Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I smell a little NWO; how about you? 'Deglobalization' Is the Way to Reduce Inequality



[Focus on the Global South, 2003] It is in response to the growing clamor for alternatives to the current system of global governance that Focus has elaborated the strategy of deglobalisation as the guiding paradigm for its programmatic work in the next three-year period.
Deglobalisation is not a synonym for withdrawing from the world economy.  It means a process of restructuring the world economic and political system so that the latter builds the capacity of local and national economies instead of degrading it.  Deglobalisation means the transformation of a global economy from one integrated around the needs of transnational corporations to one integrated around the needs of peoples, nations, and communities.
We cannot talk about construction without deconstruction, reintegration without disintegration.  Today there are many experiments in alternative economics, for example local currency systems, participatory budgeting such as that practised in Porto Alegre, or ecological communities like Gaviotas in Colombia.   The reigning god, however, is a jealous one that will not take lightly challenges to its hegemony.   Even the smallest experiment or alternative to the dominant model is stopped, weakened, or co-opted. Peaceful coexistence between different systems, a pro-corporate one and a pro-people one, is, unfortunately, not an option.
Thus the deglobalisation project must have two prongs, two logics that are in synergy: deconstruction and reconstruction or recreation.

The Dangers of 'Deglobalization'

From construction laborers to Harvard-educated bankers, foreign workers are being forced to return home as once-booming economies around the world contract. Globally, 24 million to 52 million people could lose their jobs in 2009, according to the International Labor Organization's latest estimates. And populist sentiment and protectionist moves in countries which relied on foreign laborers during the boom years have put 200 million migrant workers internationally in the crosshairs.
Examples of the new protectionism abound: The United States enacted a law in 2009imposing strict restrictions on hiring of skilled immigrant workers by companies receiving government bailout money. 

'Deglobalization' Is the Way to Reduce Inequality | Pablo Solon
If globalization drives inequality, what are the remedies? The usual list of cures from UN agencies, the World Bank and IMF include measures to stop tax evasion, more progressive income tax policies, incentives for foreign investment, conditional cash transfers, subsidies and credits for small businesses and agriculture, limited expansion of public investment and social safety nets.
Two key things are apparent in these "remedies." First, they talk about redistributing income, but don't address unequal access to sources of wealth, such as land or assets. They also avoid mentioning examples of nationalizations that have reduced extreme inequality in some countries.
Deglobalization is not a synonym for withdrawing from the world economy. It means a process of restructuring the world economic and political system so that the latter builds the capacity of local and national economies instead of degrading it. Deglobalization means the transformation of a global economy from one integrated around the needs of transnational corporations to one integrated around the needs of peoples, nations and communities."

No comments:

Bound for Glory - I Stood