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Globalization: What on Earth is it about? Globalization is a process in which geographic distance becomes less a factor in the establishment and sustenance of border crossing, long distance economic, political and sociocultural relations. BUILDING A CORPORATE EMPIRE: REASONS TO OPPOSE GLOBALIZATION • International markets could deliver untold misery in the form of poverty and unemployment • Diminishing national borders: fusing of individual national markets • Exploitation of third world countries where labor is cheaper and environmental standards are lower • Large-scale trans-national companies become more powerful and influential than democratically-elected governments, putting shareholder interests above those of communities and even customers •Corporations are disregarding the environment for profits and marketplace supremacy •National cultures and identities are also under threat because of satellite TV, international media networks and increased personal travel. STATISTICS •Already, the world's top 200 companies have twice the assets of 80 percent of the world's population. •The northern hemisphere consumes 86% of natural resources from around the world •Global income of poorest people in world has dropped from 2.3% to 1.4% of total income in last decade •More than 1,500 non-governmental organizations registered with the WTO •Approximately 70% of French filmgoers watch Hollywood movies Top five Reasons How Globalization hurts America 1. Millions of Americans have lost jobs due to imports or production shifts abroad. Most find new jobs--that pay less. 2. Millions of others fear losing their jobs, especially at those companies operating under competitive pressure. 3. Workers face pay-cut demands from employers, who may threaten to export jobs. 4. Service and white-collar jobs are increasingly vulnerable to operations moving offshore. 5. U.S. employees can lose their comparative advantage when companies build advanced factories in low-wage countries, making them as productive as those at home. Top nine reasons to oppose the WTO 1. The WTO only serves the interests of multinational corporations 2. The WTO is a stacked court 3. The WTO tramples over labor and human rights 4. The WTO is destroying the environment 5. The WTO is killing people 6. The US adoption of the WTO was undemocratic 7. The WTO undermines local development and penalizes poor countries 8. The WTO is increasing inequality 9. The WTO undermines national sovereignty NOTHING IS FOR FREE: FAIR TRADE, NOT FREE TRADE • The WTO is a powerful international body that develops and enforces rules for corporate trade and investment • To protect corporate freedom, these global institutions apply downward pressure on wages and environmental regulations • “Free trade” policies have kept most nations of the global south in poverty DEGLOBALIZATION • Reorienting economies from production for export to production for the local market • More space, more flexibility, more compromise • De-emphasizing growth and maximizing equity • Society over economy PROPOSAL An end to all environmentally destructive corporate lending and support for more self-reliant, resourceconserving development that preserves biodiversity. •The reorientation of all corporate lending to ensure consistency with the agreements reached at the 1992 United Nations "Earth Summit". •A moratorium on corporate funding for the construction of large dams. •Substantial shifts towards alternative, cost-effective, resource-conserving energy, water-supply, transportation and sanitation projects. •A shift in away from agricultural export production and operations which directly or indirectly accelerate forest destruction. • A system that measures the wealth of a nation and the full value of its natural resources as well as the full cost of environmental degradation. References Globalisation: What on Earth is it about? http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1999/02/99/ecyclopedia/newsid_711000/711906.stm Council for Canadian Unity’s Guide to Globalization http://cwis.kub.nl/globus/Lubpdfs/Globaliz/Global07.pdf Anti-globalization papers http://www.users.bigpond.com/r.nunn/2who.htm CORPWATCH: Holding Corporations Accountable http://www.corpwatch.org/feature/wto/8-bello.html http://www.corpwatch.org/feature/wto/1-mardigras.html CORPWATCH: Corporate Mardi Gras http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_17/b3678003.htm http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/rulemakers/topTenReasons.html