shockingly revealed in February 2000. Evidence came to light that after the end of the cold war the phenomenal ability of the intelligence agencies to listen in and monitor nearly all electronic communications was used to plunder industrial secrets from European companies which were given to American corporations (pp.80-84). It is the cosy relationship between politicians and big business which worries and fires up the protests against global capitalism such as those seen in Seattle and Genoa and at the recent World Summit in South Africa. The protesters fear that we are moving ever more closely towards a global business civilisation, where 'democracy' is a farce. Government is no longer of the people, by the people, for the people. Rather, it is in the hands of business entrepreneurs and consumers. The 'consumer' element there might leave us thinking, 'OK we still have a say.' But, of course, you have to have money to be a consumer. Where does this leave the poor and the developing nations? Dr. Hertz emphasises that since the advent of the free market, the gap between rich and poor has widened and there is little evidence of so-called trickle-down economics taking effect. New world order?If Noreena Hertz is right, we are rushing towards a very different world from that which we have known. Business considerations, as cynics have always said, may well be the real agenda behind much of what is going on in world politics. With the Muslim world having possession of so much oil, is the war on Iraq more about the USA and US companies positioning themselves for the future? And how much influence does wealthy Islam already have over Western politics? A number of thoughts must occur to the Christian. The book of Revelation pictures the world of the last days before Christ's return very much as dominated by business and commercial consideration. The great Babylon of Revelation 18 emphasises the merchants 'who have grown rich from the power of her luxury' (verses 4,11,15). They not only deal in cargoes of material goods, they buy and sell human lives (verse 13). It could be argued that before the end comes we should expect to see the demise of democracy (with its Christian roots) and the rise of a much more aggressive and authoritarian form of capitalism. Another question which must be faced concerns the efforts made to give representation to Christian views within the political arena. This a very valid pursuit within a democracy. But if Dr. Hertz is right we may be directing our concerns to the wrong people. If it is not politicians but business people who truly pull the strings within a country then we need to think that through when it comes to our strategies over matters like abortion or morally bad TV? Which are the companies that are benefiting? Should we spend less time lobbying politicians and more time looking at the possibility of putting pressure on errant companies through 'Christian' consumer power and other means. JEBJohn Benton© Evangelicals Now - November 2002 |
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