Addendum to G8, globalization post

I just wanted to follow up briefly on a post made over the weekend concerning protests and violence at the latest G8 summit in Germany.

We talked a bit about the emotions stirred up by the world's "globalization" agenda, and reactions to such policies worldwide. I thought I'd add a bit to that discussion here with something I read last night in a 2002 essay by investor Jim Rogers.

Here's what Jim had to say after returning home from his millennial trek across the globe:

Globalization, we are discovering, is a very tricky concept. In the best of all possible scenarios, it means everyone will drink Pepsi, watch the NBA, and drive a Ford. Not everyone wants that. More and more people are turning inward to their own tribe, their own ethnic group or religion. Global telecommunications, the Web, and fast travel appear to make the world a smaller place but sometimes it simply makes people more protective of their own lives and culture.

Words of a man who's seen it up close. And at the same time (and within the very same essay), he has also pointed out that protectionism and blocking one's self off from the world will only bring harm to a country and its people.

Maybe there is a right way to go about trading and interacting with other nations. A more natural system of trade and mutual benificence that is not dictated from on high by the politicians and their delegates. I don't know, but I think it's something to consider.