There were plenty of warnings out there over the last twelve to fifteen months that trust in the global financial markets had weakened and was at breaking point. My ears pricked up permanently and I went to action stations when the UK's Northern Rock foundered and I have no doubt that history will probably mark that as one of the most contagious moments in this viral panic.
Of more concern to me currently is the ever increasing prospect of a 'food meltdown'. Again, the warning signs are there and have been for some time. There has been a small blip of hope as the financial panic pushes the price of commodities down - particularly oil, which impacts on the transport of food and its subsequent cost around the world. The UN has been warning the world for some time, but so absorbed has the media become in conveying the sense of panic over the cash, the issue of food has, somewhat stupidly, taken a back seat.
I say stupidly because we can't eat the notes and the money is still all there - just redistributed in someone else's pocket. The system is foundering because people and institutions now have limited or little trust in each other - or the system itself. This can be corrected and corrected quickly through repaired relationships, a fresh look at the system so that it is 'reengineered' in a format that allows people to work within it with renewed confidence. A system that doesn't permit directors of failed companies to walk off with several million dollars in their trousers, instead one which provides fair return for those who save, invest, borrow, build and repay. Those of us who, despite the hullabaloo, are still going to work, still paying for our mortgages, our credit cards, business liabilities and investments and who haven't yet opted to stash our life savings under the mattress.
What we can't 'turn around' with any great speed is the problem of food. Take a look at some of the reports, listen to what is being said. Get out in the garden and plant some potatoes. Surely to goodness some real attention needs to be paid to this issue and appropriate action taken? Yes, they need to fix the money and this can be done quite quickly if the culture of fear, mistrust, panic and self-protectionism is overcome. But the food? This will take longer, create lasting scars in many countries, result in the deaths of thousands and be the source of far greater global upheaval in the long term.
If there was a job for social media at this point in time, it would be in acting as a viral movement that brings the issue of food shortages - and a call to action - to many millions online who are subjected to mainstream media saturation coverage of the financial markets, the US election and very little else. Unless of course you count the monkey waiters in Japan. All rather reminiscent of Nero playing his lyre while Rome was consumed by the flames...
Recent Comments