A pause for war: Some economic realities

Adam Smith was constructing the framework of the capitalist mentality 250 years ago by linking the "wealth and prosperity of nations" more to selling than to buying. This means that if you sell, the engine will keep running. But what happens if the "overworked" engine burns out?

It is possible to understand that the engine is burning out from deep inequalities, wars, crises, deflation, unemployment, social problems, and ecological destruction. These are the results of a style that is more "Capitalocene" than "Anthropocene."

In this context, could a ceasefire in the attack launched by the US-Israel coalition against Iran, and Iran's attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz in response, bring a cooling to the world economy's engine? The overheating engine and ecosystem are now pointing to the fossil fuel trade itself as the problem. The "Capitalocene" is not satisfied, of course...

Historically, production relations were always prone to war even before capitalism. What has changed in capitalist production relations is this: as basic needs are endangered, a fear of the future regarding the end of humanity also begins.

Oil, hovering around 90 dollars, caused a high increase in diesel prices despite the sliding scale system. For example, curly lettuce that could not be brought from Anatolia to Istanbul due to diesel costs was fed to cows because the cost of harvesting and transporting it from the field was more expensive. We saw curly lettuce, which was 40 liras the previous week in Istanbul, at 150 liras; today it has dropped to 60 liras. A 50 percent increase has occurred compared to before the war. If you could find alternatives to lettuce on the consumption side, you would overcome this, but if this is not possible, inequality hits the table with a food crisis.

And that is exactly what is happening. Was this food issue something that should have happened while a segment of society was busy getting into debt to replace their cars with new imported models? The dialectic of life... What can the Capitalocene do!

While oil companies are adding profit to profit, due to the disruption of supply chains all over the world, the number of people suffering from hunger is increasing by 45 million solely due to this latest war and the crisis it brought, and the total number of people suffering from acute hunger will exceed 360 million (IMF Managing Director Georgieva, April 9). Here, Adam Smith's "Selling is good!" jargon has been lost in the narrow streets of dialectics.

HURRY AND ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION

Because of this "selling" and "buying" rush, we have exhausted the ecosystem, and we are heading toward ecological destruction. The ecosystem offers us very clear signals, which in turn hit our economy again. So, with the questioning of the Frenchman Georges Politzer, who was killed by the Nazis after writing "The First Principles of Philosophy," "why do wars break out constantly when it is possible and necessary to live in peace?"

The fear of the future, embodied by economic uncertainty and the threat of nuclear war, is the hot potato of the market economy. It is an intangible but secret subject that everyone knows. When supply chains are disrupted by war and then restored, the same relationships cannot continue from where they left off. For example, while the world continues to question its dependence on fossil fuels, the passage through the Strait of Hormuz will also need to be resolved. This dialectic is an economic reality specific to capitalism. While creating alternatives, the sales-based (trade profit) understanding has been delaying the reflection of scientific thought into life for more than 500 years. The use of renewable energy cannot be effective enough because it is associated with profits from its sales.

On the other hand, it is possible to create areas where bicycle use is possible in cities and to reduce carbon emissions to some extent. As the previous mayor of Paris, A. Hidalgo, did (with a woman's touch)... The use of bicycles and electric vehicles in cities (in medium-sized cities, of course) is also a development that will increase welfare despite a decrease in world national income (degrowth), as the share going to world oil companies will also decrease. People can actually increase their welfare by allocating the money they would spend on their cars to more socializing and their own basic needs. This depends on how we look at social and individual welfare. You don't even have to be a socialist. Just don't be a "Capitalocene"...

But the existing world system is always keeping the engine of economic activity that will satisfy oil and automotive companies hot, or trying to keep it hot, with the declining hegemony of the US on one side and the rising economic power of China on the other...

The threat of nuclear war is the destructive dimension of the matter... If the threat "I will destroy your civilization" comes from nuclear weapons and has been uttered... If blood-drinking plutocrats have surrounded everything, doesn't man himself become the real danger? Living in the shadow of nuclear weapons should not be "our duty," of course... The concern of how we can tame nuclear energy instead of renewable energy that falls short is perhaps more positive. The positive and negative aspects of producing electrical energy from nuclear energy should be discussed at length, and immediately! If France had not been in the top three in arms sales, it might have been a good example for this energy.

There are approximately 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world. Most of these warheads are in the US and Russia, but China is also increasing them rapidly (600 warheads). Russia, Pakistan, and North Korea continue to increase them by "cutting from their own throats." The nuclear arsenal was waiting to have its "fuses" lit in the moments just before the Iran-US ceasefire. I suddenly remembered Einstein's saying, "I will not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." As you can see, the risk of nuclear weapons, along with climate and biological threats, continues to be the greatest threat to the ecosystem. The attack on Iran has further increased this threat, this is clear. More money is being spent on nuclear weapons. Thus, the money going to human basic needs is also decreasing. Moreover, the growth rate in the globe is falling and unemployment is rising. Inflation is inevitably rising, even despite the heavy price paid by the oppressed masses. Capitalocenes will not be able to enjoy themselves one day, of course.

THE "IRAN WAR" AND AFTERMATH

I don't know if this last war has been named, but it can very easily be called the "Iran War." The number of countries like Iran that seem to be against the system but benefit from the system (oil and natural gas sales) is not high, of course. Countries like the divided Sudan and North Korea can be added to these countries. Nearly half of Iran's population knows Turkish, I hope this article reaches them too. Their regimes hang 2,500 people (most of them children and young beautiful people) a year because they object, and one day this will end, and they will attain a secular and democratic regime where they can use their social accumulations better than the Ummah understanding. I think they take the Atatürk Republic as an example and I wish them good luck. This does not legitimize the US-Israel attacks that are contrary to international law, of course. War criminal Capitalocenes will also be judged one day, in the eyes of humanity.

It would only befit a capitalist market economy to profit both the arms industry and fossil fuel companies by feeding the threat of war with new regional wars and to increase sales prices with this threat. However, since the market economy is currently looking to regain its lost reputation with new searches in the arms of the state, it is in a rabid, mad dog mode.

We will tirelessly repeat that humanity's main goal, in terms of the risks that created the "Capitalocene," should be to dry up the source of ecological destruction and inequality between people. The "Nuclear War" threat put forward to solve two major problems has settled like a dark cloud over humanity, making it a little more difficult to meet basic needs by gnawing at resources. The hope of a "World System" where ecosocialism prioritizes the ecosystem, equality, and justice will always live on.

I commemorate our teacher Yalçın Küçük with respect. I am sure that his writings, his active life, and his style will always be met with interest.