Globalism and globalization

Globalism and globalization

Copyright © since 1997 Danilo D'Antonio

From the term global, in this epoch so indispensable to communicate ideas concerning our whole planet, rise several words whose exact meaning should be still widely discussed and enlightened. It is well that we see a distinction, first, between the two main terms: globalization and globalism.

We could use the term globalization to define something fairly similar to a process of world-wide colonization. We refer to particular and widespread economic strategies that aim to draw the greatest immediate gain, often extremely standardizing the economies and the cultures in the various countries in the world. If inside this globalization process there are certain and recognized advantages (through it a certain kind of wellbeing increase everywhere in the world), nevertheless there are also terrible negative aspects (exhaustion of the natural resources, pollution, overpopulation, great economic and social disparities, annulment of the local cultural original expressions) that lead us to think be very useful a procedure of careful analysis and discernment, before to blindly continue toward this direction. This moment of reflection could just be defined with the other term: globalism.

We could use the term globalism to define something similar to a vision of the world: to see how the whole is so deeply interconnected that even the action of few people can influence the life of all the others on the Planet Earth and of ourselves, then. It is clear in that the connection with two terms and as many philosophic concepts of fundamental importance in our era: the holism --the awareness we need to consider the whole situation in order to reach a successful result even on a simple particular of it-- and the universalism: to recognize the common origins of all the peoples on the Earth and to cooperate, as justly as possible, all together in order to reach global common goals. Globalism then immediately leads us to the highest respect and attention for all the peoples and for our very planet. Globalism for example means a good ecology, a widely sustainable from nature economic growth, the interruption of the overpopulation phenomenon, a better distribution of tasks, opportunities and gains and the free expression of everyone.

While we can attribute to the term globalization a value of activity, of active intervention, to the term globalism we can correlate processes of analisys and reflection. To the first term we can link the figure of the globalizer, a real colonizer on a planetary scale, a person with great talents but with few free time to deeply reflect; to the second term we can link the figure of the globalist, a researcher, a philosopher who has as object of his thoughts the happy and prosper interaction between the peoples on the planet. It is not casual that we cannot find a verb to link to the terms "globalism" and "globalist", just because at them no action is connected in the material reality. While at the terms "globalization" and "globalizer" we can link easily the verb to globalize.

We can however see globalization and globalism like two complementary tendencies, in some way and measure even mutually indispensable each other. A globalization that does not attain the visions and the reflections of globalism is destined to produce, in the long run, more troubles than benefits. Globalists who are not also globalizers risk, on the contrary, to create knowledge and wisdom without the concrete abilities of the action.

It is important have well clear in mind the distinction between these two terms and their respective meanings and rôles, as from the good equilibrium of the energies put in movement by them derives our survival and that of our very planet.