Spiegel Online: Only Radical Thinking and Action Can Tame Globalization

A growing global economy expanded the middle class and wealth for many nations that were once poor. That is of little comfort to the 800 million people who live in extreme poverty. Widening inequality and climate change are serious threats. “The G-20 nations represent two-thirds of the global population, just over three-quarters of its economic output and four-fifths of its greenhouse gas emissions -- and they are the prime target of anti-globalization activists,” explains Alexander Jung for Spiegel Online. Globalization has attracted new critics, albeit with mixed concerns on climate change to refugees, labor protections, taxation, demands for controls of nuclear weapons and financial markets, and more. About 100,000 protesters descended on Hamburg, Germany, where the G20 leaders convened. Inequality is a central theme as critics point out that the vast majority of citizens are losing wages and savings to a handful of individuals who possess more wealth than the poorest half of the global population. Prosperity increasingly hinges on exploiting laborers and habitat in the poorest countries, suggests one sociologist. Global leaders sense anger from both the right and left that is shaping politics and business, increasing protectionism and insecurity while threatening social cohesion and trust in governments. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in welcoming NGOS, argues that a priority should be “sustainable, inclusive growth.” Awareness of global justices grows, but the protesters insist that old habits, whether in routines for consumers or approaches by world leaders, are not happening fast enough. – YaleGlobal