Globalization Is The Problem Not The Answer

[peregrinus_WA]

Before anyone implies it, I am not a Socialist I am a Distributist.

The latest from my [url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com"]blog[/url]:

[url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com/2008/11/15/globalizatio-is-the-problem-not-the-answer/"]Globalization is the Problem not the Answer[/url]

Kind of lengthy so I will not post the text here.

Essentially, I am saying that Globalism (Global Capitalism) is part of the cause of many of the social/economic ills of today.

Comments?

Edited November 16, 2008 by peregrinus_WA

[kafka]

No, no, no, no, no!

It's a secondary effect of many serious sins being commtted on Earth in a mass scale.

Ideology is not the cause of sin or societal ills, on a personal or public level. Individual and public sin is the cause of all the disorders in modern life, just as the Blessed Virgin, in her profound wisdom said at Fatima, "Sin is the cause of all wars."

[CatherineM]

Greed, materialism, and all the nasty stuff that goes along with it, are the root of most of the problems.

[peregrinus_WA]

I call myself a distibutist. A summary of distributism is found in Chesterton's statement: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists."

The two predominant economic models today (Capitalism and Socialism) destroys people's self-reliance by making them dependent on either the Corporation or State.

[Justin86]

Distributism main problem, is and always has been, that no one knows how to get there, ethically.

Edited November 16, 2008 by Justin86

[peregrinus_WA]

[quote name='Justin86' post='1702360' date='Nov 16 2008, 12:18 AM']Distributism main problem, is and always has been, that no one knows how to get there, ethically.[/quote]That is why a complete framework must be developed that is in-line with Catholic Moral and Social teachings. I am working on such a framework now. It must start local and grow. It is not a trickle down economic model.

[T-Bone _]

Globalization is part of the problem because of governments of countries like China that consider their people no better than cattle. Countries who force their corporations to pay a living wage simply cannot compete against slavery.

[Didacus]

[quote name='peregrinus_WA' post='1702335' date='Nov 15 2008, 11:34 PM']Before anyone implies it, I am not a Socialist I am a Distributist.
[snip][/quote]

Really?!

I'm a distributist too!

Papist with a distributist economy.
(edit: Actually, my full allignment is: democrato-monarcho papist within a distributism type economy. As far as I know, I'm the only, but that will change when I conquer the world!)


Interestingly, while oil prices were very high, some argued that globalism had started to reverse itself. Cost of shipping goods overseas were adding too great a strain on the cost of the goods and thus the global economy was slowly grinding to a halt and in some areas reversing itself.

True or not I thought it was a very interesting point of view.

Edited November 18, 2008 by Didacus

[Didacus]

[quote name='peregrinus_WA' post='1702363' date='Nov 16 2008, 12:23 AM']That is why a complete framework must be developed that is in-line with Catholic Moral and Social teachings. I am working on such a framework now. It must start local and grow. It is not a trickle down economic model.[/quote]

Or have the current system totally collaspe and start from fresh?

Have you ever talked with the peak-oilist crowd? How about the nuclear bomb scarers (much scacer these days but they are still around)?
Usually, a dramatic event (often dire) is required for any notable change.

[Socrates]

[quote name='peregrinus_WA' post='1702335' date='Nov 15 2008, 11:34 PM']Before anyone implies it, I am not a Socialist I am a Distributist.

The latest from my [url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com"]blog[/url]:

[url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com/2008/11/15/globalizatio-is-the-problem-not-the-answer/"]Globalization is the Problem not the Answer[/url]

Kind of lengthy so I will not post the text here.

Essentially, I am saying that Globalism (Global Capitalism) is part of the cause of many of the social/economic ills of today.

Comments?[/quote]
I'm familiar with the arguments you gave in your blog, though I can't say I agree with all of them. For instance, the world now feeds far more people than ever before (and far more than it could in the days before "industrialization").
This said, I'm not a huge fan of unfettered "globalization"; I think sovereign nations have a right o impose embargos, sanctions, tarriffs, etc, as they see fit, and should not be governed by transnational bureaucrats.

And the reason for the current economic crisis is not "capitalism" or lack of government regulation, but centralized government banks, which have resulted in unnaturally low interest rates and too much easy credit. The problem is too much government control over the economy, not too little.
For more, I'd strongly suggest reading [url="http://www.amazon.com/Church-Market-Catholic-Defense-Economics/dp/0739110365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227235319&sr=1-2"][i]The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy[/i], by Thomas E. Woods Jr.[/url]
He makes a very compelling case for a true free market economy (and against "distributism").

[Socrates]

[quote name='peregrinus_WA' post='1702363' date='Nov 16 2008, 12:23 AM']That is why a complete framework must be developed that is in-line with Catholic Moral and Social teachings. I am working on such a framework now. It must start local and grow. It is not a trickle down economic model.[/quote]
I don't have a problem with "distributism" as a local voluntary movement (self-sufficiency and the like); indeed I think it laudable.
It's where "distributism" is government-enforced, with government confiscation/re-distribution of private property, as advocated by some "distributists" (as advocated on distributism.com, for instance) that I have a problem with.
Much of it is in essence socialism (albeit with a "Catholic" emphasis), much as they protest otherwise.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Socrates

[Tinkerlina]

[quote name='kafka' post='1702342' date='Nov 15 2008, 11:45 PM']No, no, no, no, no!

It's a secondary effect of many serious sins being commtted on Earth in a mass scale.

Ideology is not the cause of sin or societal ills, on a personal or public level. Individual and public sin is the cause of all the disorders in modern life, just as the Blessed Virgin, in her profound wisdom said at Fatima, "Sin is the cause of all wars."[/quote]

Agreed-we'll never solve any of the world's problems in the long run with a government system or political idea. Problems have been around throughout history under all manner of governments, societal persuasions, ideologies, etc. -Katie

[peregrinus_WA]

From my [url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com/"]blog[/url]:

[quote][url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com/2008/11/20/is-global-capitalism-promoted-greed/"][b]Is Global Capitalism Promoted Greed?[/b][/url]

Is it? In my opinion, yes in two ways.

The first is Capitalist Greed in terms of control and wealth. Bigger is better. By controlling a larger percentage of an industry or industries, the global capitalist controls a larger portion good and labor for that industry. This means he has more control prices charged and labor costs. Combined with economies of scale, this allows the bottom line (profit) to increase due to increased revenue and lower costs.

The second is Government Greed in the form of tax revenue. In the United State, he corporate income tax is, for the most part, a progressive tax not on Revenue but on Net Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT). For them, one corporation having an EBIT of 50 million dollars will produce close to 500,000 dollars more tax revenue than 100 companies with a net income of 500,000 if everything is equal (i.e Revenue and costs). In reality, there difference in Tax Revenue is probably much more due lower net income caused by price and labor pressures caused by competition. This means it is in the government’s best interest to eliminate competition when it is possible.

In both cases there is greed.[/quote]

[Socrates]

[quote name='peregrinus_WA' post='1707514' date='Nov 21 2008, 09:52 PM']From my [url="http://peregrinus.stblogs.com/"]blog[/url]:[/quote]
The trouble is, you can't legislate against "greed."

Obviously, businessmen are motivate to make maximum profit, but that's the way any human economy works.
The state can make laws banning blatantly unethical business practices, but any plan which seeks to curtail "greed" by punishing business success is doomed to failure (and will ultimately hurt the poor more than anyone).

I agree about government taxation though. We need all round lower taxation and smaller government, though that will not fly with the bleeding hearts, of course.