Adam Smith's Economic Sentiment: Anti-Globalization Movement versus the New World Order

Nipawin - Tuesday, October 9, 2001 - by: Mario deSantis

"If one could choose to sacrifice one's finger, and thereby to save millions of people, one would do so. But those people still, in some sense, matter to us less than our own fingers" Emma Rothschild (in explaining Adam Smith's sentiments)

air
strikes
American and British air strikes have resumed against the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden, and missiles and bombs are being dropped along with humanitarian food. Now there is the fear that other countries may be bombed as well, and we don't know if humanitarian food would be dropped in these countries yet.

war on Terrorism
The war on terrorism must be won, and I must tell you I don't like to dwell on the peculiarities of this military strike; after all I am not a militarist strategist, but then I wonder if there is any social learning in reporting the ongoing details of these strikes. We have to fight Terrorism and we have to bring justice for the atrocities of September 11, and we must win this war on Terrorism with a human policy of inclusion.

peace
Shifting our focus on civil matters, I must say that we cannot socially grow as long as money is the measure of our well-being, as long as we produce and sell arms for money, as long as the 'invisible hand' of Free Trade is the Master of the Universe, and as long as children are raised in an environment of hopelessness and hate. As we wage a war against Terrorism so we must struggle for our universal vision of peace.

Globalization
There is a traditional saying in Italy "chiodo schiaccia chiodo" which means we can hide a nail by hammering another nail on it. Some neoclassical Big Brains have profited from today's Terrorism to ridicule the anti-globalization movement. I am not going to fall into this Big Brains' trap, and while affirming that we must fight Terrorism at any cost, I am going to have my say on the wrongs of Globalization and on the wrongs of today's Capitalism.

free
trade
Capitalism is not an absolute concept distilling our human aspiration to freedom; capitalism is a theoretical construct of a social system focused on 'property right.' Capitalism's adaptation to our societies has historically changed as our societies have been changing; and now we have the Big Brains telling us otherwise and misusing the concept of free trade as envisioned by Adam Smith.

Adam
Smith
Adam Smith didn't believe in the fragmentary division of capital, land and labour and related class division of people. Adam Smith believed in the local markets where the same local people would provide at the same time capital, land, labour and entrepreneurship. Our academic Big Brains are teaching our students the Transnationals' version of Free Trade as we wage a global war against Terrorism.

convergence
I have no interest in visualizing the 'convergence' of economic Globalization with the global war against Terrorism as this globalized convergence may create the New World Order of a police state.

------------Some References:

Globalization and the return of history.(Who is Europe?), Emma Rothschild. She is married to economic Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1181/115/55015319/p1/article.jhtml

Adam Smith June 5, 1723-July 17, 1790 http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/smith/



Nipawin - Tuesday, October 9, 2001 - by: Mario deSantis
	"If one could choose to sacrifice one's finger, and thereby to save millions of people, one would do so. But those people still, in some sense, matter to us less than our own fingers" Emma Rothschild (in explaining Adam Smith's sentiments)

air strikes	American and British air strikes have resumed against the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden, and missiles and bombs are being dropped along with humanitarian food. Now there is the fear that other countries may be bombed as well, and we don't know if humanitarian food would be dropped in these countries yet.

war on Terrorism	The war on terrorism must be won, and I must tell you I don't like to dwell on the peculiarities of this military strike; after all I am not a militarist strategist, but then I wonder if there is any social learning in reporting the ongoing details of these strikes. We have to fight Terrorism and we have to bring justice for the atrocities of September 11, and we must win this war on Terrorism with a human policy of inclusion.

peace	Shifting our focus on civil matters, I must say that we cannot socially grow as long as money is the measure of our well-being, as long as we produce and sell arms for money, as long as the 'invisible hand' of Free Trade is the Master of the Universe, and as long as children are raised in an environment of hopelessness and hate. As we wage a war against Terrorism so we must struggle for our universal vision of peace.

Globalization	There is a traditional saying in Italy "chiodo schiaccia chiodo" which means we can hide a nail by hammering another nail on it. Some neoclassical Big Brains have profited from today's Terrorism to ridicule the anti-globalization movement. I am not going to fall into this Big Brains' trap, and while affirming that we must fight Terrorism at any cost, I am going to have my say on the wrongs of Globalization and on the wrongs of today's Capitalism.

free trade	Capitalism is not an absolute concept distilling our human aspiration to freedom; capitalism is a theoretical construct of a social system focused on 'property right.' Capitalism's adaptation to our societies has historically changed as our societies have been changing; and now we have the Big Brains telling us otherwise and misusing the concept of free trade as envisioned by Adam Smith.

Adam Smith	Adam Smith didn't believe in the fragmentary division of capital, land and labour and related class division of people. Adam Smith believed in the local markets where the same local people would provide at the same time capital, land, labour and entrepreneurship. Our academic Big Brains are teaching our students the Transnationals' version of Free Trade as we wage a global war against Terrorism.

convergence	I have no interest in visualizing the 'convergence' of economic Globalization with the global war against Terrorism as this globalized convergence may create the New World Order of a police state.

------------Some References:
	Globalization and the return of history.(Who is Europe?), Emma Rothschild. She is married to economic Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1181/115/55015319/p1/article.jhtml

	Adam Smith June 5, 1723-July 17, 1790 http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/smith/