We Are the World: It's Not Just the Same Old Song

[Jim Tompkins]

Here I go again. Someone mentions globalization, and I find myself on my soapbox, adamantly trying to get folks to realize the positives of a global economy.

But this time it's a little different because a lot of others (most of them smarter than me) are now realizing how interconnected global economies are and understand the need to make joint decisions.

The dismal economic situation has not only impacted large, powerful nations, but it streams all the way to poverty-stricken countries as well. It is a global problem, and we need to come together as a global community to create global solutions. In doing so, we can create a brighter future not only for business and commerce, but also for our children and our children's children.

Although there has been much talk about globalization -- a fair share of which has come from me, as we know -- it seems that the concept of globalization was not and has not been clearly defined throughout the world.

The U.S. is a strong country, built on capitalism, but neither we nor other powerful nations can solely provide the solutions to this economic problem. We need to come together to determine and weigh the risks and benefits of potential solutions.

We've made great strides already, with unprecedented cooperation among nations. And it's up to all of us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and build a secure future so that we do not find ourselves in this situation again.

Looking at the long term from a global perspective presents a paradigm shift for many. It's an intricate picture with more complexities, but this is what we need to move forward and create a promising, successful, global future.

What got me up on my globalization soap box was that when the world's business and government leaders came together at the World Economic Annual Forum in Davos, Switzerland - http://www.weforum.org/en/index.htm - to discuss solutions to the global economic crisis and other key issues of worldwide importance the meeting closed with a call for a "new brand of collaborative and innovative leadership."

Amen! I'm glad to see our world leaders moving in the right direction and creating a path for everyone to follow. I am now eager to see business leaders accept this challenge and adopt a new brand of collaborative and innovative leadership within their global supply chains.

We are the world and globalization is here to stay. Let's use this new awareness to our benefit.

Jim

[Abogle]

Unfortunately globalization has exacerbated the economic crisis. What could have been contained regionally in years past has spread like wildfire across the planet as a direct result of globalization.

Let's take a look at the "benefits" of globalization shall we:

Increased energy demand
accelerated environmental degradation
Increased intellectual property theft
reduced product safety and quality
stagnant and declining wages
eroded technological and innovative edge
reduced national security
eroded national soveriegnity
loss of productive capacity
reduced consumer choices of domestically produced goods
Unsustainable massive trade deficits
Increased national debt and increased foreign holding of said debt
increased illegal immigration
increased political instability
increased disparity of wealth
lost jobs and plant closures

Unfortunately access to cheaper goods does not begin to offset the negative impacts. The globalists need to come down from their soap boxes and offer more compelling arguments and real facts to support their case for globalization, because the general public, and especially those of us in the industrial midwest simply aren't buying the same old tired talking points in favor of globalization anymore - not that many of us ever did. And until the above listed issues are addressed in a meaningful way - I just can't see any support for increased globalization. Nor without any increased social safety nets, such as increased and longer unemployment benefits, better access to health care for low income and the un and underemployed, wage insurance, meaningful education and job retraining assistance the case becomes an even tougher sell.

In these tough economic times of political instability and dwindling energy resources we really need to shift the discussion away from globalization and toward "localization". Globalization is so "1990s"