It was a quiet afternoon, just after a heavy lunch, when I was casually scrolling through X (formerly Twitter). A tweet by journalist Karthigaichelvan caught my attention.
It was a video discussing the 18th BRICS Summit happening right here in our capital, New Delhi, at the Bharat Mandapam. Seeing global leaders gather in India sparked a profound chain of thoughts in my mind.
As a psychologist, and certainly not an economist, I don't look at global trade through complex mathematical models, stock market tickers, or dense financial jargon. I look at the world through the lens of human behavior, psychology, and the raw realities of the local marketplace. What began as a simple afternoon scroll quickly transformed into a deep contemplation on how global trade works, how developing nations are controlled, and how we can establish a completely new, democratic world trade system.
The Global "Dada" Culture: Neo-Colonial Exploitation:
When we see developing countries like India trying to bypass the US Dollar, many Western political analysts view it as an "anti-American" or "anti-Western" move. But looking at it through a psychological lens, it is not an act of aggression; it is a basic struggle for economic survival and dignity.
Since ancient times, human society has witnessed a recurring pattern: a local bully, a "dada" or "rowdy," takes control of a neighborhood. This bully intimidates the local workers, forces them to work under his terms, and extracts maximum profit while keeping the laborers dependent. On the international stage, some powerful developed nations behave exactly like this global "dada."
They enter developing nations under the guise of trade, exploit their rich natural resources (like minerals and agriculture), and use highly underpaid local labor to manufacture premium goods. They set up massive factories, dump industrial waste, and leave behind permanent mountains of toxic junk and electronic waste (E-waste) in these third-world or fourth-world countries.
The ultimate injustice happens during the pricing. They manufacture cars, computers, and smartphones using our resources and our labor, but they calculate and fix the final price based on their own currency and economic standards. By doing this, they enjoy a ten-fold profit, siphoning 100% of the true wealth back to their home countries, while the producing nation is left permanently with pennies and piles of garbage.
Why a "BRICS Currency" is a Flawed Alternative
To break free from this dollar trap, there is currently a loud, sensational discussion among the BRICS nations about creating a common, unified "BRICS Currency." However, as a psychologist, I know that replacing one master with another never leads to true liberation. It only changes the face of the oppressor.
Whether it is the absolute hegemony of the US Dollar or a new common currency heavily dominated by another massive economic superpower like China, the result remains the same: a monopoly. A collective currency will eventually be controlled by the strongest nation within that group, forcing smaller or weaker nations to bow down to new terms. It will never bring genuine independence to the common citizen or individual countries.
True freedom cannot be achieved by building a new, rival power bloc; it can only be achieved by dismantling the centralized power altogether.
The Psychology of a Local Market: The 80% Satisfaction Rule:
To find a real solution, we must look away from international central banks and look closely at a simple local village marketplace.
Think about how two ordinary individuals trade in a local market. One person brings a basket of homegrown vegetables, and another brings handmade clay pots. They sit down, talk, negotiate, and exchange their goods.
Now, ask yourself a fundamental question: Is there any transaction in human history where both parties leave with 100% absolute satisfaction? Never! In human psychology, 100% perfection is a myth.
In a fair and practical trade, if both sides achieve around 80% satisfaction, they willingly overlook the minor 20% mismatch.
They accept that "this is fair enough for both of us," smile, shake hands, and move forward. This is how global trade should operate. It should be built on a modern version of the barter system, or what economists call bilateral countertrade.
If my country has an abundance of a specific food crop or natural resource, I should have the absolute freedom to sell it to your country directly. In return, you can send me a different resource that my country lacks, or pay me in a way that matches the true value of my people's daily labor. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Therefore, my definitive conclusion is this: No single currency,neither the Dollar nor a BRICS currency,should ever be the universal ruler of global trade. Instead, any two nations must be entirely free to establish a direct, bilateral understanding based on their own local currencies, independent of any third-party interference.
The First Step: The "Human Necessity and Honesty Index":
How do we make this decentralized, bilateral system work seamlessly without relying on massive global institutions or intimidating scientific formulas? The entire blueprint relies on two simple human values: honesty and transparency.
As a first step, every nation must act with high moral justice and publish an annual, unmanipulated report of its Human Necessity and Income Ratio. This index must clearly and transparently state two fundamental metrics:
1. The Cost of Basic Survival: The exact average cost required for a common citizen to afford 5 essential daily necessities (such as core food items, basic clothing, and shelter) in that country.
2. The True Value of Labor: The actual, realistic average daily wage earned by an ordinary worker in that local economy.
By comparing these two metrics, the world can instantly see the real purchasing power and the true, uninflated value of that country’s labor and currency. There will be no room for complex financial algorithms designed to artificially devalue a developing nation's hard work.
Honesty as the Ultimate Global Currency:
In this new, decentralized economic model, honesty ceases to be just a moral virtue; it becomes the most valuable economic asset a country can possess.
When a nation is completely transparent and truthful about its domestic data, other countries will naturally feel secure. They will eagerly step forward to engage in direct import and export agreements with them because trust eliminates transactional fear.
On the flip side, if a nation attempts to manipulate its numbers or publish fake data to look artificially superior, the global marketplace will naturally see through the deception. Peer nations will simply refuse to trade with them. This "honesty-driven boycott" will serve as a self-regulating, peaceful weapon to keep global trade ethical.
Global economics does not require intimidating, artificial complexity designed by elite bankers to maintain their dominance. It simply requires us to scale up the time-tested psychology of a local village market: mutual respect, bilateral understanding, a willingness to give and take, and absolute honesty.
When the world embraces this true economic democracy, the playground of the global "dadas" will crumble, and every single nation on Earth will finally prosper together.
-Yozen Balki 💢
13th Sep 2026 @ 3:15 pm
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