Federico Rampini's new book, titled " Slow Economy - Reborn wisely" (ed. Mondadori, Euro 17.00 ) proposes the theory that the world is heading towards an economic model "sinocentrico. China will be the country's future business leaders World? Probably.
Rampini, from both a deep knowledge of the Asian world, (among other things, is the author of another fine book "The Empire of Chindia" by which two years ago he analyzed the reasons for the strong economic growth that was developing in Asia in countries such as China and India), that of the U.S., compares these two seemingly different worlds and far, and now for a difference of reasons are forced to live in close contact and confront each other, anticipating some sort of way deliveries between the two with Europe relegated to a marginal role.
In the clash between these two worlds as China, according Rampini, is intended to overcome the current crisis is actually a great advantage for a people like the Asia that has always made frugality a way of life even among its more affluent social classes.
theory as a metaphor for his own use the rickshaws Rampini, also rose to the fore most recently in our local chronicles of Florence. For several years now, New York seems to have adopted this vehicle as a means of transport and it is undeniable that it is primarily the product of a labor market recession exhausted. In Asia these carriages, pulled by a man on foot or pedaling on a bicycle, are a staple of the urban landscape for over two centuries. Yet today this means of transport may be a valid response to the crisis not only economic but also environmental pollution that besiege our cities: "In the concrete jungle , - writes Rampini - the risks exceed the car, slips in the middle of the lane, take the shortcuts. CO2 emissions: zero. Noise: zero ... It 's one example of "frugal consumption," which comes from Asia. " But the book cites many other examples of comparisons that do not involve only the US-China relationship, but perfectly valid for us too Europe. I will mention just a few:
- The soap, and when we are going to end them, we typically throw away: Chinese women Instead, put aside and then when they have collected a sufficient number we produce a new soap mixture between them.
- Washing dishes, in a few among the Chinese, they use the dishwasher, consider it too expensive a tool, for use in many detergent Solvay soda that costs much less.
- Take a shower, dirty shower water is not discarded in the exhaust. This is collected in a tub and then using it to wash the floors of the house.
- rice cooking water (to us the dough), use it, once cooled, to water the plants.
- The expired yogurt, is not thrown away. They use it as a leaven to make the dough, (it seems to have the same qualities of our brewer's yeast).
- GAS to purchase appliances , we typically arise solidarity group purchasing for purchases of food. In China are ahead in this. From them, when at home you decide to change an electrical appliance you ride with friends and family to find other people interested in the same kind of purchase. Then we go together to the mall where you can earn a better price thanks to the collective purchasing power.
Because of the crisis for some time, similar examples of frugality can begin to find in California and in cities like San Francisco where he began to pass the idea that the model of ideal life is to retire in the country to raise animals and grow fruits and vegetables.
Of course, the secret of the success of the Chinese economy is not only related to this issue.
I found particularly interesting the analysis Rampini makes what he calls "selfish capitalism" which creates a source of anxiety and psychologically destructive to the emphasis placed on productivity and the resulting stress from competition.
In the Big Brother society many of us are confined to becoming rich and famous. Because only the goal of fame and wealth is equivalent to being successful. Unfortunately, all This experiment also the day I. In a school in Florence, at the end of the projection of the documentary film "Do not throw away" on the issue of reducing the production of household waste, and in which even I appear briefly in one scene, a student who had recognized me in the movie approached me and said: "Lucky you! Meanwhile, at least managed to do an extra in a movie! "
's second Rampini - and I fully agree with his thesis - the roots of our economic and environmental crises, there is also a deep crisis of values \u200b\u200band this is not certainly not be held liable precisely our model of economic development is too often self-referential, almost free from self-criticism and without humility is essential to growth.
course, as they say, "is not all that glitters is gold."
China is also a country where you apply a heavy exploitation of labor, where there is censorship and repression and where they are committed serious environmental damage. From what very well known in the Three Gorges Dam to the most recent and current wretched project involves the construction of no less than 13 dams along the path of the Golden River region of Yunnan, the last paradise of our planet, which will result in the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of residents due to flooding of whole valleys, and against which have already been moved by all the main environmental organizations. But China, making its strong position against the rest of the world, now will go their own way, whether we like it or not, because it is officially still a developing country. The comfort of the data: in China, for example, today there are only 12 cars per thousand inhabitants, compared with 480 of the United States. When China and India argue that the West's first wildly looted natural resources of the planet and then get to preach environmentalism and austerity to the poorest countries, they are right. But there is no doubt that the impact on Chinese consumption of resources may be devastating if we fail to convince them that it is necessary in the interests of all, that they also change the development model. To do so, concludes Rampini, it is essential to overcome the barriers of prejudice that still separate us from the Chinese and their world, strive to understand a philosophy often far from our thoughts, yet in some cases effectively.
We waited two centuries to appreciate the risks, perhaps it is the case, as Westerners, to make a move to better understand the rest.
Michele Salvadori
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