That he should do so in a book tackling the challenge of globalization increases the anticipation of every reader. Nicanor Perlas is a well-known man in the Philippines, a sage, almost a movement. He has clearly recognized, that the civil society movement with which he has been connected all his life including over a decade during the Marcos dictatorship has become the most important counterbalance to the excesses of capitalism. Perlas knows his Adam Smith, father of modern economics, so often quoted by followers of capitalism. He notes that Adam Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments long before the appearance of The Wealth of Nations .
Moral values are indispensable if the beneficial aspects of the market system are to be experienced.
The market, out of itself, does not create these values. When the influence of the state and democratically legitimized majorities are essentially working at the national level, but the market operates internationally, then we are faced with the extremely dangerous situation that the market forces oppose and prevail over democracy, the environment and social justice. This is the omnipresent dilemma of globalization. But there is an equal unwillingness to give up the benefits of democratic control over the market. His special area is that of culture.