Globalization

Doing a masters degree in law has been a good power education as well.

Law is obviously a mechanism of power. When you have it on your side, you can have serious impact.

More significantly for me this year has been applying the power analysis to many of the concepts I have been learning and relearning.

This past weekend I took a three day intensive course on Globalization and Global Systems.

There were about 20 people in the class.
Nine women and eleven men. They were from China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, France, Nigeria, Bosnia (former Yugoslavia), Ukraine (former Soviet Union), USA, central Canada, eastern Canada and French Canada. Most have either lived and/or been educated out side of Canada. Most were lawyers but there were three accountants, two economists and an entrepreneur. The lawyers were employed in areas of securities regulation, advertising law, general business practice, international trade, health law and me in education and not practicing. Three people worked for government agencies. Three people worked for banks. Two are simply pursuing higher education. Education level ranged from a single bachelors degree to advanced degrees in math, economics, law and health. Probably a total of 40 different degrees in the room. Six of them have lived in Canada five years or less. Two for less than a year. Two don’t live in Canada. Not everyone was heterosexual. Age range was about 26 to about 60.

The primary instructor is a lawyer with a doctorate in International Law and who practices in the area. The second instructor was the deputy chief economist for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. They were great.

All students were very quiet and cautious. In discussions few strong ideas came out.

We did not get too political though there were critical comments. Most such comments were by Canadians about Canada. Others were about the merits – or lack of merit – in Foreign Aid.

The discussion focused on the forces which drive globalization like innovation, trade and market opportunity; the economics of globalization like currency exchange and deficits; and the regulatory and management oriented world based organizations which impact globalization like the WTO, IMF and World Bank.

We did not talk about terrorism.

I did not hear the word greed even once.

Only once did anyone get emotional.

These last three items were a surprise to me.

I had a great time, met some very smart, enjoyable and interesting people and learned where the gaps in my knowledge are. It was a good experience.

Globalization was defined as the integration of national economies through trade, the movement of labor, capital and technology, multinational corporations, global value supply chains and global money markets.

Our instructor defined it as the pressure for change within a society and the anxiety produced by such change.

The first definition is an observation that offers little explanation as to why it is happening. The second offers insight into why it is happening and why the world is reacting.

I think, from my opinion, the second one is a closer description of the process.

I offer this – globalization is the expanding of economic and political processes from a national to an international orientation driven by the needs and desires of the people living in underdeveloped nations aligning with the ever expanding need for profit by the corporations of the developed world. This process is made possible by the technological innovation in communication and transportation and is facilitated by the domestic governments of the world surrendering aspects of their sovereignty to international organizations.

It is being done on the recommendation of economists who see growth and efficiency as the central and highest of goals.

Yes I think you see it coming. Here comes the power analysis again.

Needs, abilities and choice - that is the power equation. Choices are being made because of the power in need.

One thing is very clear to me as a 46 year old educated white male living in the most affluent society the world has ever seen – we have a fabulous life.

The average person in Canada, the USA and the EU enjoys the kind of long, leisurely, healthy, comfortable, abundant, luxurious and lavish lifestyles that were only enjoyed by kings and queens as little as one hundred years ago.

Millions of people who live every where else would do anything just to become one of our poor.

I can’t say we are any happier. I can’t say we are better people because of this. But I can say that our economic system has resulted in the most comfortable life a commoner has ever enjoyed in history.

People in the developing world want the chance at this life. They witness it in the media that serve the globe. They desire the lifestyle we take for granted.

As people they seek anything that may bring them a little more than they had yesterday. Like a worker who takes a couple of hours of overtime. Or a shopper that seeks out a good deal. They will do what they have to make their life a little better than it was a moment ago. They will take a sweatshop job over no job. They will compromise their health for a chance to feed their children regularly. They would rather break their back in a factory than lie on it as a whore. They want to make their life better and a job in a sweatshop is better than what they had yesterday.

They want a better life.

So do we.

We seek out ways to save money and make our paycheck go further. We want more and better everything. If Wal-Mart can get us clothing for 25% less than we used to pay, that makes our life better. So we are happy to shop at a store that buys its goods from developing nations paying low labor costs and saving us money. Corporate managers have to grow businesses and increase profitability. Off-shoring of jobs and fragmentation of the production chain creates significant savings. Cost savings mean greater profits. Greater profits mean dividends to shareholders. Those shareholders are your pension funds and you demand that the fund managers to get a good return on your pension contributions.

These are the requirements of life and they drive us to decide to take jobs in sweatshops or buy the cheapest products available. This is how and why we all support globalization intentionally or not.

Businesses are run by people who desire a better life so they seek greater profits and opportunities abroad to make money. This is the simple quest for money. Money is the all purpose goal because we can buy anything we want. There are few things we desire that are not easily or more easily satisfied by having lots of money. We globalize because we can make more money and satisfy our desires.

Corporations and nations are attached to their success and way of life. They seek to be and stay number one in their industry. The USA wants to forever be the greatest nation on earth. The Russians want to reclaim their status as the world’s greatest people. The Chinese want to be the greatest civilization on earth. We are attached to our self view. We are attached to the pecking order of nations and peoples.

So we use our domestic governance to shape the international organizations so that we gain or maintain competitive advantage. And in those international negotiations the nations who get their way are the ones who have the ability to control their needs and exploit the needs of the others. They are considered powerful.

The one who needs the most compromises first and hence gets the smaller piece of the pie.

Needs and abilities.

Globalization, like power, is an observable phenomenon resulting from the requirements, desires and attachments of the people of this planet. Those who act on the needs of others get to shape its appearance. We consent to globalization like we consent to democracy – because it seems to fill our needs.