This book starts with a short "indictment" printed below, a short introduction, a guide for reading it better, and a short conclusion, all available for full download. The main body of the book is composed of nine chapters with excerpts available for download.
The Indictment
The bloody, mutilated body of the standard bearer lay on the fields of a lost battle. The wicked forces of humanity were once again marching victoriously, rushing the war toward a speedy end. I, the standard bearer, mutilated, bloody, and tired, had to add one more loss to my inglorious war tally. I, the soldier defeated in body and in soul, needed courage and resolve to continue, hoping that the call for the next battle would come later rather than sooner. I, the king and the commander, had wounds to tend, humiliation to endure, excuses to invent, and resolutions to make. Had not the dogs of war set upon me long before the hour of the sheep-wolf I could have been better prepared, better rested with better plans. The dogs came long before the named hour; I gave battle and they came again, and the inglorious war tally grew ever longer. So are yours, perhaps a little shorter than mine, but still long enough to shame you. Inner battles you have fought hard and lost to the combined forces of desire, want, love, hate, ignorance, and the insistence of your fellow friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
Introduction
I have believed in the virtues of free trade and globalization all my life. Only recently have I realized that its virtues and benefits have been distributed unevenly. I would therefore like to make it clear that I am neither denouncing globalization nor calling its economic principles into question, nor do I think that we need to roll it back or hinder its evolution. I am merely calling for a review, albeit a fundamental one, of its philosophical underpinnings and operational model. I am convinced that the productivity of the current model in the developed world—as opposed to the developing world—has peaked, and within a handful of years, if not checked and balanced, will begin to fundamentally undermine the structural foundations of the stable middle and working classes in the developed world.
If the current operational model and philosophical underpinnings of globalization are not reviewed and modified, the middle and working classes will be destabilized and hence radicalized, leading to the rapid and destructive growth of political populism; international conflicts over resources, tariffs, labor, capital and technology; national polarization along racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic lines; and the devolution and balkanization of hitherto stable national entities into ever-smaller Kosovo-like statelets, establishing a precursor to international wars and local warlets. This is a strategic error in the making.
For the past fifteen years the developing ..................To read the remaining introducing paragraphs click "download" (at the top of the page)