Wolf: We must think and act from a global perspective, and it is difficult to do so.But to blame others for everything, it will lead to disaster.
I am a human, and I am concerned about human affairs (Homo Sum: Humani Nihil a Me Alienum Puto) mdash; mdash; the sentence of Roman drama writer TERENCE in the second century BC provides a sentence for today's eraHonesty.It defines Globalist MDash; MDash; one is condemned by many people including the US president.However, globalism should not only refer to economic globalization mdash; mdash; or some people say new liberal globalization.It should also refer to human beings to have global obligations and have global benefits.In order to fulfill the former and promote the latter, we must start with the nation state.But our thinking and actions should be far more than ethnic countries.
The earth's dazzling blue marbles hanging in space make many people realize this.These photos are the crystallization of 500 years of exploration and scientific discovery, which makes people deeply appreciate the meaning of Terren Titus's sentence.All human beings are closely related.They are part of the complex life network.They live in a planet together, which is the only planet in the solar system.There may be more lives like us in other places in the universe.But so far we have not found it.We are lonely.
This should let us think about issues from a global perspective.But there are other reasons for us to do this. There are both moral perspectives and pragmatic perspectives.
The Bretton Woods meeting ushered in the 75th anniversary of this month. A major achievement of the conference is to take development as the goal.This establishes a moral obligation: to help everyone reach the living standard of satisfying life.Some people may be defeated by its degree of success.However, we are now close to eliminating extreme human poverty mdash; mdash; 17th -century political philosopher Thomas Bull; Thomas Hobbes described the kind of dirty, brutal and short -lived life.The proportion of population living in absolute poverty has dropped to less than 10%, which is a huge achievement.
I do not hesitate to continue to support policies and plans that help to achieve this goal, including trade -oriented development.In my opinion, it is disgusting to think that the concept of the rise of the economic rise of non -Western countries in order to consolidate Western dominance is disgusting.
However, the globalist mdash; mdash; the concern of the entire human and the earth mdash; mdash; it is also a pragmatic cause.In a column article entitled by the world's eager for public products (The Worldrsquo; S Hunger for Public Goods), I proposed that as the economy and society are becoming more and more complicated, the scope of public products we need now have greatly increased.For the same reason, these public products are becoming more and more global.We share the earth's biosphere.This makes environmental protection a global public product.However, some people in Europe or the United States have suspected that war in neighboring areas will affect them?Therefore, peace is also a global public product.Similarly, foreseeable openness and stable world economies are also public products.Development is also: the poor world is a unstable world.When we look at anywhere, we will see global public products.
This is why the winners of World War II decided to establish an effective international institution.They have experienced the indulgence of national sovereignty.The result is catastrophic.Since then, there is nothing to reduce the importance of global cooperation.This is the case in Europe, which is why Brexit decides to retreat.The same is true in the world, so the United States has decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and ignore the WTO Rules (WTO) rules.Global public products can only be provided by cooperation between countries.If they refuse, these products will not be provided.
In a broad sense, globalism is unavoidable.But it also brings challenges.
First, human beings are through political organization within the country.The country can operate because they create identity and loyalty.These are necessary if the country (especially democratic countries) want to run successfully.Global cooperation also relies on effective and legal government operations.Therefore, the policy must also be judged based on its domestic legitimacy.In some cases, mdash; mdash; immigration is the most important example of mdash; mdash; this balance is lost.The control of people living within one country is a fundamental aspect of sovereignty.Globalism does not mean a world without national borders.That world will not be able to operate: without national borders, there will be no country.Without a country, there is no order, whether it is domestic or global order.
The second challenge is to manage the connection between global and the country.Experience shows that we have gone too far in some fields, but do too little in other areas.In the economic field, it can be said that financial globalization has gone too far.Some people think that international trade has also gone too far.But the detailed evidence survey of Elhanan Helpman in Harvard's Elhanan Helpman in Globalization and Inequality shows that this is not the case.Free trade is not the main reason for increasing internal inequality.At the same time, areas with insufficient global cooperation include corporate taxation and environment.
In the end, it may be the most important challenge to limit one of the natural tendencies in human nature: to blame the failure of domestic policies and the domestic interests to the foreigners.If trade is not the main reason for inequality, what is the main reason?Technology is a answer.The changes in corporate governance standards are also an answer.But solving these problems is much more difficult than blaming imports and immigrants.In addition, many domestic disadvantages have nothing to do with the world.Americans dependence on employment -related health insurance is an important source of insecurity and anxiety.This is obviously no dry department with trade.Black domestic disadvantages on foreigners may be a successful eye.It is also very destructive.
We must think and act from a global perspective.We have no other choices.This is not a globalism that supports global decentralism, but for globalism to maintain cooperation.This globalism depends on the legal government.No one questioned this.But the legal government does not necessarily have to be fiercely excluding.Instead, they can and must balance the demands and concerns of local, countries, regions and global.This is difficult.The simpler approach is to blame everything that messed up to the foreigners who believe in rejection and their globalist supporters.This is a successful political slogan, because human beings are so blog.Nevertheless, doing so may lead to disaster.
Translator/He Li
