Surely there is a symmetrical error here. The new movement cannot in one fell swoop solve all the Left's accumulated problems. Now, though, perhaps the anti-globalization movement has bent the stick too far in the opposite direction. It is not inconceivable that the WTO will adopt one of the main demands of its Northern NGO critics and most Western trade unions, which is to include social and environmental clauses in its protocols. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the process which is presently unfolding.
Globalization is assumed to be a neutral process and conceded to be irresistible.
This is mistaken. None of this is natural or inevitable, as The Economist magazine admitted in a now-famous editorial published on the eve of the Seattle protests. In globalization's wake come the intensification of work among those in stable employment, insecurity in work elsewhere, the despoliation of the natural environment with the aim of maximizing profits, the privatization of public wealth and the socialization of corporate loss. Globalization is more than the revolution in technology and communications we hear so much about, and which in any case was not carried out for our benefit. Globalization cannot be wrestled away from its creators and in the process humanized for those it presently terrorizes.