Ideas are coming in. Whether one sees them as opportunities or threats, they are coming.
As he took the oath of office on March 4, 1933 in the depths of the Great Depression Franklin Roosevelt spoke to a nation that was down economically and spiritually. He took the opportunity to reassure people that they, and the country, would recover and rise again - ‘there is nothing to fear but fear itself.’
Today we live in a world where fear is used as an emotion to be exploited to get what people want (be it selling “Act now! Time is running out!” or business “I can’t believe you’re still using XXX, your competitors are all using YYY” or even votes (by both sides).
Those who advocate for globalism, and a more outward and a more progressive approach to science, education, innovation and the future often cite the benefits of these things. But to people who genuinely fear them, they are seen is frightening, daunting, intimidating and dangerous.
I’d like to assure people that they have nothing to fear, but recently I have come to the conclusion that the current wave of populism is fueled not by misunderstanding but rather a well-founded fear of globalization.
Because I have seen what globalism and globalization bring and it is both awe-inspiring and terrifying depending on your perspective.
Globalization is both awe-inspiring and terrifying depending on your perspective.
I understand why some people might be wary, even afraid of people like Shonali Burke a woman of color who came to America almost two decades ago to follow a dream. And she has done so with more skill, more tenacity, more kindness and more energy than most people are able or willing to bring. That is what some consider to be threatening. But what they’re really admitting is that they fear someone who is better at what she does than most people I know; harder working that most people I have ever met and more willing to help others succeed than far too many people today.
But closing the door (literally) won’t do it either. Why? Because people who see the world as full of abundance (rather than scarcity) are not only coming, they are already here. And their influence is irrevocable.
In his recent book ‘Thank You For Being Late’ Thomas L. Friedman (no relation) recounts how GE issued a online challenge to create a strong and lightweight bracket design for mounting an aircraft engine. One person in central Indonesia literally beat GE's in-house team of professional engineers; submitting a design via 3D printing over the internet and printed on the opposite side of the planet. That is an amazing opportunity, if you happen to be the Indonesian designer, but also a threat if you are looking for a job at GE and suddenly have to compete with the best minds around the world for it.
When ideas come in across borders, time zones and continents, one person sees them as sparks of inspiration leading to a better future while another views the same thing as economic “missiles” with the potential to destroy their present.
The only solution is the change the way people look at individual vs. collective progress. Some people live under the based in the flawed premise that well-being, wealth (and even jobs) are a ‘zero sum’ proposition and that for one person to gain, another (or many others) have to lose. And there are plenty of native-born people in America (and other nations) that understand this as well and don’t consider success to require other’s expense.
The fact is, those things are created and therefore do not need to be ‘redistributed’ or ‘reallocated’ between an ever larger population.
Wealth, like the jobs needed to generate it, is not something finite to be shared
Wealth, like the jobs needed to generate it is not finite – it is generated, created, and grown. Yes, there are shifts, such as those brought on by automation and we’ve done a poor job at developing a flexible workforce that is able to take transferable skills to other industries or tasks, but job creation is not only possible, it is preferable.
We cannot close the door on globalization, whether we want to or not. It is here to stay. And it will carry on, with or without us.