Globalization — Good or Bad?

Globalization – Good or Bad?

For the past two decades, the “experts” (journalists, academics, politicians and economists) have been singing the praises of globalization. Many of these folks are in favor of a global redistribution of wealth from the richer countries to the poorer countries. This is based, in part, on the idea that the rich countries got that way by exploiting or robbing the poorer countries. Others voice their worldly altruism as a way to feel good about themselves. Whatever the case, the people who advocate for globalization are unlikely to suffer any of the accompanying pain.

What this means for America is a continuing loss of jobs, a lower standard-of-living, less tax revenue, less economic growth, less technological development and a smaller role in world leadership.

What this means for poor countries is more money for the corrupt governments to spend on military hardware and personal luxury for the government officials.

One of the arguments for globalization is that the undemocratic nations and the dictatorships will become more like the free nations. There is little evidence to support this theory. It is more likely that the rich countries, as they become poorer, will adopt more authoritarian styles of government.

Globalization is a natural process, somewhat like aging. The ultimate outcome of globalization will be a one-world economy, and a one-world government. National boundaries will fade away, as will the cultural and political differences that make each country unique. Like washing your bright colored clothes with your whites and your darks, everything will eventually become a dull gray. As to aging, the ultimate outcome is death. We fight aging, even though it is natural. Perhaps we should fight globalization, too.

For more about globalization, see my new e-book “Don’t Blame Wal*Mart If Your Job Went To China” on Amazon/Kindle. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Blame-Mart-China-ebook/dp/B009V0WNBY

If you click on the book cover, you can read the first two chapters for free.

Don’t have a Kindle? No problem! You can download Kindle software for free onto your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. I have it on my Dell laptop. They even gave me three free books just to get started.

New eponymous law

Bishop’s Law: Meetings start late when you’re on time and vice versa.

“Don’t Blame Wal*Mart If Your Job Went To China” is up on Kindle

There were a few bumps and I will need to correct a few small problems, but overall, this was a piece-of-cake. My perfectly centered title page, copyright page and dedication page got uncentered in the conversion from Word to Hypertext. Also, I understood that the font size was irrelevant since you can adjust the font on your Kindle reader. Since both my editor and I prefer “large print,” I had the whole thing set on 14 point. That kind of jumps out at you when you go from the Table of Contents to the Preface. The TOC is 11 point, and I wasn’t able to change it.

Otherwise, it has been a pleasant experience. Suddenly I have a book published in a state-of-the-art format. I don’t know how the book will be received, and that is really none of my business. It’s just a collection of things I had to say. Now that I have said them, I will move on. I have other things I need to say and other books in the works. Here is the link:  http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Blame-Mart-China-ebook/dp/B009V0WNBY

“Don’t Blame Walmart – If Your Job Went to China”

I intend to publish my book, “Don’t Blame Walmart” as a Kindle e-book within the next two weeks. The manuscript is finished and edited. Finishing touches include the cover , table of contents and conversion to the Kindle format.

Did you know: If you don’t have a Kindle book reader, you can download the Kindle software for free onto most any personal computer (laptop, desktop, or smartphone.) Just go to the Amazon.com website, click on Kindle and follow the simple directions.

This book has been ten years in the works. It tells of my personal journey to a promising career in manufacturing, followed by a complete re-start at the bottom, first in a service company, then in retail. There are millions of others in my situation, their careers destroyed with ten or fifteen years to go before retirement.

In this book, I identify the guilty, exonerate the innocent and offer solutions for the future. In case my solutions are not adopted, I offer some hopeful scenarios for making the best of a bad situation.

We Must Save Capitalism

We Must Save Capitalism

Every time the economy falls on hard times, the non-producers announce, gleefully:  “The free market doesn’t work.  Capitalism is dead.”

It was free market capitalism that made the United States the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth. While this was happening, the Soviet Union was reaping the misery of communism, its Marxist leaders convinced that capitalism would collapse while communism would flourish.

After decades of grinding poverty under communism, China finally saw the light and began to allow a form of controlled capitalism to generate wealth for the Chinese government. They even allowed a few entrepreneurs to become wealthy, acknowledging that without this incentive, few people would produce more than a bare minimum. The Chinese government provides strategic support for its industries, and has become a predator in world markets.

Some people believe that we Americans enjoy a high standard-of-living at the expense of poorer countries. The truth is, those countries with the most individual freedom, protected by honest governments, have the highest standards-of-living. Countries with corrupt governments, or collectivist systems like communism, suffer from the lowest standards-of-living.

Capitalism is based on a maximum of individual liberty and economic freedom.  This is consistent with human nature. Economic freedom means that you can keep most of what you produce, and that the government will protect your rights to it.

In recent decades, the producers have been increasingly at the mercy of the non-producers. The non-producers avoid the free market and instead, seek out positions of authority in the media, academia, or government. From there, they are able to ratchet up the pressure on the producers by increasing taxes and regulations.

When the non-producers opened the door to cheap goods from China via the WTO, the producers fled for the exits, taking millions of jobs with them.

“The Conservative Case Against Free Trade”

I just read this new “book” by William Shearer and Ian Fletcher. At just 24 pages, it contains a lot of important information. Here is a link to my review, posted at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Conservative-Case-Against-Free-Trade/product-reviews/1468184784/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Experts say, “Don’t worry.”

Fifteen years ago, when the manufacturing jobs started going to China, the “experts” said, “Don’t worry, we are going to be a ‘service economy.’ Everyone will just have to get retrained”

Ten years ago, when the high-paying service jobs started going to India, the “experts” said, “Don’t worry, we are going to be a ‘biotech/nanotech’ economy. Everyone will just have to get retrained.”

Five years ago, when the biotech/nanotech jobs started going to China and India, the “experts” said, “Don’t worry, we are going to create millions of ‘green jobs.’ Everyone will just have to get retrained.”

Now that the “green jobs” are going to China, the “experts” are blaming “free trade.” I say, it’s time to get the “experts” retrained.