Globalism, which has enriched Corporate America, has been an absolute disaster for U.S. manufacturing and the American worker. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. So let's make an objective analysis and a prediction of how globalism, the darling of the free traders and transnational corporations, will cease to be the driving force of the world's commerce.
What exactly is globalism? Generally defined it is a "socio-economic system dedicated to free trade and free access to markets." It's an innovative form of international commerce whereby nations think of marketing with a world view rather than their own national view. Trade between nations has been going on for centuries but under globalism and the evolution of gigantic transnational corporations, it has become far more intensive and much more sophisticated.
Think of the monumental volume of products and raw materials that are exchanged day in and day out between nations via air transport and ocean shipping; the enormous trade that goes on between the U.S. and China and Japan, albeit most of the traffic is for exports to America rather than exports by America; the volume is staggering.
Yes globalism is doing quite well right now as multi-national corporations are raking in enormous profits. Corporate profits skyrocket while, at the same time, the lives of those who work for slave labor wages in China and other nations suffer greatly for their greedy masters, many headquartered in the U.S. In America, millions of workers who once earned decent wages in years past are collecting unemployment checks and searching for jobs that no longer exist.
So is globalism here to stay, will it continue to grow and bring great benefits to the nations of the world? I think not; in fact, I am quite certain that its days are numbered; that its demise is fast approaching. If that's so, what will be the primary causal factor? In one word it's -- OIL. Why oil? Because oil fuels the commerce of the entire world and the day is fast approaching when plentiful and relatively affordable oil will become a thing of the past.
What poses the greatest threat to the future of globalism is called Peak Oil, a term still not very familiar to most Americans. Peak Oil is a theory which is evolving right before our eyes. The demise of globalism will begin as the world enters the era of Peak Oil, that point in time when the world's demand for petroleum will overwhelm the production capabilities of the world's oil producing nations. While the world will not run out of oil for a long time, the dilemma is that oil is becoming much more difficult and expensive to extract from the deposits that are rapidly declining. Not only are there are no new large oil fields being discovered but the potential for new discoveries is very slight.
As a counter to this theory, there is a body of naysayers who are spending a lot of time and money trying to discredit this theory for their own personal gain. It's that part of Corporate America, primarily the oil industry and its congressional lackeys, whose intent is to keep the majority of Americans addicted to oil and prevent the development of new sources of energy. "Big Oil" wants no competition of any kind and it sends mega millions of dollars to Congress to keep it so. But no matter how hard the oil industry wants to dispute this eventuality, Peak Oil is coming and, when it does, it will have a massive, revolutionary effect on the way world commerce is conducted.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
