Global transformation- the new normal

Editor: The global reset is inexorable according to Klaus Schwab World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab and his co-author Thierry Malleret. They instruct how to build a different world post-COVID in the book, The Great Reset. This world will be a technocracy run by scientific principles where human being will be less autonomous. Klaus Schwab says we are living within the fourth industrial revolution. In the fourth industrial revolution the lines between “physical, digital and biological spheres” have become blurred. This fusion of technologies included “fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage and quantum computing. If these global elite have their way human beings won’t exist in the future but will merge with machine- transhuman. I would take this as mere fantasy or sci-fi- pipe dream but the people who attend the WEF are the leaders of the most powerful countries, billionaires, CEO of the most powerful companies and powerful movie star and entertainers etc. This global reset orchestrated by the global elites correlate with the rise of BRICS and the East (Asian. Middle east, Africa and Latin America etc.) better known as the global south. Who invested in Japan, China, South Korea, Brazil, India etc. and made them a powerhouse- the same global elite. Shakespeare says “the world is a stage”.

It is self-evident that the United States is in decline even President Donald Trump says he going to make America great again implying its no longer great. The United States is analogous to an old man about 67 and BRICS, now BRICS plus is analogous to an 18-year-old man still developing.

BRICS, the Global South-led forum for economic cooperation, continues to grow in influence, as it seeks to de-dollarize and transform the international monetary and financial system. With its ten members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, United Arab Emirates) and nine partners (Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan), on their way to full membership, BRICS now makes up roughly half of the global population and more than 41% of world GDP (PPP). The original five BRICS members made up 33.76% of world GDP (PPP) in October 2024, according to IMF data while the G7 make up only 29.08 %. This is a gigantic decline from 1990, when the G7 economies made up nearly 52% of world GDP (PPP). The G7 is led by the US while BRICS plus is led by China. As of October 2024, China made up 19% of global GDP (PPP), while the US made up just 15%. China surpassed the US in 2016 according to IMF data.

The US exaggerates its economic power. In the US 21% of GDP comes from the FIRE sector: finance, insurance, and real estate. Another 13% of US’S GDP consists of professional and business services, from white-collar workers like lawyers and managers. Manufacturing makes up only around 10% of US GDP. 8% of US GDP, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), is the imputed rental value of owner-occupied housing, this is only accounting. 18% of US GDP comes from the health sector.US spends roughly twice as much on healthcare as the average advanced economy in the OECD, yet has some of the worst public health results. The case of the US health system is a cogent example of how residents can in fact suffer greatly, despite having impressive GDP statistics. Real power is actually fighting and winning rather than posturing. Power and production are Siamese twin. When the US was most productive in the 20th century, she was most powerful.

BRICS members and partners are the world’s leaders in the production of crucial commodities, such as cereals, meat, crude oil, natural gas, and strategic minerals like iron ore, copper, and nickel. Brazil, India, and China make up about two-thirds of global production of sugar cane. China and Brazil produce nearly 30% of global maize (corn). China and India produce over half of the world’s rice. China, India, and Russia produce more than 40% of the world’s wheat. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand comprise almost 90% of global oil palm fruit production. China and India produce nearly 40% of the world’s potatoes. China and Brazil make up more than 20% of global chicken production. China produces more than 40% of the world’s pork. Brazil and China make up more than 20% of global beef production. China controls aquaculture production of seafood, making up nearly 60% of global output and with Indonesia and India make up over 70 %.

BRICS countries likewise make up more than half of the world’s production of hen eggs. China alone produces 34%. China is building twice as much solar and wind power capacity as the rest of the world combined. Five of the world’s top 10 producers of crude oil are in BRICS, including Russia (3rd), China (4th), Iran (7th), the UAE (8th), and Brazil (9th). Top natural gas producers in BRICS include Russia (2nd), Iran (3rd), China (8th), the UAE (10th), Indonesia (11th), and Malaysia (15th). BRICS countries are among the world’s leading producers of iron ore, including Brazil (2nd), China (3rd), India (4th), Russia (5th), South Africa (8th), Kazakhstan (9th), and Iran (10th). In regards to copper production, BRICS members are also very important, including China (3rd), Russia (7th), Indonesia (9th), and Kazakhstan (12th). The world’s only nickel titan is now part of BRICS, along with other important nickel producers like Russia (3rd), China (7th), Brazil (8th), and Cuba (9th).

In Conclusion, we live in a multipolar World. The US dollar is overvalued making the US uncompetitive. What US President Trump is doing will devalue the US dollar by adding Tariff. This will add cost to commodities in the US making the US dollar less valuable but the hostility he is creating might eventually isolate the US. I am concern because if the US falls the Caribbean will also fall because we have extensive cultural and economic linkage with the United States. We can mitigate the changing world order by becoming more self-reliant and productive.

Brian Ellis Plummer