Art of Audacious journalism

        By Bayo Ogunmupe

    The book: Audacious Journalism, its art, style and depth is written by Anietie Usen. It is a breathtaking story of Nigeria, told humorously by an eyewitness. This big paperback volume was published this year 2018 by Parresia Publishers, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria.  The book is designed well, coming from the perspectives of a field artist who lived his life for thirty years in a crusty, sparsely furnished room of rookie reporters in Lagos, Nigeria. The book's author however, moved quickly from the jungle of scary wars onto the comfort of the boardroom in middle age.

    Anietie Usen has been able to craft a massive book with 710 pages, an index of two pages and a foreword by Des Wilson, a professor of mass communications. Audacious Journalism is in seven parts. The stories are grouped as those on Nigeria, his columns, on Africa and America. Other stories are on the world, his interviews and the sports reports. The section on Nigeria has the largest contribution. This first section hosts 42 chapters, starting with Usen's baptism of fire at Newswatch magazine and closing with 'Back from the brink' a description of the maiden speech of Nigeria's head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar. Section two contains his columns; hosting 19 articles. Africa has eleven chapters, America: six; the world: seven; interviews: five and sports: three.

    These hundred long stories reflect both his eclectic interests and various journalism beats. By its title the book seeks to serve as a guide for entertainment, education as well as playing the role of a sourcebook of journalism practice. Which is why mass communication students can learn from its contents, the art, science, style and in-depth news gathering and analysis. Thus, this book provides valuable information and entertainment as a sub sector of mass communication. The Prison in Hell is an article offering much information on the state of our prisons. i shall analyze it for the reader to have a taste of Anietie"s pudding.

    The prisoner died just before lunch. A plate of pottage kept at the foot of his hospital bed was covered with flies. His sore mouth and sunken eyes  were closed. The rusty iron that fettered  him to the bed had left his ankle badly bruised. One could count the number of his ribs. He had the ugly look of a drought victim. The doctor's report simply said Muazu Mohammed prisoner No 1519/86 of Kano Central Prison, died of acute malnutrition. Life in a Nigerian prison is hard, inhuman and cruel. Only this month the newspapers reported an official of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre saying 12 million Nigerian children have grown stunted owing to malnutrition this year.

    Even in the case Mohammed, he was not sentenced to death. He was just one of the 46 inmates in Kano state who died that time as a result of bad conditions of life in the state. Many more died of pneumonia, sclerosis of the liver, tuberculosis and meningitis. Another case was Saminu Lawal, who had survived three years in detention without trial could not survive another day to prove his innocence. When an Ilorin magistrate called his case the next morning, Jimoh Ishola, a warder stood up instead. "My Lord," he said,"Lawal died last night and his body has been taken to the mortuary." These stories show the state of the Nigerian nation in the second half of the 20th century. This condition has shown why Nigerians don't live long.

    In contrast, A Prison to Desire is the title of the next article I am reviewing. Unlike the Kano prison, this is in Cardiff, United Kingdom. A smooth narrow road ends abruptly at the foot of a brick wall. The huge remote controlled glass door slid open to admit Newswatch to her Majesty's prison. hardly any black man was in sight except then author, Usen. The English spoken there is strangely laden with an accented intonation, akin to what the evangelicals call speaking in tongues. there, some 486 inmates are locked up in three blocks of three storeys built in 1884. In the visitors' hall, about 50 of the inmates sat opposite their relatives across a row of five long tables, trying to say as much as they could within the 30 minutes permitted each prisoner.

    More than 200 were in the workshops, busy with their handicraft. Another hundred were sitting or lying on lush lawns enjoying their hour-long break. Inside their three-by-five metre rooms, some prisoners sat on their beds, smoking. Their walls were covered with pornographic pictures. There were two beds a small table and a locker squeezed into the room, leaving a narrow passage between the two convicts. The room was designed for one convict. But now some of the rooms even accommodate three convicts. Mathematically, that is 200 percent overcrowding.

