"message to everyone reading this, from CEOs of big companies
to policymakers and concerned citizens"
This disconnect was visible at Davos this year. The most prominent theme, purportedly, was structural inequality. However, not one session actually looked at the systemic near-term actions that would reduce such inequality on issues like CEO compensation, the culture of bonuses, the huge gaps between the highest-paid and lowest-paid employees, and tax avoidance. The will was just not there.
What do you see as the underlying driver of these converging crises?
You have to start back at the basics. A core tenet of democracy is balancing wallets with ballots, equalizing the voices of ordinary people with the voices of the powerful. In reality, though, we are witnessing the increasing capture of real power by a handful of very powerful economic interests. I would describe the United States, for instance, as an oligarchy, the best democracy money can buy. There are between three and eight full-time fossil fuel industry lobbyists for every member of Congress, virtually assuring that progressive climate legislation will never pass.
Let's take another example. The multinational bank HSBC engaged in illegal money laundering for drug cartels in Mexico. The consequences? A penalty equivalent to only one month's profits. At the same time, young people, mainly of color and of working-class background, are languishing in prison because of the drug war.
Protests worldwide are increasing, ranging from Greenpeace's work in the Russian Arctic to the Occupy movement, the student movement in Chile, the indignados in Spain, and citizen demonstrations in Brazil. Do you see this as a manifestation of the loss of democratic possibilities for societies?
I think we have a very deep democratic deficit. With few exceptions, women are still underrepresented in the highest levels of politics and business.
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