Free Markets And Our Future

There is a lot of discussion going on about this topic around the globe. In fact, free markets have been a bone of contention between world powers since the dawn of industrialization, which gave rise to the two world wars and after them as well between United States of America and the Soviet Union. This issue has come into the limelight, more so in the recent months, because of the present economic conditions prevailing around the world.
Free markets can basically be defined as economies controlled and influenced by private individuals with minimal intervention of the state.
The proponents of free markets say that free markets encourage a competition between players in the industry and stimulate the growth of the economy. It is true to a large extent as we have been seeing the western world being far ahead of other state controlled economies. Historically free markets have been more vibrant than their state controlled counterparts. In free market economies individuals are allowed the freedom influencing a country's economic course.
The one remnant of imperialism and expansionism that we can still see are capitalist economies. Industries in these economies tend to compete with each other and create enormous amounts of wealth, a part of which is vented to the people working for them, who in turn look for more ways to spend their wealth, in turn creating a demand for a lot of other goods and commodities and this cycle goes on until there is a surplus in every everything that is produced. At this point the industries look for other places to sell their products and foreign expansionism starts. This kind of an economic structure has created enormous amounts of wealth in western economies. Think of this...per capita income of India is now about $1000 whereas that in EU and USA averages between $35000 to $40000, this is huge. In Norway and Canada even tribesmen living in remote areas have their own trucks and cars to move about. The best example is the difference in standards of living of Sami tribesmen in Scandinavia and Russia. In comparison to this there are no close analogies we can draw with tribesmen in India and other poor countries !!
This wealth is one of the reasons that prompted Mikahil Gorbachev to initiate economic reforms in the erstwhile Soviet Union, which ultimately destroyed the union itself.
And these days, after looking at what happened to former Communists countries and comparing with what is happening in the western world, many countries in the world have been drawn into the enticing realm of free market economies and what do we see now......?? We see that the world is going through a turmoil and even the richest nations aren't being spared. Rich nations are under great stress because their markets are now being eaten up by competitors from the hitherto closed economies.
The living standards in USA and EU are highly artificial, they cannot be even thought of in underdeveloped countries. People in the developed world thrive upon the poverty of the underdeveloped countries and guzzle up a large chunk of what is produced in the world. Now, the recent rise in wealth of the most populous countries like India and China are leading to a crunch on the world resources and if more countries get onto the juggernaut of free markets, we might well see a gargantuan global economic bubble being created based on demand for raw materials and a subsequent bubble-blow caused by a crunch on the natural resources.
The one big question that we need to ask ourselves is....DOES OUR PLANET HAVE THE NECESSARY RESOURCES FOR ALL COUNTRIES TO HAVE THE SAME PROSPERITY AS USA AND EU ??
The answer is a NO. There aren't enough resources for everybody to enjoy the same standard of living as in USA and EU. The result will dictate a colossal restructuring of the global economy in the near future and there could be a bigger economic turmoil than what we are envisaging now.
Are our leaders even thinking of this resource crunch ? Are people thinking of it? Well, nobody seems to be. Some alarming articles have been published in newspapers during the last few months, and they have gone largely unnoticed, masqueraded by the global liquidity crisis. Some estimates are bone chilling, they say that if the present rate of expansion goes on we would need two planets by 2030 !! and according to the UNO the world is clearly spiraling out of control when it comes to food production in the world. Only a strict tab on the demand and supply can give time for the world to cope with the crunch we are heading for and this well may men embracing the Soviet economic system that the western world holds in great disdain !