    The prison governor, Alan Rawson was ready with explanations. "A degree of overcrowding is expected in a prison like this because we keep short term prisoners not exceeding 12 months. Virtually all British prisons of this kind are overcrowded," he said. Of the 486 inmates, 152 were non-convicts awaiting trial. Non-convicts in Cardiff however, do not await trial for nine years as in Nigeria's Ikoyi prison. They are taken to court every seven days until their cases are disposed of. The Prison governor told Newswatch that Cardiff prison alone services 26 magistrates and three Crown courts. Such is the content of Audacious Journalism. The stories are told incisively and humorously, captured so dramatically in snippets of well crafted and stylish prose.

    Originally published as newspaper articles, this book is a treasure trove of information you need to read as students, teachers or practising journalists. Its author is an award winning journalist and technocrat Anietie Usen is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Oxford Business School, Manchester Business School and the University of Calabar. As a pioneer reporter at Newswatch, Usen rose to become the general editor. Later, he became an Editorial Board member of Thisday as well as Editor at Large of Africa Toiday magazine, London. Currently, he is the Commercial and Industrial development director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Methods of getting ahead in life

                              By Bayo Ogunmupe

     If there is only one life changing principle you need to stick to, it is this: Know thyself; be honest with yourself. In the last few months, I have been taxing myself with uncomfortable questions that demand answers which force me out of my comfort zone. To get myself back on track, I've had to answer some honest questions which helped me find the light in my darkest days. These questions are: Granted that life is what you desire from it, what do I want from life? What is it that is weighing me down that I don't actually need in my journey? What is it that  I already know which will immediately improve my life? And finally how can I respect myself through sticking to my goals and objectives?

     For the ambitious, these questions provide the introspection and self discovery necessary to face the nuggets of truth that can jumpstart you from your comfort zone and get you back to where you ought to be. Question one: What the hell do I want from life? The solution starts from answering this question correctly. Forget every thing for a moment- your family, your club, your world- and think of what you want, with nothing else involved. We are all in search for an alignment; an alignment of what we want to be and what we are actually are. And the further away these two realities are from your goal, the less contented you are with your life.

     Admit to yourself what you really want in life, even if no one else would agree that it is the right choice for you. But at the end of the day you are the one to suffer the odium of the situation. Your decision should be made to satisfy your existence, not another person's. Second, what baggage is holding you back that you don't need in your life? Your courage to say no, is all you need to propel you forward. A no at the right time can refocus your life, such a moment will redefine what you stand for and what you will accomplish. Many of us are convinced that life is long and that there are abundant opportunities in the world to do what we want. But this is wrong.

     The more time you waste saying yes to every bulishit, the less time you have to accomplish what you love, what you want and what you need. Saying no isn't a crime. If you feel certain career choices are contributing to your regression, instead of growth; then you must say no next time you pick up the phone to answer your interlocutors. Three: What do I already know that will immediately improve my life? This question also forces you to reevaluate the life you are currently living. But instead of focusing on external factors holding you back; this addresses the internal wall that are stopping you from reaching  your potential. If you are not the person you want to be, some if not most of the blame belongs to you.

     The guidebook to the El Dorado you want in your life should always be in your head already. You just need to open it and read and follow its direction. Finally, how can I respect myself more today? The answer to this all important question is simple.You must respect yourself enough to make yourself a better person. If you respect yourself, you will protect your body harm, from injury and humiliation. If you respect yourself, you will take decisions with your own perseverance and long term happiness in view. Therefore from today, start honoring yourself, start respecting yourself. From now on start protecting the dignity that you deserve. Those changes will eventually convince you that you are better than yourself you saw in the mirror yesterday. And that you are worthy of the ideal version of you that lives in your head. Start boosting your self esteem by defending your dignity from today. May God go with you.

The tragedy of Sight without Vision

                              By Bayo Ogunmupe

     Helen Keller (1880-1968) was a blind and deaf American author and educator who rose to world fame as a defender of the disabled. I love this popular quote from her: "The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight but no vision." Having a vision in life is so important and writing it down is just as crucial. Which is why you should write out your vision and make it clear so you can see it. This is why a Personal Vision Slate is a great tool for your greatness in life. The Personal Vision Slate is a cardboard where you write down your dreams and visions  and watch them become reality.

