Re: globalization:poor design?

[tom abeles <tabeles@tmn.com>]

MS SHELLEY V CORBIN wrote, in part:

> .....Today, a movement towards local-sufficiency has emerged in the U.
> S.
> and the U.K. in anticipation of the disruptions that the Y2K crisis
> will cause. In a way, the local-sufficiency movement is a social
> expression of the modular principles of systems theory which, as a
>  science, certainly boasts of more and greater successes than the
> dismal discipline called economics.
> 
> "Globalization" is out, "modularization" is in.
-----------------------------------------------------------

I only wish this were true in the sense that Ms Corbin has posted it.
In the US, there are, again, stirrings of the community movement,
stimulated a lot by those who were frustrated by the rise and fall of
these ideals during the 60's and 70's. It is a sort of Revisioning
(all meanings intended).

Fortunately, or unfortunaely, the corporate sector has found this idea
and carried it one step further with the ability to use the
interconnectedness of the web- virtual corporations and virtual
business working groups and project driven organizations are some of
these indicators where the advantage of a local organization is
coupled with the power of interconnectedness of the web and the
stability driven only by necessity.

The corporate world has taken an additional step. Now with massive
information storage being  with cheap and flexible manufacturing
coming into play, a factory can now have a production line turning out
custom items for each individual who is ordering. Even complex items
such as automobiles will now be continuously upgraded and evolved
instead of massive change overs on an annual basis. This means that
whether you are in Detroit, Bonn or Djbuti, there is a personalized
Subaru with your name on it.

Even in the community driven world, the need for importing goods is
still there. Draw an economic circle around your community and find
out what the cashflow situation looks like and where the monies come
from and to where are they heading and you will find that self
sufficient communities is a Myth unless one wants to create a bordered
community as in Huxley's Brave New World. Neal Stephenson, in his
prescient novel, Diamond Age has developed a scenario where there is
accomodation between the high tech wired world and the low tech
artisan communities- but even there one has an accomodation with life
styles.

We can not use a past that never was to build a future that never will
be. In just 10 months baby y2k will be born- whether or not, to quote
TS Eliot,the millenium ends (begins) with a whimper and not a bang,
"communities" will be far different from the idylic Pastoral evoked by
Beethoven's music or Kalenbach's Ecotopia.

The problems with globalization are legion. Very bright minds have
given careful thought and made a good case against "globalization" in
its current manifestation. Unfortuately, if the past had been so
wonderful, the present would not have materialized as it has. As
Wordsworth has said (paraphrase), Though we can never recall the hour,
of spendor in the grass, of glory in flower, we will grieve not,
rather find strength in what remains behind.

Humans have been in this mode for 10,000 years, ever since agriculture
allowed for the creation of an opportunity for humans to stop and
"think" and the luxury of resources, including technology, to
experiment. this period, the agro-industrial period is ending.
Unfortunately, the transition may take several HUNDRED years. You
can't push the river, as Fritz Perls has said. All that we can hope
for is the ability to add one small brick in the attempt to restore
Babel Tower to its full potential- we need a much longer vision, a
different sense of time and place- Our small time upon the stage, Our
"10 seconds" to howl into the sound and fury of life...

thoughts?

tom abeles