Only holistic and systemic solutions can solve the world’s existential problems. Has China the potential to be a global champion? Global togetherness – considered a hallmark value of the Olympics – is conspicuous by its absence in Tokyo.  Because of misaligned human and market values, capitalism is failing to deliver fair and resilient societies. Vaccines have their limitations against the delta variant, but they are still the most surefire way of preventing death and severe illness.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A new collective mental map is needed, one that moves away from classical Newtonian science, with its linear and mechanical worldview, toward a systems-view of life” (Andrew Sheng – in the article of the week)

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Andrew Sheng, The One-Earth Balance Sheet
(NOEMA, 22 July 2021)
All the major problems of our time — energy, the environment, climate change, food security, financial security — cannot be understood in isolation: they are systemic problems, which means they are all interconnected and interdependent. This seminal article argues that we must consider Earth as a living being, and therefore amend the current accounting measurement frameworks to take into consideration human interactions with nature. Only by associating governments, academia and civil society to track “natural capital”, can we work toward solving shared problems like the climate crisis (metered paywall – reads in less than 10 min).
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Chandran Nair, After a century of achievements, the CPC’s next critical phase begins now
(China Daily, 16 July 2021)
This article is of particular interest because it is based on a speech delivered by the founder of GIFT during the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the CPC (hence it differs from what we might normally read or hear). It’s about how China should navigate the immense complexity of the 21st century for itself and for the good of the world. Chandran sees three main areas: (1) China’s role as a leader in the post-Western world; (2) China becoming a champion to face existential threats (most notably climate change) and (3) China actualizing a vision of shared prosperity among many nations through the Belt and Road Initiative (free access – reads in 6-7 min).
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Jeff Costen, The Envoy
(Literary Review of Canada, July-August 2021)
This is a review of “Value(s): Building a Better World for All”, the book recently written by Mark Carney – the former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and now a special envoy for climate action and finance. The crux of the book’s issue is this: if capitalism is the engine of productivity, why has it fallen short when trying to produce fairer, more resilient societies? The answer: a systemic misalignment between market value and human values. Our key problem is that we’ve transitioned from a market economy to a market society (free access – reads in about 10 min).
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Matt Alt, Tokyo’s Olympics Have Become the Anger Games
(The New Yorker, 22 July 2022)
Are the Olympic Games exhausted or may be even in terminal decline? They are supposed to be a symbol of global togetherness, but Tokyo’s are shaping up to be the least wanted in history. No fans, reluctant sponsors, most Japanese who would prefer that the Games be postponed again or abandoned altogether, plus a series of recent scandals. In the words of a Japanese journalist: “These Olympics are like a nightmare that doesn’t end” (metered paywall – reads in 4-5 min).
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Susan Matthews, The New COVID Panic
(Slate, 21 July 2021)
Despite a sensationalist title, this article does a good job at explaining what vaccinated people should really know about their risk from the delta variant. In a nutshell: the vaccines are very effective at doing the main thing that they are supposed to do – prevent severe illness and death (metered paywall – reads in 7-8 min).
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