Two seemingly unrelated topics have occupied and still occupy our minds: the
global financial crisis and the nuclear accident in Japan. In fact, they
have numerous similarities.
1. A very serious crisis caused by the excesses of financial greed. U.S.
banks in one instance, the Japanese nuclear operator in another instance
provoked considerable disasters in their search for unlimited profits,
regardless of risk; result: in the United States, over 15% of the population
is bankrupt; in Japan, the damage will undoubtedly exceed 5% of GDP, an area
now inhabited by several million people will be permanently contaminated.
2. We came close to a global catastrophe: In the first case, a global
depression nearly caused the collapse of the banking system and global
economy. In another, a major nuclear accident could have caused irreversible
radioactive pollution of a large part of the planet.
3. The management of these two crises have resulted and will result in huge
public spending, which has aggravated and exacerbated the public debt of the
richest countries, accelerating the displacement of the center of gravity of
the world.
4. Humanity can no longer afford to fund the consequences of another
disaster of similar magnitude: if a new global financial crisis is
triggered, it would be impossible to cover bank losses; their
nationalization would be required. If a new major nuclear accident occurred,
we would probably have to close, at least temporarily, all plants in
operation worldwide.
5. And yet we do not learn from this crisis in order to avoid those coming:
In financial matters, nothing has really changed: in the U.S., no prudential
regulations have really been put in place and the banks continue to make the
bulk of their profits from speculative activities, in Japan, no question
arises of what would have happened if the tsunami had flooded Tokyo, a city
reclaimed from the sea, not protected by any dike; in the world, we continue
to market without control cheap and basic nuclear power plants.
In fact, all this is understandable: Humanity, like all of us hate bad
memories and no one likes to think that bad things can come back, we prefer
to live under the dictatorship of heedlessness.
This can only lead to disasters, and in particular to the ultimate victory
of those who will pretend, once again, to protect humanity from its demons,
forbidding risk, the unexpected, the alien, freedom: The dictatorship of
heedlessness is preparing the end of democracy.
In France, it is with this measure that should be judged the next wave of
presidential programs: how do they tackle the underlying problems of the French
society? How do they equip the country with the means to resist the dangers
of the world and enjoy its promises? How do they protect from announced
disaster? For now, we are still far from it. And probably it is on the
preparation for the unexpected that we need to focus.