     You might have heard what the great motivator, Zig Ziglar said: "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." Then think about this in relation to what you want in life, your financial freedom, your health and romance. Ask yourself what you are aiming at in life. Most people never get what they want out their lives because  they don't really know what they want from life. They just wander aimlessly through life until they settle on something that seems nice to them. But when they get bored, they start wandering again. One thing is certain, though; they never get what they want and if they ever do, they usually don't keep it for long.

     If you want to avoid being one of these wanderlusts; here is where you need to start from. This is why you need a cardboard depicting your vision: your Personal Vision Slate. The most significant motivation behind your consistent actions is your subconscious mind. This is because your subconscious controls your emotional drives. You should know that your behaviour is influenced by the thoughts which carry the strongest emotional charge. Thus, this is why it is important for you to harness the power of your subconscious to fuel your passion and pursue what you really want. A Personal Vision Slate is a most powerful tool for doing this. It provides you with the  powerful visual stimuli that plant seeds in your subconscious that are consistent with what you want.

     It is very easy to create your Personal Vision Slate (PVS). All you need is a cardboard a few pictures of things you want in your life: the type of house you want; the kind of personality you want to built and the kind of partner you want to attract to yourself. By creating this dream board and hanging it where you can see it everyday, you awaken and replicate these desires in your subconscious. These desires will propel the actions that will help you gain what you want. In case you are skeptical about this, just think of how much money companies spend on advertising which use colours, shapes, words and images to provoke the responses needed from the people.

     Considering the astronomical amount of consumer debt in most nations, you can see just how influential advertising it. But what if you could create your own advertisement which you could use to sell yourself your own dreams. This is exactly what you are doing when you create your own dream slate. This policy works. That is why every where you go you are bombarded with advertisements created by people trying to get you spend your time and money to enable them build their dreams. You cannot escape these messages, your only line of defence is to create your own advertising campaign. To join the league of winners, you must make the voice and vision of your dreams the loudest and clearest in your life.

      It comes down to making a choice: You either make a proactive effort to build up your own dreams or you become slaves of the dreams of others. Life is too short to build the dreams of others. Therefore the first thing that you need to do is to wait no longer but start creating your dream slate today and hang it by the door of your wardrobe where you will see it daily while dressing for work.

Overcoming the limitations of life

                             By Bayo Ogunmupe

     "Overcoming the limitations of life," was the theme of a public lecture by the Lagos Zone, the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC a fortnight ago. It attracted hundreds of people particularly the academia and self employed intellectuals. Given at the Isis Lodge, Ilupeju; the lecture was preceded by the introduction of the Order and a welcome address by the event's chairman, Johnson Ikube. The Ancient  and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) was introduced as a philosophical, cultural and humanitarian organization dedicated to the study and investigation of natural and spiritual laws and their application for the attainment of human health, happiness and peace.

     The Order worldwide is now 3,371 years old in its recorded history. In Nigeria it is 85 years old. It has been established in more than a hundred countries of the world. The AMORC is a school of life open to both men and women of all religions, nationalities, vocations, professions, races and cultures. In his keynote address, the chief executive of Ikube Online Services, Mr Ikube titled it as Towards greater alignment of our national priorities. He said as human beings, we have common needs even when we have different aspirations and wants. We all must learn how to transform the challenges in our lives for better living in a challenging world. He then introduced the guest lecturer of the day as Ekanem Kofi-Ekanem a renowned architect and the Grand Councillor, the Cross River State chapter of AMORC.

     Continuing his keynote address, Mr Ikube said that in the realities of our modern world, a nation must first and foremost rest squarely on its economy. The polity should be an enabler not the driver of the economy. That was partly what made the early days of our nation progressive: autonomous regions and a dependent centre. "We must rework our priorities such that we truly become a nation driven by our economy." He believes we are currently driven more by the politicians rather than by our economy. The political players of our six geopolitical zones are playing politics to the detriment of the economy. He said the zones should be renamed economic zones focusing on growing their economies. Then, the states would be more appropriately aligned to add more value to their zones.

