Making Globalization Work

I'm currently halfway through Joseph Stiglitz's latest book titled "Making Globalization Work". It is a very interesting account of both sides of the globalisation debate and provides a more balanced view than another interesting book I read recently called "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Globalization is a topic that affects everyone on a basic level and yet it is very complex. One of the big issues we face today is the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots. This is not only the case for individuals, it is happening to nations as well. Stiglitz does a good job of explaining how this is perpetuated by institutions such as the IMF and WTO. Another interesting fact is that developing countries such as China are effectively providing low interest loans to rich countries such as the United States by buying Treasury bills which enables the US to continue to live beyond its means. This situation is unsustainable and the only question is whether it unwinds slowly or whether it culminates in a massive global financial and economic crisis.

As I read this book I recalled reading books as a teenager such as "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler where (if I remember correctly) it was predicted that within one or two generations we would not have to work (unless we wanted to) because everything would be automated, life expectancy would exceed 100 years as there would be cures for all terminal illnesses, etc. These wonders (and more) have actually occured as predicted by Toffler, although unfortunately the beneficiaries are but a small percentage of the worlds population. The fact is that there are more people living a stone age existence today, without access to clean water, electricity, education and healthcare, than at any other era in the past. This is probably the most shocking future that hardly any futurists would have imagined without nuclear armageddon taking place, and sadly it is our reality.

"Making Globalisation Work" tries to address the big questions, such as how to break the vicious cycle of poverty and indebtedness, how to align the interests of the developed and developing nations, and how to address global issues such as climate change. These are the true challenges of our generation - challenges that if not successfully tackled will herald a new "dark age" for the world, with lower life expectancy, massive starvation, displacement of entire populations, the inundation of coastal cities, the list goes on.

I hope that in 30 years we will be able to look back and say we were able to rise to the challenge, realising today that the challenge is more difficult than it ever was (back in the good old days when two old men had the fate of the world in their hand in deciding whether or not to press the Big Red Button) and that paradoxically everyone holds the key to what the world will be like in the future through their individual actions.

Progress?

Being away for a few months, one becomes acutely aware of the pace of change we experience in KL. Even the view of the KL skyline from our apartment balcony has changed noticeably since we left in May. I got myself a new camera (Sony Alpha 100 DSLR) and have been playing with it, trying to take shots of Lucas (difficult) and the view from the balcony (much easier). I've managed to take decent pictures of Formula 1 cars whizzing by, but Lucas moves faster and less predictably! So I'll have to practice a little more. The shot here is a typical "just before the deluge" shot - the sky turns almost black as night, but the sun is still shining from behind (and 5 minutes later, the view is completely wiped out as the rain completely obscures the city). The twin towers stand out especially under these conditions.

I'm already experiencing a little buyer's remorse with the camera, but not because it's not good enough (it'll probably take me several months to even utilise it to 50% of what it can do). A couple of days after I bought it, Sony came out with a very attractive promotional offer that includes a lot more accessories (e.g. 2GB memory stick, free photo workshop, etc.) for less than what I paid. Also, I heard the new and better model (the Alpha 700) is being launched in November. Anyway, that's the pace of change thing again - one really should not fall for it. My 12 year old car and 15 year old TV set are still working just fine. Actually when I was buying it, the salesperson was trying to convince me to buy the Canon EOS 400D instead. So not only do we have "improved" models every year, we also have more and more choices of equally improved models.

Is this a good thing? Well - in my case probably not. I hardly use any of the features of all the new and improved models of phones, cameras etc. (I think I actually took my best pictures with my 20 year old Minolta manual compact). Unfortunately, you can't buy a 5 (or even 2) year old phone or camera anymore. It's actually quite difficult to buy a phone that just does calls and sms (and doesn't need to be "rebooted" every now and then!). Soon it'll be difficult to buy a camera that is not capable of inadvertently uploading your private pics to the internet!

That brings me to one unique thing about Malaysia that makes this such a great place - thanks to Proton (our very own car manufacturer), we can actually buy a 20 year old car factory new if we want to. None of the stuff that just causes trouble like computerised ignition, digital displays, ABS, airbags, traction control etc. Just a car that gets you from A to B, and it actually withstands floods quite well (except when parked in a basement car park)! Unfortunately, there are not enough people like me who just want simple, single function products and that's why Proton is probably doomed (and why people like me have a job)! Still, one would think that someone should be able to find a market for such "obsolete" stuff, given that 90+ % of the world's population does not own a phone, camera or car...

Back home again

Well it's been over a week since we got back and the time has passed in a blur of meeting up with family and friends, catching up at work and having all the great local food that we've missed (although I'm already missing those steaks and burgers after a week!). Malaysia celebrated her 50th year of Independence on August 31st, so there is a festive atmosphere and the city is beautifully lit up every night.

I haven't really had a chance to reflect yet on the experiences of the last 3 months, and it looks like I won't be able to in the foreseeable future. In some ways I feel as if I'm on a dysfunctional treadmill that is going so fast that I'll fall and hurt myself if I try to slow down or get off. Despite the "advantages" of jet-lag (being awake when no-one else is) I have gotten less than half of my to-do list done.

One good practice that we've continued over from the US is tracking our daily expenses. It is indeed shocking how much we spend every day, just on the bare necessities. I really wonder how people manage to get by on RM1000 a month (US$10 per day) which is the average wage in KL for unskilled or semi-skilled workers. It does put things in perspective though and I believe most people would have a much better chance of living within their means if only they took the simple step of tracking their expenditure.