Mr Grass, you are a stern critic of globalisation, why? Further, what sort of a role do you envisage for India and the developing world in a globalised scenario?
When I was in Calcutta, the process had begun. It was 1987 and the Gorbachev era was unfolding itself. That the Soviet Union would collapse was becoming clearer every day. Two years after my return to Germany, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Since then, the world, for all practical purposes, has really had only one superpower-the United States-and one ideology which is market-driven capitalism. In other words, the earlier impulses and signs have now turned into a powerful reality which we call globalisation. This globalisation is marching ahead at the expense of human beings.
What does this globalisation involve?
A fusion of large corporations driven by profit only, layoffs and unemployment, concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and a world of luxury for some slender layers of society which we can all see. In short, a rampant increase of poverty and misery for the vast sections. Of course, politicians are uttering the right pious words but they have not been able to reverse the trend. Yes, we all have an expression for this trend of neo-liberalism whose impact can be traced everywhere, even in India. There is also another point. Capitalism, as the only existing ideology, is on a suicidal course. Propelled by sheer irrationalism, it has turned the free market into a dogma and intoxicated by its all but limitless power, it is playing the wildest of games with no identifiable goal other than to maximise profits.