A long, long time ago in a magical world called 2008, there was a terrible economic crisis that happened because lots of people got really greedy and no one stopped them until it was too late. There was a housing bubble, there was speculation and predatory lending, there was a huge government bailout. All of this led to a global economic recession. It is estimated that close to 7 trillion dollars was lost in investments just in the U.S. alone. That’s a lot of retirement funds. Watch the video below to get a really simple picture of what happened.
If you want to get a better picture, ask your parents if you can watch The Big Short. It’s R-Rated and includes lots of really questionable content, so I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly. However, it is based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same name and does a fantastic job of breaking down this complicated situation. It stars Steve Carell, Christian Bale, and Ryan Gosling as a handful of people who saw the crisis coming, tried to warn everyone, then bet big on the failure and made out like bandits when the house burned down.
Nationalism on the Rise
In the wake of this crisis, just like every other financial crisis in the past 150 years, we have seen a surge of far-right populist-nationalist fervor. This usually lasts for about 10 years or so. In 2016, this fervor materialized in the United States behind the face of Donald Trump and in the United Kingdom in Brexit. This nationalism considers globalism an enemy. Hear President Trump as he speaks to the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2019, as says, “the future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots.”
I fundamentally reject this dichotomy. There is no reason why a person can’t be a patriot and also care about and support the well being of the globe. In our ever more global economy, the good of the many is the good of the one. I think that Trump and those that hold to his position believe that if the world gets better it means that they must lose something, but that is not the way global economics works.
Globalism and Nationalism, Together
Currently, there are 8 people in the world that together have the same amount of assets as the bottom 50% of the world. Just 8 people. Let’s say they own a peach orchard and I go out one day and pick 100 peaches. They decide to keep 75 peaches for themselves (after all it is their orchard) and I get to keep 25 peaches for my labor.
But in the global economy, the orchard is growing. The next time I go out, I’m able to pick 200 apples a day. With this increase in yield, even if they decrease their share of the apples to 60%, they still get 120 peaches and pass on 80 to me. They have still grown, but they have grown in a way to make that growth sustainable not just for themselves but for the rest of the planet.
If you are confused, watch this quick TED Talk on how nationalism and globalism can (and must) coexist.
Fear and Worship
People always need something to be afraid of. The world tells them that they should worship money, but if you are going to worship something then you are going to demonize whatever gets in the way of the thing that you worship. For a long time, it was freedom. Those with power believed that if they gave rights to others then they would lose their power.
Then it was the Soviets and Communism. During the Cold War, America’s economy was booming and we saw the ideology of the Russians as a threat to that economic growth. After the fall of communism, there was peace while no one messed with our money.
In 2001, a new demon appeared on most people’s radar. Not only could radical Islamic terrorists make our price of gas go up and hurt our pocketbook, but now they could threaten our very way of life. It is curious that the targets that they chose were not only tall buildings that represented American pride, but they also house investment bankers and financial companies, they were attacking our god.
There is a reason why we print “In God We Trust” on our money. It was the same reason the Romans put Caesar on their money. That was their God, he represented their wealth. And for Americans, there is one God worshiped above all others. For the vast majority, it is not the God of the Bible, it is the almighty Dollar.
Today, with Coronavirus spreading throughout the world. It remains to be seen exactly who will be demonized or blamed and who will end up being worshipped. We’ve already seen some of it in the backlash against China, the burning down of cellular infrastructure, the conspiracy theories, etc. People are being affected by this virus and it will have a big impact on our global economy. As we come out of this, don’t listen to those who would get you hyped up with unwarranted fears and speculation.
I know that was pretty deep and quickly spanned everything from the financial crisis of the early 2000s to Corona-virus through the lenses of globalism and nationalism. I hope you followed me. Please leave your thoughts below, and I look forward to talking more about it tomorrow on our Zoom meeting.
I find the point you made about Donald Trump’s speech to be spot on. Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% pro-trump, but we don’t only have to care about our nation. We need to be able to help others and at the same time still help ourselves. Like Wakanda at the end of Black Panther.
Nice analogy to Black Panther lol
Yes, we should be able to help others and ourselves.
I definitely feel like globalism and nationalism should exist in unison, but I also think that if it comes down to where we have to choose between the good of the world or of America, our actions should ultimately be for the good of our nation.
If something is done for the good of the world, doesn’t that indirectly affect us (as well as something being done to the disadvantage of the world)?
I agree with Seth on this. We don’t only have to worry about our selves but help those who are in need
i agree with seth. pls let this count as a comment. i also learned that Trump is 100% real facts.
I liked hearing what Wanis Kabbaj had to say about globalism and nationalism coexisting. He made some good points. It’s especially amusing how many things that evoke national pride are the result of past globalization.
Yeah, I had no idea each ideology was so intertwined with one another, like the part about national sports/foods/languages coming from other countries.
I think its weird that we were alive during the recession but too young to realize what was happing. Also why on earth would people in china think that burning down cell towers would stop corona.
There are some wackos out there that think 5G is a conspiracy and that it somehow caused the coronavirus.
I was thinking the same thing about us being alive during it but not really knowing anything about it
My parents are still in a bit of debt from the recession. they refinanced their mortgage during that time though, so its super low now. My mom told me the gas was up to 3 dollars then and she was driving a lot for work so that was bad. It was worse for other people by far so my family got out good and I’m thankful for that.
Nationalism and globalism should be able to coexist. After all, God asks us to help others, which is not just limited to our fellow countrymen. Furthermore, God asked us to teach about Jesus in ALL the nations, not just our own.
I liked how the guy in the ted talk didn’t just define globalization and nationalism, he explained the deep and intertwined relationship between them. He also shared that globalization and nationalism can coexist int the world without threatening one another.
I had heard of the great recession but never knew what caused it and how it effected people.
wow how interesting
I like Trumps point on. “Wise leaders put the good of there people and there country first”
I dont understand at all why people just dont share their money. I thought the fact that the 8 richest people in the world have more money then over 3.5 BILLION people. People are complaining about all these problems and that the government should take care of it, but if we would just share our rescorces the world would be such a better place