“Globalization” and the ideological conflicts between globalism and nationalism are pressing issues. The world is at a crossroads and we are living in a historical moment. How do we recognize it and deal with it? It’s worthwhile spending a Saturday afternoon thinking about it!
(Haha… my lousy sales pitch! )
Definitions: (Wiki)
- Globalization: the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.
Globalism: refer to different ideologies advocating globalization.
Nationalism: a complex, multidimensional concept involving a shared communal identification with one's nation.
It is a political ideology oriented towards gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, over a territory of historical significance to the group (such as its homeland).
(Notes: These two articles are long; we use them as reference only. They are NOT required reading for the meeting.)
Is the world flat? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Is_Flat)
- The best-selling book author, Thomas Friedman, analyzes “globalization” in early 21st century.
“The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, wherein all competitors have an equal opportunity.”
Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field. These “flatteners” including: Collapse of the Berlin Wall, Netscape web browser, software protocols, open platform for collaboration, outsourcing/offshoring, supply-chain streamlined globally (e.g. Wal-Mart), and “Informing” (search engines, Wikipedia, and maybe the social media), etc.
“Building Global Community” by Mark Zuckerberg:( https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuc ... 292806634/ )
- “Today we are close to taking our next step. Our greatest opportunities are now global -- like spreading prosperity and freedom, promoting peace and understanding, lifting people out of poverty, and accelerating science. Our greatest challenges also need global responses -- like ending terrorism, fighting climate change, and preventing pandemics. Progress now requires humanity coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community.”
“Every year, the world got more connected and this was seen as a positive trend. Yet now, across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection. There are questions about whether we can make a global community that works for everyone, and whether the path ahead is to connect more or reverse course.”
The reading and listening materials:
- Pros and Cons of Globalization: Controversy and Discussion
https://blog.udemy.com/pros-and-cons-of-globalization/
Or
Is Nationalism on the Rise Globally?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elena-ula ... 24712.html
TED Dialogues (Chris and Yuval Noah Harari: Nationalism vs. Globalism: The New Political Divide)
https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_ha ... cal_divide
(The interview is quite lengthy. If you have the capacity to handle it, listen to the whole dialogues. If you are completely snowed under, you can just watch the portion: 4:41 – 15:25)
4:41 CA (Host): But this process of connecting the world ended up with a large group of people kind of feeling left out, and they've reacted. And so we have this bombshell that's sort of ripping through the whole system. I mean, what do you make of what's happened? It feels like the old way that people thought of politics, the left-right divide, has been blown up and replaced. How should we think of this?
5:04 YNH: Yeah, the old 20th-century political model of left versus right is now largely irrelevant, and the real divide today is between global and national, global or local. And you see it again all over the world that this is now the main struggle. We probably need completely new political models and completely new ways of thinking about politics. In essence, what you can say is that we now have global ecology, we have a global economy but we have national politics, and this doesn't work together. This makes the political system ineffective, because it has no control over the forces that shape our life. And you have basically two solutions to this imbalance: either de-globalize the economy and turn it back into a national economy, or globalize the political system.
5:59 CA: So some, I guess many liberals out there view Trump and his government as kind of irredeemably bad, just awful in every way. Do you see any underlying narrative or political philosophy in there that is at least worth understanding? How would you articulate that philosophy? Is it just the philosophy of nationalism?
6:27 YNH: I think the underlying feeling or idea is that the political system — something is broken there. It doesn't empower the ordinary person anymore. It doesn't care so much about the ordinary person anymore, and I think this diagnosis of the political disease is correct. With regard to the answers, I am far less certain.
6:52 I think what we are seeing is the immediate human reaction: if something doesn't work, let's go back. And you see it all over the world, that people, almost nobody in the political system today, has any future-oriented vision of where humankind is going. Almost everywhere, you see retrograde vision: "Let's make America great again," like it was great — I don't know — in the '50s, in the '80s, sometime, let's go back there. And you go to Russia a hundred years after Lenin, Putin's vision for the future is basically, ah, let's go back to the Tsarist empire. And in Israel, where I come from, the hottest political vision of the present is: "Let's build the temple again." So let's go back 2,000 years backwards. So people are thinking sometime in the past we've lost it, and sometimes in the past, it's like you've lost your way in the city, and you say OK, let's go back to the point where I felt secure and start again. I don't think this can work, but a lot of people, this is their gut instinct.
(Please continue watching the video: 4:21 - 15:25)
Session I:
1. The essential aspects of globalization are movement of people, information, goods and services. In the course of globalization, what have we benefited from these massive movements? Who are the major beneficiaries of the trend?
2. What are the major globalization-induced issues? Who and why are the people left-behind or suffering the consequences of economic, political and cultural globalization?
3. Why is nationalism on the rise? Do you agree with the following statements? Why or why not?
- One argument says that humans have a series of natural sub-groupings that extend through the following range and order:
Family --> Clan (Extended Family) --> Tribe --> Nation --> Sub-Race --> Race --> Humanity.
And, only the “Nation” grouping allows for the best balance of security, freedom, and wealth distribution when the population is based on a common language and culture.
Session II:
4. Professor Yuval Harari thinks that we now have global ecology and global economy, but we have national politics. This won’t work. We can either de-globalize the economy or globalize the political system. What do you think? Which route do you think the world should go with?
5. “What is the real cause of job loss?” Do you agree that the answer won’t be the Chinese or Mexicans, "it’s robots and algorithms. And more and more decisions are being taken by algorithms"? Do you see Taiwan is facing the similar problem? What are our government's solutions? Do you think in general Taiwan is moving towards more on globalism or nationalism?
6. If we go with “global governance”, what challenges will human beings be facing? Would you like to see it succeed or would you prefer a “nation-based” community? Why?
********************************************************************************************************************************************
Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項:
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌,但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章,並仔細想過所有的問題,謝謝合作!
給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
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