Under the ruins of capitalism

Countries that implement a fair socio-economic model will be the first to emerge from the global economic crisis 

Elections in France, the second most powerful country in the EU, clearly reflects the socio-political crisis in Europe. However, there is nothing sensational. Europeans are disappointed in traditional parties, the middle class is tired of the permanent drop in living standards, even the developed EU states are gnawed by growing inequality in terms of income, assets, and opportunities. Back in the early 2010s, it was already obvious: either the EU would transform its socio-economic model, or the social conflict would spark and could result in a total radicalisation of the political space. And populists with extremely unconventional views can come to power amid this tendency. Will the West be able to overcome the crisis in its current state? This is a complex question. One thing is clear: the states in which the socio-economic model is based on the principles of justice, but not solely on economic efficiency will be the first to emerge from the current economic impasse in the world without huge losses.

Lost decade

In an effort to take over other markets, the notorious capitalist world has become too carried away by emission and borrowing. By and large, the debt crisis has been raised and nurtured for a long time, over two decades, or even more. 

The current pre-default state of world currencies and the governments of developed countries is the result of their irresponsible policies of a whole generation of leaders. 

In the late 2000s, the world went through a series of crises: first, the energy crisis, when the cost of a barrel of oil just immediately reached $150, then the food crisis began, ending in a financial collapse... But the developed West (though why is it considered developed) flooded all the problems with unsecured money. Why? For political reasons. No matter how proud the developed countries were of their high standard of living, social problems multiplied in these countries: inequality went off scale, the financial and political world merged into a single whole. The existing model of the universe in Western countries has ceased to suit the vast majority of people. 

Revolution options

The pandemic had not yet begun, the conflict in Ukraine had not escalated, but the Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab published an article in 2019 in which he clearly stated: the socio-economic model of capitalism has become obsolete. In his opinion, this is true despite this model was based on the principles of the notorious financial and economic efficiency. Schwab clearly wrote: it is logical to evaluate the activities of companies not by efficiency, profitability and dividends, but by the contribution of business to the development of society and human capital. 


To some extent, Schwab’s keynote article became a harbinger of the popular ESG agenda last year. Another question is that in the end the struggle to reduce the impact on the environment, the achievement of social harmony resulted in the desire of the same Western countries to just strengthen their dominance. 

But the original idea, voiced by experts, was extremely rational: a revolution from above. For classical capitalism no longer meets any modern realities.

Accordingly, there are two options: either the capitalist world will change of its own accord. So to speak, ‘revolution’ from above. Either society transforms the modern unjust system on its own — ‘revolution’ from below. By and large, in this case, we can even remove the quotes. 

Moreover, the pandemic was not able to mobilise the efforts of the West to restore order in its socio-economic models, but only exacerbated the existing imbalances. And the conflict with Russia, Belarus and sanctions threaten to finally bring down the European economy. 

Ordinary citizens in the EU have different attitudes towards Russia, the conflict in Ukraine and Western pressure on opponents. However, they unequivocally oppose the fall of their own standard of living. This process did not begin suddenly in February, but as far back as last year, when due to the ambitions of some politicians in Europe, the energy market that had been forming for decades was ‘broken’. Citizens were just freezing, businesses were suffering from high tariffs, and speculators continued to make wonderful money on the volatility of kilowatts per hour of energy. This is fundamentally inappropriate for the electorate, especially young people, who begin to lean towards very radical politicians in their political predilections. 

Request for justice

It must be admitted that the level of aggression and xenophobia in many countries is dangerously over the top today. In these not the least dangerous feelings, people find the answer to the social split that is taking place in the vast majority of Western states. Their leadership is no longer able to consolidate citizens to solve very difficult problems: epidemiological, economic, social and political. Remember the stories with COVID-19 restrictions: any decision resulted in mass protests. We have to state that the feedback between Western society and Western elites has disappeared.


The Belarusian experience is to a certain extent unique: in fact, over 30 years of painstaking work, we in a small state were able to build a model that European countries have tried to strive for in recent years. But they didn’t. 

There has always been a request for justice, but not everywhere politicians managed to implement it. Undoubtedly, the socio-economic model of Belarus is not perfect, it still needs polishing and cutting. At the same time, it meets the needs of society. 

We do have material stratification of society, but it is several orders of magnitude lower than in developed countries. Most importantly, equality of opportunity is preserved: all citizens, regardless of wealth and social status, have access to healthcare, education, and culture. There are social lifts, when everyone can move up the ladder depending on their desire and skill sets.
In the economy, thank God, we have not taken the path of the obsolete monetary capitalism with total private ownership of all resources. 

There is also business in the country, there is a public sector, which is not only aimed at commercial effect, but also bears a significant social burden, including creating a standard of behaviour for the private sector, which must also be more humane, otherwise it will lose competition for the same labour resources. 

In fact, we have often been criticised for this approach. Nevertheless, Western countries are puzzled: how to transfer business to a social footing so that it does not think only about profit?! The answers have not yet been found. And in Belarus, our approaches, in fact, are implemented according to the principles of ESG. By and large, the West can learn from our experience.


Obviously, it is not without complications and difficulties, which, to be fair, are imported in many cases.
However, today there is a demand for honesty and justice in the world. And not only politicians, but also ordinary citizens in Western countries are beginning to understand the essence of our development vector. It turns out that it is possible not only to build the economy on liberal soil, but also on the principles of social justice. At the same time, to remain in the market: we compete with companies, including those of capitalist origin.

To some extent, and for this reason, they are trying to isolate Belarus. Our principles clearly do not satisfy the Western political and economic elite. 

Another question is that this very elite does not have a very wide choice: they will either have to transform, or their place will be taken by radical populists who will come to power on the backs of an impoverished population.


By Vladimir Volchkov
Open source photos