Stop the World I Want To Get Off!

"Somebody stop the world I want to get off." Do you remember that musical in 1962 England? Then it was about love and entertainment. Today it takes on a whole new meaning!
All this restructuring Arabia into the world according to America at breakneck speed, is giving me sleepless nights. What with the IMF and the World Bank et al – I'd heard they were looking at Jordan's labour laws vis a vis women – does that mean that maternity rights may be under threat? And then I came across Walden Bello's 2002 book Deglobalization: Ideas for a New Economy.
Quite opportune I think to myself for getting a good night's sleep. Okay, no bedside reading book, but it appeared like a breath of fresh air and it goes something like this, quote: "It sets out to explain the crisis of legitimacy in the institutions and actions of global financial powers, such as The World Bank (et al). These institutions have imposed on the world a system that empowers corporations, while it weakens governments that try to serve the interests of its people".

What Bellow advocates is re-empowerment of civil society in its own image. I wonder what happened during last year's conference in Amman on "Globalisation, International Finance and Democracy in the Arab World" or was it just another conference?

To quote from the website of the Canadian Barnard-Boeker Centre Foundation "Bellow says we must deconstruct while we construct. This system will allow us to finance local development based on human needs; establish ecological equilibrium and de-emphasize growth. Decisions would be based on democratic choice, not the imperative of market forces, and land and resources would be redistributed equitably for all. In this process it would make sure that corporations and the state are constantly monitored by civil society."

Bello concludes that "a more fluid, less structured, more pluralistic world, will enable nations and communities to carve out the space to develop based on their own values, their rhythms and the strategies of their choice".

This business of globalization is getting to me. So I went for a walk to clear my head of all the negative emotions I have been feeling these days from the loss of state owned land, to the great tax burden Jordanian's have to carry. And then I passed a car with the following sticker on the back:

DON'T STEAL – THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T LIKE COMPETITION.

And I had to laugh – really loud – felt much better after that, hence the photo. J


http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/opinion/opinion4.htm http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/opinion/opinion3.htm
http://www.ourplanet.com/imgversn/143/wirth.html