"We did get used to the universal world order of today and do not like questioning it all that much"
A globalization that goes back to many centuries of colonization. Our wealth and comfortable life is built upon the availability of cheap raw materials and cheap labor. The rules for it have been determined in the past by the colonial powers. And today multinationals are the big beneficiaries. But at the end of the chain are we - the happy consumers in the industrialized nations. Happy about the cheap consumer goods like a smart phone, a car or a cheap cup of coffee. We did get used to the universal world order of today and do not like questioning it all that much. The convenience of our modern life is too great.
Our plates are filled to the brim and we only have to use a small amount of our income for it. In Germany it is on average twelve percent. Our streets and garages are full of cars, second cars and motorbikes – and now even e-bikes. We have a lot of spare time and are not only world champions in football but also in traveling. Thus not only the material wealth is distributed one sided. 20 percent of the world’s population possesses 80 percent of the money and goods.
The lifestyle in the industrialized countries is using a lot more energy and is more harmful to the environment than in poorer countries. Even though we have transferred the polluting industries to low wage countries, we also exported the corresponding burden on the environment.
Car manufacturing seems to be cleaner here than it actually is. Aside from the ecological and economical injustice, the social imbalances appear to be a lot more threatening. Wars, starvation and the lack of social perspectives forces people to flee from Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
Boat people and refugee camps are normal in the media these days. These are of course very complex matters, not easy to resolve. And they are frigthening. But fear is the worst advisor and dissociation and exclusion are not a solution.
