Do we take globalisation for granted?

The British Empire was largely built on trade and trade made Britain a more prosperous and richer place . The importing of raw goods and the exporting of manufactured goods ensured that our standard of living increased decade after decade, often at the expense of other countries. Other countries duly followed our example and began to trade globally building alliances and linking their economies with their neighbours.  The  middle to late 20th Century saw the creation of the EEC (later to become the EU), the creation of the World Bank, the creation of the WTO and numerous other trade agreements between the different powers.  The result is that at the beginning of the 21st Century our world is more interlinked economically than ever before.  This has brought benefits and drawbacks. For example, the 2008 economic crash was caused by mortgage lenders in the USA, lending moneyto people who could not afford to repay it.  The effect of this was to almost bankrupt several major economies around the world as the consequences rippled across  interlinked global financial markets. Recent globalisation has also seen the decline of industry and manufacturing in the more economically developed countries, as much of it has been outsourced to cheaper parts of the world, resulting in the loss for many at the bottom end of society losing relatively well paid job opportunities and a fall in their perceived standards of living. Further, mass migration has added to this feeling of powerlessness, as  communities have changed and the common threads of belonging have disappeared.  Many people have felt overwhelmed by the pace of change and have struggled to adapt.  Many now want to

However in all of this, many people even the poorest of the poor are richer than they have ever been materially.  Our living standards have improved beyond the wildest dreams of most of the poorest 100 years ago and yet many people now argue that we should 'make things at home' and 'look after our own.'   But....in dwelling on how things have changed, and fixating on a nostaglic vision of the past , I would argue that people are maybe forgetting the things they would stand to lose should globalisation be reversed.

Britain today is a vibrant and multi-cultural place.  Even the majority of the most rabid racists love their curries, or chinese food.  Some many of our poorest enjoy watching or listening to the films and music imported from the USA which they watch and listen to on TVs and phones manufactured in China.  They rely on the cheap clothing sold in on our high streets and manufactured in the sweatshops of Bangladesh.  They enjoy a cup of coffee produced using beans grown in South America, whilst eating chocolate produced from cocoa beans grown in Africa. All of these are consequences of economic globalisation too. Many people take the ability to buy cheap clothing for granted whilst complaining about the negatives    The brands, the products, the lifestyles we would like to live, are all a consquence of globalisation. Are people prepared to give up these benefits? 

Globalisation is not perfect but you could argue it has kept the peace and made the majority of us materially richer.  This has come at a cost to the environment and arguably to the cohesion of our communities but in complaining about the negatives are people forgetting what they have gained and do they really want to lose the benefits?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hypocrisy or simple realism: The double standards on Saudi Arabia and Russia

A New Year, A New You?