Jo M. Sekimonyo is a Congolese writer, activist, political economist, and global affairs analyst who lives in Massachusetts, USA. In this interview, he talks about his latest book, Cast Away for These Reasons: Economic Jihad and the state of the world economy.
There are so many news websites telling us how bad the world economy is. How does your book differentiate from this online noise?
These websites are primarily dedicated to economic pundits with the goal to bamboozle the general public with graphs and mystifying terminology. Their formulations are often fueled by abstract concepts and crazy assumptions just to fit a certain projection and justify what that they have in mind, which is prolonging capitalism. How can the same graph and data be used to make a case for austerity and then turn around and be an excuse for spending? Sounds weird? It is, but the public is unaware of that. Unfortunately, most of these concepts are all reactionary. Instead, my book is a response to the general public’s outcry. My book is more about making an overview of the current state of global affairs and finish the idea that the new defiant minds who refuse to accept the status quo but are unable to answer to the challenge of coming up with a solution. Let me put it this way, unlike current economic wannabe druids who go on writing hundreds of pages with no solution, I put on the table, a thought provoking alternative to capitalism.
The title of your book is really catchy. Are we really seeing an “economic jihad”?
People have come to all sorts of conclusions from the title. From accusing me of being an ISIS sympathizer to wanting to impose Sharia laws. However, the title is meant to ask the public an essential question; I am asking, do we need an economic jihad or intellectual genocide to blast away the current barbaric economic system, capitalism? At the end of the book you might, as I do, come to the same conclusion. Yes, we do.
You mainly talk about capitalism in your book but the title implies the involvement of Islam too… Please comment.
I have abused the Western fear of Islam to awaken the reader’s attention. It is not about the Islam faith per say. It is about the eternal human struggle of how to distribute wealth.
So, how bad is it really?
Oh no, capitalism is doing what it is supposed to do: generate immense wealth and concentrate most of it in hands in a small class, profiteers (capitalists). So the question is to ask, how strong and powerful is the grip of this small class over the world? I make the case in the first 8 chapters in my book to illustrate how capitalist barbarism has gotten out of hand all over the globe.
Any solutions?
Forget about increasing minimum wage, increase tax, or providing additional benefits such as healthcare. Two hundred years ago, industrial capitalists owned the prime element of the time: means of production. Today, we individually own our own means of engagement, participation, and involvement. We have to toss away the dated notion of nominal wage, even wage in its entirety. Therefore, the way surplus is shared between labor, landowners, and profiteers need to be brought back to the discussion and reevaluated. Ethosism is the solution and provides the backdrop for true change.
Give us your understanding of ‘ethosism.’
I see economics is more like alchemy. As alchemy has been replaced by chemistry, let’s also get rid of economics… then figure out a new discipline to study a quantum approach to the way we transform, sell, buy, and most importantly, share surplus with ethosism.
Where do you see the world in 5 to 10 years?
The way things are going, I see a new cold war which I ironically call the “freezing war” that would pin the U.S. and western hemisphere allies against BRIC countries and the rest of the frustrated world. This could only give two new eras: autocrats in poor countries to refine their brutal tactics of control and the way to siphon and hide billions from the public’s treasury. I can also see the world produce burgeoning multiple extremist groups, which can reflect religious dogmas as well as classism. However, it all boils down to the ever increasing gizmo gap between the small group who have it all, and the billions who have squat. This is worse than Karl Marx’s vision of class struggle. Rather, this is class alienation. Unless…
Do you think anyone is listening?
On one hand, the debacle of socialism and communism scared the hell out people to try something new. On the other hand, after working with capitalism for so long, people forget about other paradigms. Let us not forget about the academia class and politicians who are profiting from repackaging the status quo. My mission is to finish the sentences for people who are calling for a change.
What’s next?
Well, my second book, Ethosism, is coming out in December 2015. And for readers who are going through hard times financially, I’m trying to do my share of putting a smile on their faces this holiday season. The eBook version will be free on Kobo or .99 cents on Amazon kindle and Barnes and Noble nook from Dec. 25 to Jan 2. I’m Congolese, so most of my compatriots and francophone friends are not able to read and grasp the concepts in the English language. As a result, the French and Deutsch edition of Cast Away for These Reasons: Economic Jihad should be released in May 2015.
