There is a legendary Chinese tale in a book titled “Han Feizi’, dating to the third century BC, which tells of a salesman who is merchandising a spear and a shield. The salesman tells a potential customer that the spear is so powerful that it can pierce any shield, and that the shield is so strong that it can repel any spear.

The would-be buyer asks what would happen if that spear was thrown at that shield. Naturally, the salesman could not answer. The story presents a hypothesis some students of Philosophy come across in their studies as “the irresistible force paradox”, or “the dilemma of omnipotence”.

It brings forward the question: ”Can an omnipotent god create a stone so heavy that the same god cannot lift it?”. In Occidental thought, it is also posed as: “What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?”

If there exists an irresistible force, there cannot then exist in the same universe an immovable object. And the obverse is true. This makes the question a largely metaphysical one, but an interesting one nonetheless. That does not mean that in the physical world we do not from time to time encounter situations where we feel an irresistible force bearing down on an immovable object.

Such is the situation right now throughout the whole world as all countries grapple against COVID-19. I will not belabour the point that this has got a beastly ferocity which threatens to wipe out the human race in record time. It is befitting that humanity at large draws inspiration from China, the country that gave us the perfect riddle of “the irresistible force paradox”. The same country that gave us Sun Tzu with his Art of War, the Great Wall, Deng Xiaoping and a multitude of other blessings. The Asian nation has managed to starve off and keep the coronavirus at bay when it seemed like an unvanquishable scourge. The vigilance, will, discipline and resilience of the eastern country was and is an irresistible force. In short, the irresistible force of the Chinese to dislodge a seemingly immovable force in the form of the coronavirus is a template for coming back when defeat seems to be on the horizon.

Now, many readers are wondering just how China has held its own in terms of fighting this virus when hope seemed to have waned. As someone who has lived in China before relocating back to our tea-pot shaped country, coincidentally China and Italy as the epicentres of COVID-19 are the two countries I chose as my global posts for my financial forays, I can tell you that I was not surprised at all when this great nation managed to avert a potential national disaster of greater magnitude than the one initially experienced. There are so many qualities that these Asians possess which made them to uplift hundreds of millions of their citizens out of poverty and eventually perching their economy as the second biggest in the whole world. Due to space constraints, I cannot highlight all of them. In a nutshell, the Chinese are a disciplined, very focused and determined lot.

With their discipline, the Chinese are great savers as they have managed to build a stockpile of savings and investments both locally and abroad. Their investment prowess has gone beyond central government level crossing over to private businesses and households. They are the biggest holders of US debt instruments amongst a plethora of investments. Once they set themselves on achieving a certain target, all hands will get on deck. Lastly but not least, the hallmark of their economic management model is a combination of elements of socialist and capitalist elements. It is this element which is the central thrust of my article, the pith or fulcrum to those admirers of the legal lexicon and the literati. Beloved readers, the Chinese do not drive their economy along pure socialist tenets as perceived by many people because of their governorship by the Communist Party. Theirs is a sweet blend which tries to leverage on the competitive practices of capitalism together with a leaning towards a socialist thrust with a bias on social welfare. Now, this model is what I opine all economic stakeholders such as our central government, state-owned enterprises, private sector companies and all who make up this nation’s population should emulate.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us salute our government leaders for giving in to reason for their logical interventions through their pronouncement of the national lockdown, albeit with initial hesitance on their part. In addition, let us applaud all the corporates, international aid agencies and individuals who have chipped in with resources to fight COVID-19. Let us pay tribute to companies such as Croco Motors led by Mr Moses Chingwena, Delta Beverages, Mimosa, Econet and others for their socially-conscious capitalism. Mark my words, their contribution will not go unrewarded in the future. The social capital that they have invested will give them immense dividends in the future. The vote-bank that the incumbent government is building through the Presidential Support Scheme for the vulnerable members of society is massive, whether we like it or not.

At the core of what these companies have done is what is referred to as “enlightened self-interest”. In the field of ethics, enlightened self-interest is defined as the philosophy that people who behave in a way that furthers the interests of those around them are ultimately serving their own interests. An instructive reading would be Adam Smith’s book rightfully titled “The Great Transformation”. Of particular highlight is his conclusion that, “It is the entrepreneur’s duty to take care of society.”

As our country heads into the eye of the impending global recession, I would like to call upon employers and employees to explore constructive dismissal from their employment relationships with specific reference to Section 12B (3) (a) Chapter28:01 of the Labour Act in order to make sure that their actions do not have a boomerang effect or a prejudicial outcome.

I would also like to implore stakeholders of our economy to fully embrace flexicurity with all its stages. Loosely defined, flexicurity is a comprehensive strategy to simultaneously amplify flexibility and security in the labour market. It addresses socialist and capitalist concerns at the same time through an agreed and systematic blend. Contractual terms can be renegotiated and agreed but reference has to be given to the legal principle of novation.  

Any society, business or government without a soul or a conscience is bound to hit a brick wall on its path with the possibility of experiencing serious negative effects as it pursues its goals without restraint. In an era with various interest groups finding a platform for activism, a business organization cannot afford to go about its business by throwing conscience to the wind. Managing a business or any other institution requires societal clarity with an understanding of socio-economic dynamics affecting various stakeholders. It is high time that businesses start paying attention to societal concerns of multiple stakeholders. Capitalists that are ignorant and unconscious to social concerns will lack sustainability.

We should avoid extreme capitalism and radical socialism. Socially-conscious capitalism with a soul is an economic model somewhere in the centre of the ground between the two economic management models. Pursuing pure capitalism or socialism in raw form has disastrous consequences for any economic participant.

It is hard for people and the government to close businesses for five weeks but it is even harder for the same people to close caskets with their loved ones inside. The USA government imposed sanctions on our nation but the same government did not embargo our conscience. With our moral compass in place, we will conquer this seemingly immovable challenge in the form of COVID-19.

Malvin Chidzonga (Financial Analyst)

Malvin Chidzonga is an innovative and dynamic finance and investment practitioner. He has extensive exposure and experience in the whole spectrum of the financial service sector. He is animated by the desire to optimally explore, identify and create financial advancement opportunities for people and organizations by harnessing financial potential inherent in them as well as connecting various dots, opening doors and shining the spotlight on them in order to craft great outcomes for society at large. He began his financial service career at Agribank, then joined CFX and Interfin Bank before his stint with Jiang Xing Trading Co in Beijing, China. Upon his return to Zimbabwe, he joined Zimnat Lion Insurance before moving to Comarton Consultants. Whilst at Comarton, he worked with Atchison Actuarial Consultants on the crafting of several financial models for various non-financial organizations. Amongst other posts he has, he is the current Principal Officer of the Sports Industry Pension Fund, a position he has held since the Fund’s formation in 2013. He is now a full-time member of the Nivteil Financial Ventures’ team.