     "We are plagued by a Nigeria where many receive money without producing anything or rendering service for the progress of the economy." Ikube said we should detach religion from governance, embrace spirituality which unites while the religions divide. He said election officials should recuse themselves from overseeing elections. He said modernity demands the election of leaders that understand intricately connected variables which is why we must elect people with appropriate education and tract record of service.

     In the main lecture, Mr Ekanem enunciated the Rosicrucian concept of 'All is law; all is Order. What exists, exists for a purpose. Learn the law and you will be rewarded by knowing how to use it.' He said the two limitations which affect us are: time and space. In our perception, time and space limit every aspect of our lives, intruding into our every working moment. This causes us to think in certain ways. But it isn't time and space that limit us but our attitude. Our attitude creates us a habit. The habit establishes a pattern. With constant repetition, patterns become fixed, making us prisoners.

     So habits established by time and space rule us and put up bars where there really aren't any. Thus, this realization marks the Rosicrucian instruction on how to grow beyond all our limitations through expanding our Consciousness. Perceived limitations which affect men include obstacles of birth, education, ill-health and wrong business activities. This perception builds fences around our best endeavors and cut us off from opportunities which would otherwise be ours. A Rosicrucian law states: Man cannot rise above his consciousness. It is not the limitations then that hold us back.Rather it is our inability to recognize them and thereby raise our consciousness above them.

     Consciousness in man is the inner, intuitive understanding of his own being as  well as his relationship with other beings and the principles of the universe. You raise your consciousness through life long learning and experimenting. Our consciousness determines the world in which we live. Our limitations will change when our consciousness of them changes. Your raised consciousness begins to change the manner of your sowing. And that immediately affects a change in the harvest you reap.

Pathways to effective entrepreneurship

A review by Bayo Ogunmupe

     This book is titled: Pathways to Effective Entrepreneurship, a guide to successful business. It is the first business manual from Chukwudi Sunday Nwosu, a great entrepreneur who studied both business administration and business management. He merged the two technologies in his book. Pathways for short, is a huge paperback with 509 pages, four parts, 18 chapters, 13 pages of references and 13 pages of indices. First published in 2015 by Guzman Nigeria Limited, Pathways is an inimitable guide to successful business entrepreneurship. It is a practical manual and useful resource that is invaluable in assisting small business owners.

     The book encompasses the fundamentals of building a successful business enterprise. It is an invaluable companion to budding entrepreneurs, businessmen, researchers, professional bodies and non governmental organizations. Embedded in this volume are policies, strategies and drafts connected with starting and managing companies. Entrepreneurs and businessmen in need of capital, chief executives of ongoing firms looking for capital are well advised to buy copies of this book for their own success and survival. The strength of the book is its ability to furnish its readers with information with which to implement strategies and get identifiable results whether in a new business or the old ones.

     Pathways addresses the gap in the provision of both tested professional and practical knowledge needed by business owners. It is compilation of research results on contemporary entrepreneurship. Part one covers: how to understand and undertake entrepreneurship. Here, two chapters are devoted to the theory and practice of entrepreneurship. Part two has eight chapters. Part three treats organic business functions; it has five chapters. In addressing part one, we shall be dealing with the concepts and differences between the entrepreneur and the manager. Nwosu also traces the historical development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

     In part two, featuring the activities of entrepreneurs; forms of business organizations, opportunities in startups, the business plan and the internal and external sources of funding for the enterprise. Here, Nwosu enumerates capitalization of the company, the memorandum of association; sole proprietorship, types of partnership and the business name. Another issue strongly recommended by the author is the principles upon which companies are established. Thus, the differences between companies and cooperatives are analysed. He shows the sources of capital for cooperatives and the advantages of cooperatives over profit oriented companies.

     For part three, the organic functions of business is explained. Part three spans chapter nine through chapter 11, ending at chapter 13. Within these chapters, the art and science of management were analyzed. Operations management was treated extensively in chapter 10. Also minded were the fundamentals of marketing. Product concept, product life cycle and branding were the products of research by economists highlighted by the author. Packaging and its role was given prominence in the array of skills which make businesses thrive.

