Globalisation
... for the opening of the markets has freed the ways for the big companies. This unjust development is accompanied by a huge protest movement of Anti-Globalisation Activists who protest against the world wide growing inequality and stress the uncontrolled power of international financial markets and conglomerates. In recent years, these Anti- Globalisation Activists have formed under the name of “Attac” and other NGOs in order to provide reasonable guidelines and a counterbalance to the currently un-reflected decisions of the leading powers. The Tobin tax, for example, suggests a higher tax on rapid currency transactions to balance the poverty gap between industrialised and developing nations. Apart from that the NGOs call for rigid changes in the fields of ecology, social justice, poverty, and economy, to name but a few. But official attempts to solve these problems remain unheard because they are not strict enough to force the leading nations into action. Kofi Anan and the UN developed a code of conduct, the “Global Compact”, in 2000. There they demand that world economy should aid and protect international human rights instead of violating them. In addition to that, world economy should provide sufficient labour conditions and act with caution in order to protect the environment. In fact, the code of conduct contains good ideas, but they do not work because it presupposes voluntariness. The cultural and structural changes on the other hand do not come without preparation. Since the Cold War the markets have opened and 1/3 of mankind have joined the new liberal economic and social orders. Industry is also changing from fossil fuels to new technologies, and a lot of practical innovations have been made. What is more, the 21st century has no clear dominating economic power as the 20th century had. The developing countries are now at the threshold of these changes we experienced two centuries ago. They fear urbanisation, industrialisation, and the loss of culture as we did before. But they have to fear it because the balance of power is unjust, and the developed countries clearly control the markets where the development countries try to sell their products. The loss of culture even concerns us informed and multicultural Western European citizens. Most of the Europeans see the growing cultural exchange as enrichment, and they adapt it without having an identity crises. They welcome the idea to eat in a Japanese restaurant and buy gifts from abroad in a shop ...