INTRODUCTION
We are living in a new age of
globalization. In this new age, changes do not follow what have been imagined
and are so drastic thus becomes unpredictable. In the process of globalization,
the uncertainty about future leads people to have different dreams of their own
which we call "global dreams." The rich people dream to be richer and the
people with the political power dream to have more power. There are poor people
who dream to be rich enough to have daily bread while others do not even want to
dream of the kingdom of heaven being realized in this world since they think
that they have already lost too much. Some Christians dream to have koinonia of
the whole people, rich and poor. However, it is a long way to go. In the world
of diversity and separation, people speak in their own fonts to convince their
own value system. If we can say our hope is in koinonia, it would be realized
by communication, in its first step, listening to the voices of the people with
less power or powerless.
Richard J. Barnet and John Cavanagh uncover and
envisage the global dreams by analyzing the process of globalization focused on
its suprastructure, i.e., world's dominant power which is "imperial
corporations", and the coming new world order which is formed by these economic
powers. In this reflection, I am going to focus on the authors' analysis of
globalization through my faith to live out the good news of Christ for the poor
in this changing world.
PROBLEMS OF THE GLOBALIZATION
The authors analyze
the global economy by focusing on socio-economic factors in the process of
globalization: the global cultural product; its distribution; dynamic of the
workforce; and the structure of financial network (p. 15). Their analysis
enables us to perceive the dynamic of the global system, how the economic power
is taking over the political power, and what the vision of the innovative
multinational corporations is.
The globalization in our contemporary
world is the product of advanced capitalism which is characterized by uneven
development, hence the separation between northern rich countries and the
southern poor countries face a serious problem. The more serious problems which
we perceive through the authors' analysis are that the development of technology
and production system which results in over production and job crisis (16-18).
Over production causes the ecological problem and job crisis widens a huge gap
between the beneficiaries and the excluded poor and marginal.
In this
complex situation, the authors point out, the expansion of national governments
is still under the influence of economic consequences. The process and result
of globalization led the national officials to function in relation to the
benefit of the multinational corporate and thus carry out the policies on behalf
of this leading minority. As a result, the political social structure of the
world is determined by the global corporate leaders only for their benefit of
financial gaining, thus the majority of the global population are neglected and
excluded from the benefit of the global industries.
The world nowadays
experiences poverty in abundance. How can we name those who suffer poverty?
They are the people who bears the sin of the world without sin. Jon Sobrino
names these people as "the crucified people" since they experience death in
poverty, which is slow but real death. The crucified Jesus, who is the poor,
teaches us, through his life story, to be in solidarity with the poor. One of
the examples is in Mark 2:23-28.
One sabbath he was going through the
grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck
heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they
doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" And he said to them, "Have
you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry
and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was
high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful
for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions."
Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not
humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the
sabbath."
When this story is viewed from the poor and marginal
people, the message is not the kerygma about Sabbath, but rather Jesus' being in
solidarity with the people who are hungry. Against the Pharisees claim to keep
the law of the Sabbath, Jesus proclaims that the "Sabbath is for the poor" by
engaging himself with the starving disciples.[Byung Mu Ahn] Here we find the
basis of "the option for the poor" which is revealed in Jesus'
mission.
The church faces many challenges: how the church can be a centre
for those who suffer poverty; how church can influence the government's social
policy. The church must ask questions "who gets the benefit out of the
globalization" and proceed with concrete action for the resolution. However, it
is not a simple and easy way. As the authors mention, the global corporations
are using all the information only for their benefit. It implies that the idea
of structural change will end up as a mere ideal and may not be effective for
the holistic well being of the whole global population. Global integration has
many positive aspects, however, it brings unparalleled prosperity to rich and
poor. It thus creates a new form of global community which will confront the
problems, not from the political conflict between nations or leading economic
forces, but from that between the wealthy forces of globalization and the
marginalized forces of localization.
