Saturday 26 January 2013

The world is over. Welcome to the new world.

Globalisation. It's kind of the new buzzword like 'information superhighway' was in the 90's and 'fetch me some penicillin because I'm pissing fire and razor blades.' in the 1940's.
But what does it mean? Is it a good thing, a bad thing? What the fucken?

What it means is that we are no longer living in an era of self contained nations. It is no longer possible to shut the door, tell everyone to fuck off and run your country as a hermit... North Korea has been trying to do this for decades and they are now in a state where a bowl of spaghetti would feed five families. They are not doing so well.

Globalisation has met a lot of opposition for various groups. It's uncomfortable, scary and it can bring a whole lot of unwanted baggage.
Think of it this way. Say you've been living with your parents. You only got a couple of people to deal with so you've manage to work out rules and protocols that allow you to live in sort of harmony. Suddenly, your entire family moves in. Cousins, uncles, long lost relatives. This will cause a lot of friction. Everyone has their own idea of how to run things and how to deal with each other. Suddenly your routine, protocols and bathroom is thrown in disarray. You're no longer as important as you thought you were.

In the 80's , it's first victim was communism. Capitalist saw this as confirmation that capitalism was the way forward and they went full steam ahead.  Now capitalism is on life support and I don't think it will be waking up from its coma. Maybe we can draw a funny moustache with a marker before it kicks the bucket.
You see, the thing about communism and capitalism it that their demise was not due to them not working or being ineffective. Under the right conditions, both system have demonstrated that they can work. What happened was that they simply became obsolete. Both systems encourage despotism. Communism with despotism of state and capitalism with despotism of elite classes. Thanks to a wired, on-line and always connected world population, that shit don't fly anymore.

Now we're in a state of flux. There is a power struggle of different ideas and factions battling it out to become the next dominant philosophy that guides the world. Religious and fringe political groups are in upheaval for that same reason. I suspect they are wasting their time.

Just as Socialism was an answer to the exploited working class of the 18th century or environmental parties came out as an answer to the reckless environmental damage of the 20th century, I believe a new political/philosophical movement shall rise in this new world.  A movement that defies national boundaries and not so much ignores cultural differences  but acknowledges the common bonds that ties us all as a human family.
It won't be easy. We have an enormous amount of baggage  to throw away. Nationalism, racial prejudices, socio-economic elitism. Heck, there are some countries out there that still haven't realised that they are but a small part of a very big planet and see themselves as more important that the rest of the world. I wish them luck because some of them are already paying the price for their self-importance.

No one can survive on their own anymore. For a few countries,  these lessons will not be learned but beaten into by the circumstances.
It will not be pretty and a lot will be lost. Some individual cultures will cease to exist and the world as a whole will be a bit poorer for it. But really, it is what may need to happen for us to survive. In the end, that's the name of the game, survival.