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Making the connected world work better for people
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THE British shadow minister for Europe, Pat McFadden, recently warned members of his Labour Party that they should try to make the most of the global economy and not treat immigration like a disease.
As he put it, “You can feed on people’ s grievances or you can give people a chance. And I think our policies should be around giving people a chance.”
In a world increasingly dominated by grievances, such wise words are rare. Leaders worldwide should take note.
In the United States, Republicans are threatening to close the government down just because President Barack Obama has offered undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked in the US for many years a chance to gain citizenship. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) wants to introduce a five-year ban on immigration for permanent settlement.
Even the once famously tolerant Dutch and Danes are increasingly voting for parties that fulminate against the scourge of immigration.
Retaining one’s job in a tightening economy is undoubtedly a serious concern. But the livelihoods of most of the middle-aged rural white Americans are hardly threatened by poor Mexican migrants. UKIP is popular in some parts of England where immigrants are rarely seen.
Not just bigotry
It would be a mistake to dismiss anxiety about immigration as mere bigotry or apprehension about the globalized economy as simply reactionary. National and cultural identities are being transformed.
Americans know that, before too long, whites will be just another minority, and people of color will increasingly be in positions of power. At this point, all Tea Partiers and others like them can do is declare, “We want our country back!” Of course, this is an impossible demand.
Americans and others have no choice but to get used to living in increasingly diverse societies.
Likewise, economic globalization cannot be undone. But regulation can and should be improved. After all, some things are still worth protecting. There are good reasons not to leave culture, education, lifestyles, or jobs completely exposed to the creative destruction of market forces.
McFadden has pinpointed the central solution to globalization’s challenges: giving people “the tools to reap the benefits” of the globalized world, thereby making the “connected world work better for people.”
Ian Buruma is Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism at Bard College. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2014.www.project-syndicate.org. The views are his own. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
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