Most of the world's leading
corporations have positive social force, however, they do not take
responsibility on the long term social or political consequences of their
business activities. Hence, the oppressive structure in our new global system
excludes the poor and marginal from the benefit sharing thus widens and hardens
the gaps separating rich and poor. The authors' claim is true that says that
"no world authority exists to define global welfare, much less to promote it",
and it reminds us the direction of the church's mission to seek for the holistic
welfare for the poor.
RESOLUTION OF THE CRISIS IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION
For
the resolution of these problems, the authors offer three strategies: structural
change of the suprastructure of global system; educating the leaders; and
globalization from below. The suggestion, "bringing global economic institutions
under the authority of political institutions is essential" (p. 421) is ideal,
however it leaves the question of how this is possible and when this happens are
the political power truly work for the benefit of the less powered people and
nation. The multinational corporations have dominant power in the global system
and the leaders of these corporations would not give up their power by risking
their primary goal. The very unfortunate consequence within the present global
system is, that neither political leaders nor global corporate managers are
willing or able to solve the global crises and to change the systems for global
welfare.
As the authors noted, the CEOs of the leading business of the
world have a capacity for global thinking far greater than that of most
officials of national government. This means that the leaders of the global
corporations have the power to lead the situation. However, since their primary
goal is to maximize the profit, in the concrete steps of forming the
structure, the structural change can only be for the benefit of their
businesses.
The authors find hope in education and nurturing of
leadership in both government and the business world. Once again the problem
is, whether the self-transformation of the leaders is attainable through
education. The authors sense that the cause of the global problems comes from
world leaders' lacking the responsibility, therefore, suggest that a solution is
to "educate the leaders" who have economic and political power. However the
nature and primary goal of multinational business is to be a winner for their
benefit rather than global welfare, thus self-transformation of the economic
leaders by education is hard to expect and is unrealistic.
The authors'
suggestion "globalization from below" (pp. 429-430) speaks a positive way to the
resolution. "Globalization from below" means empowerment of the people of
infrastructure. "Globalization from below" certainly is one of the most
fundamental element and the crucial factor, and in this process,
inter-subjective relationship of mutual respect is realized. Since people's
power rises from the grassroots rather than from the top of the organized
structure, it is necessary to mobilize the spiritual heritage of the people who
are suffering and struggling for their long term benefits.
Whether the
separation between rich and poor comes about gradually or rapidly, it cannot be
eliminated by either evolutionary reform of existing system, or by revolutionary
reversal through violent uprising from below. The fundamental shift in world
view of supra-structure enables us to achieve the resolution of the global
crisis. Since the global corporation is sensitive and responds to daily
reaction of the world situation and dynamics of change, it is crucial to make
them to count the power of the people within infrastructure.
Considering
the drastic change of global system and its dynamics, we need a multi-faceted
strategy rather than a simple fundamental concept. The resolution of the global
problem is only possible by communication through a direct interaction between
the dominating power and dominated powerless. Whether it includes violence or
not is a matter of strategy for the efficiency of communication. Although it is
doubtful about effectiveness, educating the leaders of the global economic and
political power is still necessary. The more efficient way is, through
Christian education, to encourage and to support more Christians to be able to
involve in that leading group.
CONCLUSION
As Christians, we must address the problems and take
the responsibility for the consequences of the global economic and political
activities. The key factor for the resolution of the problem of globalization is
how to build the power of the infrastructure. The church should encourage the
people of faith, especially theologians, to be equipped with specialized
knowledge and information, and educate the grassroots necessary knowledge and
skills. "Globalization from below" can be a fundamental element that enables
the infrastructure to build the power which makes the leaders of the
supra-structure listen to the stories of the poor. The equilibrium of the power
in the supra- and infrastructure makes the communication possible.
Hope is in God who loves the world and is with us. Change is the key.
To fulfill this mission, the church must realize that the structural change by
transforamtion of present power is impossible. It is possible by the alternative
whole new power in a different dimension, i.e., neither political nor economical
power, which will lead to communication for koinonia. To communicate with the
economic and political power, we need to be equipped with higher knowledge and
information that are filtered through the good news of Christ for the poor.
Through this way, people will listen to each other and share the stories of the
poor that enables koinonia, and will seek for the global welfare as the whole
people of God.
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