Bugger globalisation

TMP has always been unfashionably suspicious of rampant globalisation, and struggled to see any good in the concept. Perhaps because TMP had been a close-up observer of the way Microsoft had come to epitomise in the benefits of globalisation in the simplistic view of weak-minded politicians. In reality, Microsoft' manipulation of world markets through abuse of monopoly power is probably a perfect example of why globalisation should be treated with caution.

Globalisation is about transporting the brutal efficiency of a monopoly to any country that's gullible enough to tolerate it. The effects can be just as devastating as allowing foreign flora and fauna into a country without consideration for the indigenous species.

Too many people believe that "free trade" is assumed to mean what it says on the tin. It plainly does not - in the same way that "free market economics" is a complete sham, thanks to to the way politicians always meddle with the fundamentals, in order to buy votes. We are never going to have genuinely free markets, so let's accept the reality and make it work better.

As countries are forced to become dependant on others for large sectors of their economy, so the opportunity to upset economies by "external forces" increases enormously. All countries should aim to be able to do a "bit of everything" - which I suspect was part of the reason for the golden age of the 50s, cited in the article above.

Gordon Brown is accidentally endorsing this view with his mechanized repetition of references to our utter dependence on the "global economy". So then, bugger the global economy. We gave away most of our manufacturing capabilities in return for the "virtual" world of fantasy banking, and it's done nothing but bite us in arse just lately. Let's concentrate on the British economy, you Auld Fraud. How about some British jobs and businesses for British people, eh?

Modern technology now allows for distributing just about every aspect of human endeavour - moving the place of manufacture closer to the point of consumption has other obvious benefits. And it must be healthier in all respects to spread the range of deals and suppliers, rather than allow monopoly and cartel behemoths to dominate and distort as with our foreign controlled utilities.

Cuba, for all its ills, might actually be a pretty nice place to be compared to many of its neighbours, thanks largely to being forced into a degree of self-sustainability that shames the rest of us. I bet Castro doesn't feel obliged to save the world and harp on about global factors every time a camera appears.