Demise of a single orthodoxy and the possibility of a cooperative economy
Authors: Ukpere Wilfred I. 
Published: January 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to postulate the possibility of a cooperative economic system within the current global crisis, because it is only determined government action, which is orchestrated by a strong sense of true nationalism that can limit the worst effects of the current global economic meltdown.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a meta‐analysis, which relied on secondary sources of information. It is a qualitative study that is based on conceptual analysis and theory building. It considers a global action from an “emic” perspective (author's viewpoint).

Findings

Triumphant capitalism, which heralded the dawn of globalisation, made neo‐liberalists proclaim the death of socialism, along with its positive variants namely, free education, minimum wage, employment creation, health care and so on. However, the perceived triumph of a single orthodoxy seems to have demoted growth of global prosperity. For example, more than 1.1 billion people across the globe are poor, while more than three billion of the global populace have drifted deeper into poverty and more than a billion people across the globe are starve regularly. The current state of affairs has increased the rate of global crimes, which is reflected by the scale of congested jails. A casino economy of speculation has currently failed humankind. Indeed, current failure of capitalism to address wider problems of humankind such as unemployment, inequality, oppression, poverty, food shortages and economic crises, will resurrect the question as to whether socialism is indeed dead as proclaimed by neo‐liberals. Thus, since a single (triumphant capitalism) orthodoxy has failed to address those mounting problems that have excluded a majority of humanity from participating in sharing global prosperity, the assertion that socialism is dead, has become redundant and, the possibility of a vibrant cooperative economy is imminent.

Practical implications

Socialism has failed and capitalism has failed woefully. Hence, the only hope that is left, is a renaissance of positive socialist variants, in order to resuscitate capitalism. Therefore, a cooperative economic ideological order is urgently required within the current global crisis. It is only determined government action, which is orchestrated by a strong sense of true nationalism that can put a limit to the worst effects of the current global economic meltdown. Therefore, the state cannot continue to be a passive onlooker of economic mismanagement and industrial cacophony, because humans, in search of peace and progress, have surrendered their sovereign identity to the state. The state is, indeed, a fine product of human civilisation, and should be an authoritative supreme power – the actual sovereign, which has to formulate and execute the will of the people, while stimulating private initiatives toward the realisation of a dynamic cooperative economy.

Originality/value

The paper is original and will be valuable not only to policy makers but also to humankind in general within a turbulent global economy.