Poor People Throw Rocks

This Economist article is well-reasoned. But it ignores the underlying fact that globalization means the increasing freedom of movement of capital without complementing freedom of movement of labour, has led to a massive democratic imbalance in the world.

This is because Corporations have lobbyists and expense accounts whereas poor people can only throw rocks.

Corporations prosper while working people are denied freedome of migration and emigration and suffer and end up rotting in huge unemployed pockets of poverty. This is not right and leads to the kind of tensions that I see expressed as fundamentalism in Muslim countries and riots by rich Western kids in Genoa.

Apparently, “unbridled laissez-faire” has got us into this predicament. Maybe it’s time to restructure international trade to prevent plunging so many countries into IMF misery?

This is not unprecedented. Before World War One the global economy was very tightly knited together. Unfortunately, this imperial, colonialist and racist system massively benefitted certain countries at the expense of others. What we call today’s “laissez-faire” is in fact nothing of the kind but a complex regulatory system designed to perpetuate Western Hegemony.

I benefit greatly from this, getting to eat candies when I want and buy cheap shoes at Payless. But if I had to settle for less candies and knew this was in some way reducing the risk of a suicidal airliner dropping on my head then I’m all for it.

Maybe it’s time for a Tobin Tax? Make all those currency speculators produce something worthwhile from their mindless machinations. Donate the proceeds to developing world educational programs….