     In Pathways fourth and final part, covering chapters 14 to 18, Nwosu enunciates the modalities with which entrepreneurs develop and apply modern technology to gain success and profit. He discussed at length why businesses fail, demonstrating how the Nigerian environment, the role of regulatory agencies inhibit business enterprises. Without any fear of contradiction, one might suggest: The Roadmap for the diversification of the Nigerian Economy in the Age of Sustainable development goals, as another title for Pathways. This is the prism we expect every tier of government in Nigeria and the private sector to view this priceless book.

     In concluding this review, I feel constrained to revisit the definition of the term: entrepreneur. Behind any innovative business must be an entrepreneur, a person possessing foresight, boldness and creative verve. The term: entrepreneur was first brought into prominence by the 18th century French economist Richard Cantillon. According to Cantillon, entrepreneurs are non fixed income earners with uncertain incomes. Shortly after, the French economist Jean Say added that entrepreneurs had to be leaders. Say (1803) defined an entrepreneur as an economic agent who unites all the means of production: land, labour and capital to produce a product. 

     By selling the product in the market, he pays rent for the land, wages to labour, interest on capital and what remains is his profit. An entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of low productivity into one with higher productivity and greater yield. He redeploys people, material and money and coordinates processes necessary for efficient  large scale industrial and trade development. Hence, an entrepreneur is one who brings other people together in order to build a single productive organism. Which is why this book is capable of making its reader a successful entrepreneur.

     The author, Chukwudi Sunday Nwosu holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's in management. He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Administration and member, Institute of Certified Professional managers. He has the practical experience of working in newspaper production; having worked at The Guardian and Vanguard newspapers. And apart from being a self made entrepreneur, Nwosu is a member of the Gospel Business Men's Fellowship and president of Men's Ministries Fellowship Assemblies of God Church, Lagos. Nwosu is  married to Blessing and  are blessed with children.

Methods of getting ahead in life

                              By Bayo Ogunmupe

     If there is only one life changing principle you need to stick to, it is this: Know thyself; be honest with yourself. In the last few months, I have been taxing myself with uncomfortable questions that demand answers which force me out of my comfort zone. To get myself back on track, I've had to answer some honest questions which helped me find the light in my darkest days. These questions are: Granted that life is what you desire from it, what do I want from life? What is it that is weighing me down that I don't actually need in my journey? What is it that  I already know which will immediately improve my life? And finally how can I respect myself through sticking to my goals and objectives?

     For the ambitious, these questions provide the introspection and self discovery necessary to face the nuggets of truth that can jumpstart you from your comfort zone and get you back to where you ought to be. Question one: What the hell do I want from life? The solution starts from answering this question correctly. Forget every thing for a moment- your family, your club, your world- and think of what you want, with nothing else involved. We are all in search for an alignment; an alignment of what we want to be and what we are actually are. And the further away these two realities are from your goal, the less contented you are with your life.

     Admit to yourself what you really want in life, even if no one else would agree that it is the right choice for you. But at the end of the day you are the one to suffer the odium of the situation. Your decision should be made to satisfy your existence, not another person's. Second, what baggage is holding you back that you don't need in your life? Your courage to say no, is all you need to propel you forward. A no at the right time can refocus your life, such a moment will redefine what you stand for and what you will accomplish. Many of us are convinced that life is long and that there are abundant opportunities in the world to do what we want. But this is wrong. 

     The more time you waste saying yes to every bulishit, the less time you have to accomplish what you love, what you want and what you need. Saying no isn't a crime. If you feel certain career choices are contributing to your regression, instead of growth; then you must say no next time you pick up the phone to answer your interlocutors. Three: What do I already know that will immediately improve my life? This question also forces you to reevaluate the life you are currently living. But instead of focusing on external factors holding you back; this addresses the internal wall that are stopping you from reaching  your potential. If you are not the person you want to be, some if not most of the blame belongs to you.

     The guidebook to the El Dorado you want in your life should always be in your head already. You just need to open it and read and follow its direction. Finally, how can I respect myself more today? The answer to this all important question is simple.You must respect yourself enough to make yourself a better person. If you respect yourself, you will protect your body harm, from injury and humiliation. If you respect yourself, you will take decisions with your own perseverance and long term happiness in view. Therefore from today, start honoring yourself, start respecting yourself. From now on start protecting the dignity that you deserve. Those changes will eventually convince you that you are better than yourself you saw in the mirror yesterday. And that you are worthy of the ideal version of you that lives in your head. Start boosting your self esteem by defending your dignity from today. May God go with you.

