— Art Harun
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 20, 2012

JAN 20 — The establishment, nourishment, protection and subsequent embellishment by any government of entities (corporate or otherwise) with monopolistic businesses and/or preferential treatment signal the rise of what I would term as totalitarian economy.

A totalitarian economy operates and behaves in manners not unlike a totalitarian or absolutist state. By its very nature, it feeds off compulsion and force, disallows and even destroys competition and gives no option nor choice to the consumers. It is beyond scrutiny as it is not answerable to any entity, let alone the very consumers which it aims to supply.

As a result of the totalitarian and absolutist approach, this economy owes little, if at all, affinity to the concepts of fairness and justness.

It is like a black hole. It swallows everything which is in its way. It then grows bigger. And bigger.

The only difference is that, unlike the real black holes, a totalitarian economy only grows bigger within the confines of the parameters defined by its own creators. Throw this economy into unchartered territory, the real capitalist would just laugh its head off. With a mere snap of the capitalist’s finger, this totalitarian economy would be history.

That is not surprising. As a result of the constant nourishment, protection and forced embellishment of this economics absolutism/totalitarianism, such economy knows not how to compete. Its supernova-like explosive birth and subsequent growth deprives it of the ability to learn and to grow organically. This totally underdeveloped creature — underdeveloped in the sense that it is bereft of the elements which would ensure its vibrancy and survival in unchartered territories — has no defence mechanism nor the ability to adapt to changes within its surrounding, preferring to coil within the comfort of its mother’s lap.

A totalitarian/absolutist state compels its citizenry to submission by usages of physical force. It gives no option. Submit or be subjugated. Or even be incarcerated. And sometimes even killed.

A totalitarian/absolutist economy is not much less forceful or vicious. It gives consumers no choice nor option. You buy our cars. If not you have to pay substantially more for cars which are not ours. You use our supply. At our rates. If not, you would not have any other supply at all. Period.

Like a totalitarian state, totalitarian economy ensures great pains will befall its citizenry for any non-compliance or non-submission.

In this neo-totalitarianism, the consumers have no choice but to submit. If you do not buy our cars, you would be financially incarcerated by the finance companies for the duration of the hire-purchase agreements which you enter into to purchase other cars. You would be subjected to financial tortures inflicted upon yourself in the form of duties and taxes.

A totalitarian/absolutist state would not care a hoot about her people’s welfare. It exists for one purpose, namely, to ensure its own survival and continuity, at any price. It does not care about the price to be paid because, really, the price is not paid by itself but by the people it subjugates.

The same with a totalitarian/absolutist economy. It really does not care about the welfare of the consumers. Thus the power window will break down in two weeks. The service centres should be called torture centres. These so-called “service centres” are an insult to the word “service”. They are manned by inefficient, arrogant, unsmiling and sometimes even rude robots in human skin and hair. Ask them a question, these creatures would frown. Ask another and they would sulk. Ask a third one and they spit in your drinks.

And it will continue to churn out mediocre after mediocre products based on “joint collaborations”. Which is just another way to describe the proverbial (a new-age proverb) “cut-and-paste” job. It cuts out the original maker’s emblem and paste its own emblem, for example.

A totalitarian state is beyond criticism. Because really, it does not care much about what people say about it. It doesn’t care because it controls the machinations of the state. It wields untold powers.

The same goes with a totalitarian economy. Thus a monopoly business can make hundreds of millions of losses and be compensated by its benevolent benefactors. It will then seek to make profits not by ensuring efficiency and addressing weaknesses but by increasing the price of its product, the supply of which it monopolises.

A totalitarian/absolutist economy grows up like a spoilt brat. It gets what it wants. Always. And when it doesn’t, it sulks and throws temper tantrums. The constant nourishment and absolute pampering takes away from it the ability to adapt to changes; to compete on a level playing field and to position itself in a strategic defence line if ever it is attacked by outside forces.

In addition, a totalitarian/absolutist economy is always told by its benefactors that it is the most beautiful; the best and the greatest. It thus grows with this “superiority complex”, believing itself to be among the giants. When exposed to — or even the threat of exposing it to — competition, it wilts like a virgin nymph high on Ecstasy at the feet of a sweet talker.

If and when all the ladders and props are taken away, a totalitarian economy would fall like a house of cards. — art-harun.blogspot.com