The Guardian writes: "Anyone with a smattering of history could see that the hubristic capitalism of the past 20 years was programmed to self-destruct. The notion that the world's disparate societies could be corralled into a worldwide free market was always a dangerous fantasy. Opening up economies throughout the world meant ordinary people were more directly exposed to the gyrations of market forces than they had been for generations. As it overthrew existing patterns of life and robbed large numbers of people of any security they might have achieved, global capitalism was bound to trigger a powerful blowback.
The Occupy movements have been attacked for being impractical visionaries. In fact it is the established political classes of the west that are wedded to utopian thinking, while the protesters are recalling us to the actualities of human experience. Based on economic theories that left out human beings, the global free market was supposed to be self-regulating. Now a process of disintegration is under way, in which the structures set up in the post-cold-war period are visibly breaking up.
For as long as it was able to engineer an illusion of increasing prosperity, free-market globalisation was politically invulnerable. When the bubble burst, the actual condition of the majority was laid bare.
In the US a plantation-style economy has come into being, with debt-servitude for the many coexisting with extremes of volatile wealth for the few."
Showing posts with label Global Market Place. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global Market Place. Show all posts
7/18/11
Robin Hood Day, August 6, 2011 - People Power
Robin Hood Day, August 6, 2011 is the day when you can make a statement that you, not corporations or governments are in charge of your destiny.
On that day, try not to use your computer; T.V. ; your phone; car; or to go shopping for things you don't really need; in fact, try and lay-off whatever else that has become a wasteful, time consuming and expensive habit to you. Instead, use that time to be with your loved ones, or to do whatever you have always been wanting to do for yourself.
Obviously, some people still have to go to work, use their cars, phones and computers, but those should at least try to pick up on these suggestions when they get off work.
Even if you can eliminate only one of the above listed items you will have made a major step in the right direction.
Get the control over your own destiny back again. Best of all, it will make you feel good about yourself.
Please pass it on
EU-Digest
On that day, try not to use your computer; T.V. ; your phone; car; or to go shopping for things you don't really need; in fact, try and lay-off whatever else that has become a wasteful, time consuming and expensive habit to you. Instead, use that time to be with your loved ones, or to do whatever you have always been wanting to do for yourself.
Obviously, some people still have to go to work, use their cars, phones and computers, but those should at least try to pick up on these suggestions when they get off work.
Even if you can eliminate only one of the above listed items you will have made a major step in the right direction.
Get the control over your own destiny back again. Best of all, it will make you feel good about yourself.
Please pass it on
EU-Digest
10/5/10
"Charity begins at home" : The populist uprising against free trade - by Andrew Leonard
Participation in the global economy has never been more crucial ( say some), but left and right agree: "Boo to globalization".
A down economy always seems to go hand in hand with tensions over trade. And never mind the fact that so-called free trade pacts are really just vehicles through which powerful American corporate sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry seek to leverage access to American markets for their own specifically crafted opportunities. The phenomenon is that it reflects a much deeper distrust of engagement with the global economy that goes back a lot further than one appears prepared to admit. The economic argument for free trade -- that everyone benefits when countries maximize their
comparative advantage -- has little sway when the on-the-ground reality is that the winners from free trade in the Western World seem to be far outnumbered by the losers.
Growing income inequality and a progressively more squashed middle class have been in the works for decades. Yes, expanded trade with China has lowered consumer prices for all kinds of goods, but that doesn't compensate for the fact that job security is in tatters and the social welfare net is paper-thin.
People feel vulnerable, and vulnerability breeds fear. One wonders if it could all have been different -- if the U.S. had a comprehensive health-care system already in place that did not link your insurance to your job, or if tax policy didn't disproportionately favor corporations and the wealthiest Americans over the masses, would the average U.S. citizen feel less threatened by global competition? But it seems almost pointless to ask that question now. That ship has sailed. The damage is done and populists of every political stripe are itching for a trade war.
Note EU-Digest: as the saying goes, "charity begins at home".
For more: Bad timing alert: The populist uprising against free trade - Globalization - Salon.com
A down economy always seems to go hand in hand with tensions over trade. And never mind the fact that so-called free trade pacts are really just vehicles through which powerful American corporate sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry seek to leverage access to American markets for their own specifically crafted opportunities. The phenomenon is that it reflects a much deeper distrust of engagement with the global economy that goes back a lot further than one appears prepared to admit. The economic argument for free trade -- that everyone benefits when countries maximize theircomparative advantage -- has little sway when the on-the-ground reality is that the winners from free trade in the Western World seem to be far outnumbered by the losers.
Growing income inequality and a progressively more squashed middle class have been in the works for decades. Yes, expanded trade with China has lowered consumer prices for all kinds of goods, but that doesn't compensate for the fact that job security is in tatters and the social welfare net is paper-thin.
People feel vulnerable, and vulnerability breeds fear. One wonders if it could all have been different -- if the U.S. had a comprehensive health-care system already in place that did not link your insurance to your job, or if tax policy didn't disproportionately favor corporations and the wealthiest Americans over the masses, would the average U.S. citizen feel less threatened by global competition? But it seems almost pointless to ask that question now. That ship has sailed. The damage is done and populists of every political stripe are itching for a trade war.
Note EU-Digest: as the saying goes, "charity begins at home".
For more: Bad timing alert: The populist uprising against free trade - Globalization - Salon.com
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