Abolition?

Source #2: 10 Reasons to Abolish the IMF & World Bank by Kevin Danaher.

Danaher is an anti-globalization activist (please note that anti-globalization does not mean isolationist, rather it means that he objects to the unjust, undemocratic nature of historical and contemporary globalization). The extremely leftist anti-globalization perspective is an important one to my research because these protestors are the ones who most consistently, courageously, and truthfully expose the many and severe problems of global economic institutions and their practices. Admittedly, they are often so angry at the injustices (which is understandable) that they forget that for reform to be practical, it must connect to the current order. As the title of his book suggests, Danaher proposes that we abolish the World Bank and IMF. However, he does not prove that this is a feasible option or that this is the best option. He assumes after listing the problems with the IMF and World Bank that no amount of reform will shape the World Bank and IMF into democratic, just, accountable institutions. I believe that while his heart is in the right place, abolition is not the best option because it is not feasible given the current state of affairs. While the injustices of the current order also make me very angry, I believe that we cannot use force to overthrow it, that for a solution to be sustainable, we must still consider all interests and not only the interests of the oppressed.

I agree with Danaher that the key problem of current international economic institutions is that they are undemocratic. He points out that they empower large corporations (whose primary aim, we must remember, is profit) to influence every aspect of our lives and to shape our governments agendas (whose primary aim, in theory, is the welfare of its people), yet these same large corporations cannot be held accountable by governments or citizens. I believe this speaks to a general and disturbing trend that more and more important decisions that directly affect people's lives are shifting from the political sphere to the economic sphere. I believe that the economic sphere needs to be politicized so that economic decisions can be democratic and accountable to the people they affect.