by Christyl Rivers

Created on: December 23, 2011   Last Updated: December 27, 2011

Globalization makes all workers of earth merely tools in the hands of rich corporations. That may be an extreme view, but those who work for a living seem to arrive at this view sooner or later.

Diderot once said that men (humanity he meant) will never be free until the last king strangles the last priest. He was not talking about Elvis the king, or priests as we now know them.

In that philosopher's day this made perfect sense because all monarchs and the Church held all the power. But multi-nationals are the NEW kings and priests, they profit from exploiting earth and our ecosystems and by exploiting the labor and good will of people to work hard in hopes that the workers will one day earn their due.

Religion is too, simply a tool to keep the masses divided that they may all be conquered. The true ideology is capitalism, with welfare only going to the top 1%, and the remaining populace encouraged to join them, and be rich, famous, and powerful.

There are not enough earths for everyone to be rich and powerful. There are not enough resources for forests, fuels, and oceans to not be over taxed by the enormous carbon stomp of runaway "development."  over population, and resulting shortages.

One need only to look at our imports and exports to see what is valued most by those on both sides of the globe. The west exports pop culture, Hollywood, music, fashion, and a great number of addictive cigarettes. The East exports University students, eastern spirituality, electronics, cheap plastic goods, shoes, and clothes, and martial arts.

It is also being said recently that we in the west have exported all tech support and manufacturing jobs, and that what the east is exporting here, for a better education, is their best and their brightest people.

The greatest source of all our differences is focus on what a person actually is. In the West the self is always put first. In the East, a person is a member of a larger community. This extends all the way from core of the family to belonging to the earth itself, and therefore valuing the bounty of the earth, rather than merely exploiting it for personal gain.

That said, not everything about globalization is all bad. Keeping it controlled, and non rapacious of resources, and labor, sustains a middle class in all areas, and the middle class is extremely vital. The middle class pays for, the upper class, the lower class and of course, the MIDDLE class.  With no thriving middle class society divides into the ancient disparity

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