Stop Iran’s nuclear program by solving its desperate economic problems. Make it the leader in a powerful new Islamic Capitalism. End today’s ruinous confrontation with Islam, says Jack Lessinger in a new book.
In his "Schizomania: Split Society, Perilous Economy, 1990-2020," Jack Lessinger, Professor Emeritus, University of Washington, offers a new theory on the Post-Consumer Economy and America's long-run relations with underdeveloped nations.
Lessinger says, “Help Iran reduce politically explosive double-digit unemployment. Open a flood of opportunities for the half of its population living in poverty. Empower Iranian youths who secretly admire America. Accomplish all this by building a dynamic Islamic Capitalism.”
" Islamic Capitalism, not democracy,” he says, “can stop Iran’s nuclear program, weaken the mullahs, drive down the price of oil, make Israel a valued trading partner, greatly reduce skyrocketing post-9/11 costs, and strike a death blow to terrorism.”
Lessinger sees an American effort to forge new relations with Iran as the forerunner of a new Post Consumer Economy that will stand as a model far into the 21st century.
America has the mighty clout to help Iran. Our voracious appetite for consumer goods and our manufacturing know-how is giving China 8-10 percent annual growth. Free! Let’s redirect part of our largesse to Iran. As one of Islam’s most advanced nations and island of stability between Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran is positioned to exert tremendous leverage on our behalf. China is not.
Extend a Marshall Plan geared to bringing Islam into the global economy. Not as the vassal of American business. With Iran as key partner, the United States and Europe should assist promising young Muslims to develop competitive and profitable corporations. Nothing less is called for than educating and financing a generation of talented young Iranians (and other Muslims). We’d monitor their development in business and ensure their success by giving them profitable markets in the West.
In his book, Schizomania, Lessinger shows how the uplifting of poorer nations in a new Post-Consumer economy will also produce good American jobs in coming decades.
One possible opening strategy: Top-flight Western educators and businesspersons would initiate competitions offering extraordinary careers to promising Muslim executives. Selected individuals would be screened, trained, monitored and financed by a Western team. They’d be helped to build factories that out-compete China in some fields. And they’d also be given favorable trade laws.
Planning for Islamic Capitalism will deliver a decisive blow to terrorism and the Iraqi insurgency. Imagine the uproar of approval in the Muslim streets when Al Jazeera reports that America will spend billions grooming Islamic corporations to take the place of today’s Halliburtons. Unlikely to exceed $100 billion, the cost of the Plan is minuscule compared to the trillion-dollar War on Terrorism. (Count the funds for Homeland Security as well as the continuing Iraq War and Iraqi reconstruction. Add the cost of casualties, oil and the drag on the economy.)
The application of Islamic Capitalism to Iran and the rest of Islam is part of a global transformation toward the Post-Consumer Economy that has been maturing since the 1960s. In coming decades, that economy will stimulate jobs and investments in America as well as in Islam.
