* RE: Zippie World!
Thank you for the review by George Scialabba of "The World Is Flat" and the ideas of Thomas Friedman, the pied piper of globalization. I've felt for many years, ever since the publication of Friedman's Lexus, that his work and ideas are given much too quick a condemnation and dismissal by many on the Left.
For Marxists, however, the question that needs to be probed is how globalization affects the class struggle. If capital has become global, then Labor must do likewise.
There is much in Friedman's argument for rational capitalists to take the long view and recognize that democracy and stability are the best atmosphere for capital to operate within, This is true. It argues against war, against fascism, and for the construction of a social infrastructure that ensures a healthy and educated work force. However, Friedman totally ignores the inexorable drive by individual capitalists to dominate the market, and by extension, the world, at the expense of the other capitalists and the rest of the human race. This can lead them to support war, fascism and a drive to the economic and social bottom for the rest of humanity. Indeed, it is this myopic view that has led major U.S. capitalists to support, or at least temper their criticism of, the apocalyptic politics of George W. Bush and the neo-cons ensconced in the U. S. government today.
The experiences in the globalized world of social democracy as it is practiced in Scandinavia merits a closer look, as do the efforts of ANC-SACP-COSATU alliance of South Africa, who now control the government. Thank you for publishing this thoughtful piece by Scialabba.
Ted Pearson
-- Michael Pugliese