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“Globalism” is the set of notions that encourage western de-industrialization, international trade and an international governance system for disputes.  In the 1940s after WWII, Western Powers, mainly the US, England and France, wished to avoid another struggle and the prevailing notion was that increased trade among nations together with a framework for settling disputes would prevent future wars.

This concept was supported by economists from both the left and the right, and even by Marxist Critical Theorists who claimed the societal benefits of free trade would help make amends for what they saw as the evils of Colonialism.

However, in the aftermath of WWII, the same powers were concerned about the rise of Communism and recognized that Western, and particularly US industrial might was a key strategic asset.  At the same time the maritime infrastructure for international trade was limited and labor unions were mainly industrial-based and growing more powerful and these unions saw de-industrialization as a threat.

All that began to change in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, together with the complete devastation of China’s economy by Maoist Communism, western powers became complacent about threats from those regimes.  Labor Union participation declined, and the unions had become more political, with increasing political contributions, almost entirely to Democrats.

At the same time economists from both the left and the right pushed notions that supported globalist trade initiatives.  Milton Friedman was a staunch supporter of so-called “international free trade” as were Paul Krugman and Larry Summers.

Globalization was pitched as a path to global prosperity. It rested on three key promises touted by politicians and amplified by the media:

1. Economic adaptability through worker retraining and mobility – economists promised that most industrial workers would be re-trained to work in service industries and would move to areas where there were service sector jobs available.
2. democratization of authoritarian regimes – politicians promised that authoritarian regimes would become more open and eventually succumb to their growing middle-class desire for freedom and democratize and become more capitalist.

3. moral redress for colonial legacies – the Cultural Marxists claimed this was the righteous path forward because, according to them, western wealth is the result of colonial imperialism, rather than a result of ingenuity and increased productivity, though most Western wealth arose in the post-colonial era.

The result was just the opposite. Globalism devastated working-class communities, empowered authoritarian states, and exported the most severe externalities like pollution and resource depletion to under-regulated regions.

Far from delivering universal benefits, Globalization traded short term cheap goods for long term national security and economic and environmental health.  International tensions and regional conflicts increased as a result of newly empowered authoritarian regimes trying to extend their spheres of influence.

Economic Failure:

Advocates argued that Western workers displaced from manufacturing could retrain for service or tech jobs and relocate to thriving regions. But, retraining programs were underfunded, and manufacturing worker culture was not easily changed to match service sector requirements.  As a result, only 20–30% of workers found jobs, per 1990s studies.

What’s more, it turned out that low-skill service sector jobs like hotel cleaning paid and continue to pay far less than even entry level manufacturing jobs and the competition for these service jobs increased with an increase in illegal immigration into Western countries, encouraged by the same Cultural Marxists who vilify capitalism while actively encouraging immigration to capitalist countries.

To account for the lack of training and mobility, Globalists then pushed for college education, believing this to be a cure-all. The result was a mountain of student loan debt and vast numbers of useless of college degrees which barely create employment, much less provide a ROI.

Labor mobility faltered due to workers’ stronger than predicted ties to family and their local community, leaving vast regions like the U.S. Rust Belt in perpetual decline. The shrinking number of jobs also caused wage stagnation in any remaining manufacturing jobs.  Multinational corporations were able to adjust, but small business and workers bore the costs of shifting supply chains, unemployment and wage stagnation.

Moral Mirage:

Anti-colonial sentiments, shaped by critical theorists, framed globalization as restitution for historical exploitation. Industrialization was painted as empowering the world’s poor people. But limited labor laws, lack of unions, and minimal or corrupt enforcement of whatever laws existed, meant that profits from globalization went to governments, bureaucrats, multinationals and local elites, and not to workers or local businesses.

The moral narrative simply masked a wealth transfer which decimated American manufacturing, trading many manufacturing jobs for a few banking jobs while enriching corrupt authoritarian bureaucracies in China and elsewhere without achieving economic empowerment anywhere.

Political Illusion:

Globalization was sold as a democratizing force, with trade expected to foster middle-class demands for freedom in authoritarian states. Instead, the middle class, to the extent it developed, was kept repressed and in fear. Regimes like China’s Communist Party used stolen IP and know-how as well as manufacturing profits to fund a surveillance state and a hugely expanded military, including a fast growing nuclear stockpile.

In the rush to gain a toehold in what was painted by economists as “the world’s largest consumer market,” globalized ventures transferred capital, know-how, and intellectual property to China who leveraged this trade to entrench control, not liberalize. Child labor exploitation became common with Globalists turning a blind eye. After public outcries and despite some efforts making a show of improved working conditions, the reality prioritized low cost, contradicting the optimism and high moral claims of globalism cheerleaders like Klaus Schwab.  Even original supporters like Barack Obama have admitted that globalization disrupts communities, increases inequality and causes disaffection.

The 1995 replacement of GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, with the WTO significantly enlarged membership and this resulted in an international governance akin to the UN, which is now dominated by a large number of authoritarian regimes, further empowering those regimes.

Environmental and Social Externalities:

Globalization allowed corporations to export externalities to regions with lax regulations. The 1984 Bhopal disaster, where a U.S.-owned plant’s gas leak killed thousands in India, epitomized the early offloading of hazardous operations.  But more recent examples include illegal dumping in the Ivory Coast, toxic spills in China, as well as the so-called Pacific garbage patch which is to a great extent a result of the multinational export of recyclables to China which Chinese processors then dumped in rivers, and this trash ended up in a gyre in the Pacific.

Similarly, China’s coal-powered factories now emit more than 1.5 times the total CO₂ of the US and EU combined. Lax regulations on other pollutants have resulted in unbreathable air in many parts of China and India. Deforestation in Brazil’s and Indonesia’s rainforests, is driven by global supply chains, and has destroyed ecosystems, while toxic industrial waste in China and Bangladesh has poisoned entire communities.

These costs of pollution, health risks, unsafe working conditions and expanding totalitarianism are being borne by third world populations, who are powerless to resist. Globalism’s promises of economic adaptability, moral redress, democratization, and cost-free offshoring have proven false. Western workers face economic ruin, authoritarian regimes grow stronger, and pollution and deforestation burden the Global poor.

The “Make America Great Again” movement reflects the betrayal of these promises. Globalism’s legacy demands a reckoning.  The West, and the US in particular, must retrench, reverse much of the de-industrialization and insist that democratization, together with strong legal systems, worker protection and environmental regulation be put in place before free trade.  Free trade must be free of such encumbrances and security threats

Our schools and universities need to free themselves of the demagoguery of Cultural Marxism, and all educational institutions must go back to teaching US youth that our free society was hard-won and must be protected.  Our colleges need to wean themselves of the money they derive from peddling useless diplomas, and our government must focus on restoring US industrial might.

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