Globalization

Two definitions

The word globalization has a double meaning. It means on the one hand the overcoming of national economies by the world economy. That is however rather an overcoming of the weak by the strong national economies. On the other hand globalization means also to commercialize the world - the world as commodity.

Current view

In the nineties a broad protest movement succeeded rather unexpectedly to turn a World Trade Organization meeting into a failure. Ever since then these globalization opponents are in focus. They want to direct the public attention onto international economic meetings - a strategy that increasingly succeeds.

However, despite the media greed for street battles and their dependence on large companies, they occasionally let more imaginative demonstrators have the word. Only seldom however it becomes clear that not really the world economy itself, but the economic supremacy of industrialized countries as well as the priority of economics are being criticized. After shooting a demonstrator in Genoa in summer 2001 it was to be feared that parts of the protest movement would slide into the underground of terror. This would harm the movement in exactly the same way, as it harmed the anarchy movement a long time ago.

Globalization and social threefolding

The whole meaning of a world economy lies in the mutual assistance made possible by it. However, it has to be possible to take preventive measures in favor of developing countries so that globalization is not given preference to stronger concerns. But this is no national task, but rather a task of the world economy itself, which may not be mistaken for free trade. The world economy must shape itself, instead of leaving the prices to the coincidence of the market.

Among globalization opponents the idea of a taxation of foreign currency transfers in favor of development assistance (Tobin-taxation) is quite popular. This is a rather barren approach and it is to be hoped that this suggestion will be dropped in favor of other alternatives.

To work for a pure, graduated expenditure tax for instance would be more meaningful. Then the tax (and the social costs) would have no direct influence on the export prices. Only the domestic and imported goods are taxed. Then it would no longe make sense to diminish the state in order to stand better in international competition. The income tax makes the state a cheap commodity - particularly in the developing countries.

Nevertheless, it is quite incomprehensive to make a one-issue-program on the basis of expenditure tax. But it shows the right direction: The state is no commodity.

Globalization as an attemp to commercialize the world threatens however not only the state, but also cultural life. Economics will also seek to bring the cultural sphere to the market. In particular the education and health service are to be liberalised in the next years. This would mean a double guardianship of cultural life, not only the traditional national guardianship, but also yet another chain - now an economic one. In this matter all globalization opponents must also be opponents of the State. The spirit and mankind is not a paragraph.