Seven More Things Everyone Should Know About 21st Century Economics

Why the Future is an Inescapable Choice Between Fascism and Social Democracy (and What Those Really Are)

 By UMAIR HAQUE

 In this essay, I’m going to pick up where the last one left off.

Social democracy is the most powerful engine of human prosperity the world has even known, period, full stop. Just a few decades, Europe was reduced to rubble by war. Today, Western Europeans live the longest, happiest, richest, stablest lives ever, of anyone, in human history, ever, period. No, that’s not “just my opinion”, Tucker — that’s empirical reality. What does it mean?

It’s a stunning accomplishment — one of history’s greatest. We’ve discovered the recipe for human prosperity, after many long millennia of being locked into kings making wars on one another for land, palaces, and slaves. Only some backwards countries, like America, do not want to use this recipe. And they are telling the very people who made this discovery that they should not want it either. Will the discoverers of the recipe for human prosperity be foolish enough to listen to the falling empire that rejects it — and join it in collapsing?

The future is a choice between fascism and social democracy — but not everyone is going to make the right one. Why not? Let’s start small, and zoom out.

Social democracy is the next stage of progress after feudalism, mercantilism, and Cold War capitalism vs socialism. Marx was wrong — but also right. There are stages to history. But history doesn’t proceed from capitalism to socialism to communism. Instead, it proceeds like this. From feudalism, to colonialism, to totalist capitalism or totalist capitalism — the Cold War — to social democracy. Both Russia and America collapsed, in remarkably similar ways: authoritarian ethno-states with imploded middle classes, isolated from the world. Why is that? Either socialism or capitalism as the sole way to order a society failed in precisely similar ways. But what came out of the rubble, in the place between these two totalist empires, was a new synthesis of socialism and capitalism. And in that way Marx, a dialectical thinker, was righter than he knew. Thesis, antithesis — synthesis. Socialism, capitalism? Fail. Socialism plus capitalism? Boom! Progress.

Social democracy is the synthesis of the best parts of both capitalism and socialism. It allows people to invest more in themselves. They can spend their time, energy, creativity, ideas on worthier things than maximizing profits. The story of human progress has always been about people struggling to invest more of what they produce in themselves — instead of having it skimmed off by predatory elites. Capitalism and socialism have both failed at that task: they both devolved to predatory elites skimming off most of what people “made” — hence, in America today, wages aren’t even keeping paces with inflation, which is another way to say that people can’t invest their creativity, time, energy, and passion in anything other than survival. Social democracy breaks those shackles — and continues the forward motion of progress. How?

What’s “socialized” in social democracy are public goods — the basic things that we all need to live good lives. Social democracy means that a society reinvests its gains, collectively, in providing the basics of life, healthcare, education, finance, media, energy, transport, and so on, at higher standards, to everyone, every year. That is how the quality of life skyrockets up, in record time, just as it did in Europe — to reach the highest levels in all of human history. But that doesn’t mean “capitalism goes away!” In fact, capitalism is left to do what it does best — not try vainly to provide things, like healthcare and education, it will never be able to, which waste’s a society’s resources massively.

What’s “democratized” in social democracy is collective human action. The result is a vast toolbox — instead of just capitalism’s single blunt instrument, profit-seeking — with which to build the house of prosperity. Under capitalism, only one kind of “corporation”, or institution, is possible, really — a profit-maximizing one. Under social democracy, endless kinds are possible. Want to maximize human longevity? Go for it. Trust? Belonging? Meaning? Knowledge? Truth? Go for it. Because the goal isn’t just to maximize profit, the “owners” of such “corporations” aren’t just “shareholders.” And that means that boards, in turn, can be composed of regular people — not just “owners of financial capital”. Patients, doctors, journalists, readers, academics, and so on — not just a tiny number of CEOs. That means that the institutions of a social democracy are far more genuinely democratic — more representative, more flexible, more inclusive. They’re not just stuffed with suits — but with all the kinds of people that make up a democracy.

