Globalisation represents greed

When English author George Orwell maintained 60 years ago that the USSR would collapse, no one believed him and yet it became true in 1992. Orwell had contended that any nation state which has no moral legitimacy to rule its people cannot endure. It was for that reason that the British empire collapsed despite the fact that many British imperialists claimed that their government promoted fairness, the rule of law and the advantages of an English education.

They justified imperialism with racism on the ground that the indigenous people could not rule themselves properly and fairly.

The British empire used education and colonial administration as well as the judicial system to mask the ulterior motive of oppression and capitalistic exploitation. We are now confronted with a new form of empire configured by the transnational corporations. It is dependent upon the media to disguise its true purpose and to promote the fiction that development is good and that globalisation is beneficial to all. This is in fact a lie.

The G-Seven group of industrialised countries, which will now enlarge to eight, is not itself a new empire but rather a rich man's club and an oppressor's club which is designed to serve the interests of the transnational corporations. The mainstream media are instruments of these policies and are effectively manipulated by the corporate interests.

It was very clear how the media were captivated by luxurious events and led to focus on the top politicians who serve the rich and powerful.

David Korten was right when he entitled his book, When Corporations Rule the World, and Bishop Desmond Tutu rightly said about the book, that it is "searing indictment of an unjust international economic order."

Yet the big industrialised countries are supporting the unjust economic order as their leaders support the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. All these are linked with the transnational corporations and together they harm our environment, our mother earth and our people - not only the indigenous peoples and other poor and grassroots people in the South but even the labourers and the middle classes in the north are being increasingly exploited.

Kirpatrick Sales said in his book, Rebel Against the Future, that the Industrial Revolution in England during the last century destroyed the British farmers for the benefit of the landlord and the industrialist for the growth of capitalism and the expansion of the empire. He said that the new empire of globalisation run by the transnational corporations and their megatechnology and computers will make more members of the middle classes jobless within two decades.

I see, however, no sign of the G- Seven confronting this dilemma. Russia is invited to join the club not because it is rich economically, but because it is rich in natural resources. With the elimination of the communist or socialist ideology in opposition to the capitalist and transnational corporations, globalisation will allow the transnationals to plunder more of Russian natural resources.

The consequences of this destruction of the environment will first be felt by the indigenous people in the form of the destruction of their livelihood and dignity. The middle classes will also ultimately face destruction in deference to the profit motive, a further sacrifice on the altar of money and technology.

Indeed globalisation is a new demonic religion. It uses the media to create a sense of lack. Hence we are driven to earn more in order to acquire more yet we can never reach a point of contentment. Since globalisation is under the control of the big corporations, the media is used to direct us blindly toward the monoculture of more and more technology, of the McWorld of fast food, junk food and the cola and jeans syndrome.

But if we follow the American and the G-Seven lifestyles, there will not be sufficient natural resources for all of us. Most of us will not be happy with this style of life which is harmful to ourselves, our family, our society and our natural environment. If, however, we follow the indigenous peoples' way of life, we can all live simply and have time to enjoy ourselves and to become part and parcel of the community as well as with our mother earth.

We should learn from the indigenous people about the wholeness of life and about the sanctity of the natural order. We should learn to be alone with nature, to live with birds and deer, to appreciate nature, to respect nature. We can then realise that intellectualism and social engineering cannot liberate us from suffering.

We need to return to the best of our spiritual tradition, to shamanism, to mythology, to traditional rituals, songs and dances - to experience life as it is still available and alive in many indigenous communities which are being threatened by big corporate entities which are supported by states in the G-Seven and elsewhere in derogation of the interests of their own people and natural resources.

For the corporations' natural resources are only a source of economic gain. When one area has been exhausted they will move to another. The people are relevant only to the extent that serves to generate income either as labourers or consumers. For the indigenous people, money is less important. Of greater significance to them and for us is to live happily, with dignity, with a sense of the sacred and with spiritual dimension to our lives, in harmony with the earth and with reverence for our ancestors and respect for our communities and with a commitment to the generations to come.

If we care for our survival, we must not only question G-Seven economic policies but the political structure that has emerged which is no longer accountable to the people. We must also question the legal and judicial systems which serve to maintain the status quo.

We need alternative economic and political strategies designed as if human beings matter. Indeed, we need alternative educational programmes which encourage us to integrate the manifold aspects of our being. We must be able to link our head with our heart so that we escape compartmentalisation and develop the capacity to grow seeds of peace, seeds of joy within ourselves. And from this we bring about change. Not by hating the oppressor, but by challenging the structural violence. Through non-violent means we can seek a transformation to a just and peaceful world.

Science stands in opposition to religion with a capital R but there is now a new scientific approach to the living universe which produces a new kind of scientist who is humble and relies upon his or her heart as well as head. This science links beautifully with the best in spiritual endeavour and can help us to appreciate the wholeness of being.

I hope that we are together in this venture. We need a movement against globalisation by the transnational corporations and toward the reliance upon the local culture and the communities if we are to live happily together, with wisdom, understanding, and love.