50 Politics Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Author:Tom Butler-Bowdon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
Published: 2015-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

Final comments

In many parts of the world, Klein argues, the previous colonial subjugation has been replaced by a corporate one called “globalization.” Globalization is not only about capital’s transcending of international borders, but must also come to mean a sense of global citizenship and global rights, with greater emphasis on the world “market” for democracy, human rights, labor, and environmental policy. In other words, the left needs to own globalization as much as the right.

Events such as the 14 suicides in 2012 at the Foxconn plant in China—which makes products for Apple, HP, Dell, Motorola, Nintendo, and Sony, and where workers are paid $1–2 an hour—should tell us that much of what Klein wrote about has changed little. Indeed, the themes of the book—corporate greed, the fragility of people power, government’s capture by special interests—are as relevant 15 years later as they ever were. Even if her talk of a “neoliberal consensus” does not chime with your political views, it is worth listening to her warning about the takeover of public space by private interests. Being a consumer may be fun, but being a citizen is a privilege that carries a responsibility to protect and enhance the things that we hold in common.

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