We need a new economic order

When the former Soviet Union broke down after 1990, many thought that this would surely be the end of communism and the people would see a communist-free world.

The strong believers of capitalism thought that it is their turn to make sure the entire world believe in the ideology of capitalism. Now what a turnaround we are witnessing!

The financial meltdown in the US and Europe has raised a question whether capitalism really is the best solution towards prosperity of any society.

A report showed that some Europeans have started rethinking whether they could overcome this present financial turmoil through capitalism and this is why the people of Eastern Germany, once a communist region, began thinking about the disadvantages they had to bear after they got reunited with their West counterpart in 1989.

A recent survey found 52 percent of eastern Germans believe the free market economy is 'unsuitable' and 43 percent say they want socialism rather than capitalism. This is why people have started reading Karl Marx's book 'Das Kapital'.

The book is in very high demand and is now read by bankers and managers who try to understand what socialism is all about.

As we are witnessing downfall of some big financial institutions from the wealthiest capitalist nations on the planet, we ask today, is capitalism really perfect? Who would have thought that US economy would be in total chaos today? Who would have thought that the financial turmoil would lead up to unemployment and job cuts in the capitalist nations? Who would have really thought that a non-NATO state Russia would bail out a developed country and NATO member Iceland with 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) shore up its teetering financial system?

Now we can say, are we going to see dominance of communism over capitalism? For all these years, capitalist nations have ruthlessly dominated communist ideologies. Nations with communist ideologies were blocked from all types of financial and commercial aides. For the socialist states like Russia, “It is now the pay-back time!”

The Kremlin thinks that now is the time to buy assets cheaply, using the current financial crisis to emerge as a powerful global economic player. Following the Russian-Georgian war, the West is scared that the Kremlin will use its cash not just for economic purposes, but as an aggressive foreign policy tool as well.

Russian private and state-owned companies have already invested abroad extensively, often buying stakes in large foreign companies. Overall, the top 25 Russian companies hold $59 billion in foreign assets and are the third-largest investors in emerging economies, following Hong Kong and Brazil. Even though the financial crisis has wiped out the Russian stock market, some of the best-run companies have endured a softer blow than their Western counterparts.

The leaders of the free world should come to realise what is best for their economy. The leaders of leading capitalist nations like USA and nations of Western Europe must have thought that no matter how volatile the economy becomes, they would surely survive. The present financial meltdown has proved them wrong.

It is true that the citizens of the world witnessed both forms of socio-economic structure, capitalism and socialism, and in one sense it is true that these economic structures have either failed them miserably or they may have given them success over periods of time but at one certain stage they faltered for sure, which is the case with capitalism right now.

Can't the world think of a better system that stabilises economy and serve definitely not only the purposes of the wealthiest but also those of the people of all classes?

For this, renowned Muslim scholars all around the globe should come up and take advantage of the present global financial crisis to build an economic system compatible with Islamic principles. The world leaders should understand by now that the collapse of the capitalist system based on usury is nothing but a weak economic system. The Western system has collapsed. It is true that Islamic system will not only benefit us economically but it will also benefit us spiritually.

This is the time to re-think!