The Vote Against

Globalization

 

Vocabulary

goods	insecurity	for the better
steel	garment	competition
steal	populist	manufacture
fled	suck out	agreement
suck	free trade	Upstate New York
scarce	please (2)	bring back
willing	abandon	argument (2)
influx	institution	uneasiness
vote	free trade	free trade zone
zone	influence	multinational corporation
border	exception	take to the streets
promise	discontent	mechanism
location	profit (2)

 
 
 
 

Video: The Vote Against Globalization

 

Transcript

Goods are shipped across every ocean. Those goods are produced where production costs are cheapest.

Corporations are increasingly multinational.

Even banks think globally: with one click of the mouse, you can send billions anywhere.

That’s globalization. It’s a mechanism which changes people’s lives — and not always for the better.

One example is the workplace.

Whether it’s the garment business or the steel industry, many companies have abandoned the developed, industrial countries and moved their manufacturing to cheaper locations.

The US is no exception.

But people who have lost their jobs there or whose jobs are in danger are open to the kinds of promises Donald Trump has made.

Donald Trump, US President-Elect: “There are jobs being sucked out of our economy. You look at all the places that I just left — you go to Pennsylvania, you go to Ohio, you go to Florida, you go to any of them. You go to Upstate New York . . . our jobs have fled to Mexico and other places.

We’ve bringing our jobs back.”

Another example is the freedom of movement.

Globalization opens borders, not just for goods, but for people as well.

In the EU for example, anyone can work in any country they please. But that increases competition in the labor market, especially when jobs are scarce, and foreigners are willing to work for less.

One of the main arguments for Brexit was the influx of Polish workers into Britain. That was why many Britons voted to leave the EU.

Then there’s free trade.

When global free-trade zones are created, some countries lose their influence. Many are worried that multinational corporations might become more powerful than democratic institutions.

That’s one big reason why so many have taken to the streets to fight the TTIP free-trade agreement with the US.

The uneasiness with globalization is growing. Insecurity and discontent make it easy for populists like Donald Trump.

Still, he’s not the first, and won’t be the last politician to profit from it.

Questions

1. Merchandise are always manufactured in countries with a reputation for high quality like Germany and South Korea. Is this entirely true, generally true, yes and no, both, mostly false or entirely false?

2. Is globalization is only about free trade or does it encompass much broader trends?

3. What has happened to manufacturing in the US? What were the consequences of factory relocations?

4. Do EU citizens have certain rights? Who “benefits” and who “loses out”? What was a reaction to this?

5. Is free trade only about eliminating tariffs and quotas?

6. Everyone is hopeful and optimistic about free-trade, migration and globalization. Yes, no, in the middle, yes and no, it depends?

 

A. In your city or country, have more factories opened up, closed or moved out or a mixture of all? Has it been changing over the decades?

B. What happens to workers who have been made redundant or laid off from their (factory) jobs? How do they feel?

C. Have people immigrated to your city or country, have citizens of your country emigrated or both? How do locals feel about immigrants?

D. Is your country part of a free trade zone or agreement?

E. Are people generally positive and optimistic about globalization, do they feel negative and pessimistic, does it depend, do they have mixed feelings?