Capitalism is a hammer, or maybe a chainsaw — it can only operate in one rigid, totally inflexible way, “boards” of “owners” of “capital” maximize” profits. Can you build the house of prosperity with just that one tool? America tried — and all it did was burn the house down. Social democracy means that a political economy has many more, and better, tools to accomplish its manifold tasks — provide people healthcare, education, trust, purpose, and so on — which are far sharper, more accurate, less costly, and strike truer than capitalism’s single, clumsy, fumbling blunt instrument.

Social democracy creates something Americans don’t understand at all, because they have no experience with it: more and better competition than under capitalism alone. How can that be? Public goods are offered by social-scale public institutions — but the private sector must compete with them. Britain’s NHS doesn’t mean, as Americans so often think, that there’s no such thing as a private, for-profit doctor in London. Sure there are. Harley Street’s full of them. Only they have to compete with free public healthcare, so they what happens in America — massive inflation for healthcare — doesn’t happen. The BBC doesn’t mean there are no other TV channels or radio stations. There are hundreds.

Public and private organizations compete in social democracy — remember, it synthesizes both, instead of totalizes either — and that’s crucial, because it’s a better kind of competition than under capitalism. Public goods provide a floor of quality the private sector has to better. You’ve seen the BBC’s amazing documentaries — Blue Planet, and so on. Capitalists now have a high bar to meet: they have to outdo the BBC. Imagine competing Blue Planet. Do you think NBC could do it? The Discovery Channel? Don’t kid yourself. So European organizations, even corporations, can’t simply compete by bottom-feeing, and end up at Ancient Aliens, Alex Jones, Walmart, and police-state TV. A race to the top ensues in social democracy, unlike capitalism’s (and socialism’s) race to the bottom.

But we can also get the synthesis of socialism and capitalism fatally wrong. Social democracy: a better allocation of resources, truer competition, better incentives, more tools to accomplish higher purposes. But what happens if synthesize all the worst parts of capitalism and socialism?

The perverse synthesis of socialism and capitalism is fascism. It is the most destructive form of political economy known to humankind. Can you think of another ideology that has killed so many so fast? So synthesizing socialism and capitalism has great rewards — but if we get it wrong, the price is unthinkably high, too. In fascism, the state becomes a tool of repression — not liberation. It’s used to subjugate, expropriate, segregate, ghettoize, demonize, encamp, and ultimately, exterminate. But all those things are “jobs”, too — not just for blue-collar guards and soldiers, but also for white-collar lawyers, accountants, and chief executives.

Thus, under fascism, life appears to get better. Middle classes had imploded. But now they prosper again. Yet they turn a blind eye to the fact that their prosperity comes at the price of the subjugation of minorities, immigrants, and others. What is “socialized”, unlike in social democracy, isn’t healthcare, education, transport, and media — but the agencies, jobs, departments, and tools of human repression and subjugation. What is “capitalized” is the gains taken from others — the homes and savings and possessions and ultimately lives taken from Jews and immigrants and others, and the work done to take them.

Now. What does all the above really mean?

If anyone tells you that the choice between social democracy and fascism is a difficult one — as American pundits do today — they are either an ignoramus or an ideologue, and probably both. The choice couldn’t be easier, simpler, or clearer. Social democracy is the next stage of human political economy, after binary capitalism and socialism. That is because it is the most powerful engine of human progress history has ever known. But fascism is the precise opposite — the single most destructive form of political economy history has ever known. It is an implosive, self-destructive synthesis of capitalism and socialism, which creates the illusion of prosperity. By using the tools of the state to subjugates and repress those who are different, more every year, to recapitalize a stagnant economy for the “pure”. But this game ends in ruin for all who play it, because nothing new is ever created.

There is absolutely no doubt as to which one of these things, social democracy, or fascism, is better. It’s like asking: “is it better to build a concentration camp in my town, or build hospitals, schools, libraries, and parks?” American pundits might think that’s an oh so smart question to ask, but the truth is this.

If you have to ask, my friend — smile for the camera. Because history is laughing at you, taking your picture for its great hall of fools, as it presses rewind.

Umair
August 2018