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amkhasawneh 's review for:
Listening to this audiobook, all I could hear was a British* lady telling me what to do in order to solve problems created by her ancestors—by profession (economists), and possibly by biology—and forced upon the rest of the world, sometimes literally. She speaks a lot of having an open mind, and not just sticking to the old-school views and theories, but all of her reasoning and theorizing is within the Western framework. She does mention Ghandi (and even China), but that's just as close to Europe as she's willing to get from the East.
Unfortunately, if it took "the West" thousands of years to realize that humans are important, and that they, as opposed to matter, should be at the center of any proposed economic model, then I have no reason to listen to any of their models. I feel very sorry for them, especially the apparently well-meaning ones, such as the author of this book. It's especially sad that she speaks of decision makers (politicians), and even the IMF and the World Bank (WB) (a bunch of politician businessmen, in a sense) as if they had our well-being at heart. Perhaps it makes sense from her point of view, as a Brit; but in a poor country like Jordan, for instance, even laypeople like me know that the IMF and the WB try their best to get us in their debt. It's not about helping—at least not helping us. Not to mention that the bulk of the budgets of organizations like the UN goes to executives and managers, etc. Refugees are also used to beg for money over, most of which the refugees themselves never see. It also goes without saying that British (and now American) politicians have always done their best/worst to prevent any economic prosperity in my part of the world, and that adds more to the irritation this book caused me.
So back to economics—kind of... Putting humans first? That's not novel in my culture. Caring about the environment? Nope. Taxing wealth and not income? That's basically the Islamic "tax" system. You see, when a Westerner writes about all that, they're revolutionary and clever. When a Muslim tries to apply it in their own country, they're terrorists and tyrants. It's as if the whole world thinks we Muslims don't want justice, that we want the West and our West-backed politicians to continue stealing our money; sometimes they do explicitly say things to that effect. I truly feel sorry for them, (but not the politicians, obviously).
And when will they ever learn, I wonder? All of those crises, recessions, and depressions, and they still struggle to understand. I was once told by a European that he knew capitalism isn't great, but it's the best of the worst—that it works. Well, how does it exactly? It works for the rich, that's for sure, but not anyone else. I do understand that economics is a complex and intricate subject, and I'm very interested in it, but sometimes the solutions are very clear. Whenever there's a crisis, it's almost always caused by banks. You see, in Islam, usury—that is, interest, of any amount, charged on a loan—is prohibited. If I say that in public, I'd be accused of many things, no doubt, but it's obviously the reason for the 2008 financial crisis, and only a stubborn person will refuse to see that. Or a banker. Speaking of which, people will ask innocently, "but how will bankers make money without interest?" The answer is very simple: the job of "banker" should not exist in the first place. This book doesn't say it explicitly, but it acknowledges that banks fail to do what they claim to—safekeeping people's money. And the same applies to many jobs in finance and investment. Trying to understand things like "speculation" is reminiscent of reading Lewis Carroll, the only difference being that the latter is way more entertaining (and sensical).
* My country was under "British Mandate", meaning they tried (successfully) to keep the country behind for decades.
(Audiobook.)
Unfortunately, if it took "the West" thousands of years to realize that humans are important, and that they, as opposed to matter, should be at the center of any proposed economic model, then I have no reason to listen to any of their models. I feel very sorry for them, especially the apparently well-meaning ones, such as the author of this book. It's especially sad that she speaks of decision makers (politicians), and even the IMF and the World Bank (WB) (a bunch of politician businessmen, in a sense) as if they had our well-being at heart. Perhaps it makes sense from her point of view, as a Brit; but in a poor country like Jordan, for instance, even laypeople like me know that the IMF and the WB try their best to get us in their debt. It's not about helping—at least not helping us. Not to mention that the bulk of the budgets of organizations like the UN goes to executives and managers, etc. Refugees are also used to beg for money over, most of which the refugees themselves never see. It also goes without saying that British (and now American) politicians have always done their best/worst to prevent any economic prosperity in my part of the world, and that adds more to the irritation this book caused me.
So back to economics—kind of... Putting humans first? That's not novel in my culture. Caring about the environment? Nope. Taxing wealth and not income? That's basically the Islamic "tax" system. You see, when a Westerner writes about all that, they're revolutionary and clever. When a Muslim tries to apply it in their own country, they're terrorists and tyrants. It's as if the whole world thinks we Muslims don't want justice, that we want the West and our West-backed politicians to continue stealing our money; sometimes they do explicitly say things to that effect. I truly feel sorry for them, (but not the politicians, obviously).
And when will they ever learn, I wonder? All of those crises, recessions, and depressions, and they still struggle to understand. I was once told by a European that he knew capitalism isn't great, but it's the best of the worst—that it works. Well, how does it exactly? It works for the rich, that's for sure, but not anyone else. I do understand that economics is a complex and intricate subject, and I'm very interested in it, but sometimes the solutions are very clear. Whenever there's a crisis, it's almost always caused by banks. You see, in Islam, usury—that is, interest, of any amount, charged on a loan—is prohibited. If I say that in public, I'd be accused of many things, no doubt, but it's obviously the reason for the 2008 financial crisis, and only a stubborn person will refuse to see that. Or a banker. Speaking of which, people will ask innocently, "but how will bankers make money without interest?" The answer is very simple: the job of "banker" should not exist in the first place. This book doesn't say it explicitly, but it acknowledges that banks fail to do what they claim to—safekeeping people's money. And the same applies to many jobs in finance and investment. Trying to understand things like "speculation" is reminiscent of reading Lewis Carroll, the only difference being that the latter is way more entertaining (and sensical).
(Audiobook.)