Globalism, RIP

Trade agreements do not have to ignore social and environmental standards, argues editor Carl Pope in “Sierra Magazine.” Trade agreements, like the Doha Round, will falter as long as negotiators do not prevent the benefits from accumulating among the wealthiest and bypassing the poor, he suggests. In the meantime, protectionist, isolationist and populist movements surge in developing nations. Some of these movements are xenophobic and extremist, attempting to reject the world’s cultural and ecological interconnectedness. Yet “interconnectedness is a reality,” argues Pope, who recalls the observation of naturalist and Sierra Club founder John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." Wealthy nations must take the lead, setting high standards including protections with trade agreements, Pope urges. No one, not the greediest who pollute the earth or the extremists who want to impose their way of life on others, can stop the free flow of ideas that seek justice and solutions. – YaleGlobal