SPIRITUALITY
AND
GLOBALIZATION: JIHAD
VS.
MCWORLD1
Roger Dittmann
USOC 26 November 2000
Globalization involves intense contention between
values—one might refer to it as a spiritual crisis, not one
involving ghosts and goblins, but one relating to the core
of the human spirit—core values, meaning, and purpose. The
world has experienced corporate globalization--the Bretton
Woods financial and monetary institutions, NAFTA, WTO, and
attempts to establish an international agreement on
investments (MAI).
The spiritual poverty of capitalism has long been
criticized—Human values are reduced to commodities: People
are reduced to consumers and statistics [Remember the
complaint, “I am a human being, do not fold, staple, or
spindle!”?]. Sense of community is disrupted. Society is
pulled apart by increasing disparities in wealth and power.
Attorneys inquire, “Just how much justice can you afford?”.
Health is similarly affected. People are subjected to
sophisticated manipulation in the search for profits and
power. Traditional “family” values are under attack.
“Material distributive justice”, i.e., adequate material
wealth to live safe, healthy, fulfilling lives, is not
served. Nor is “spiritual justice”, i.e., unlocking the
potential of the human spirit, encouraging cultural, moral,
and intellectual growth.
Transnational corporations gain market dominance
concomitantly with cultural dominance. It used to be
called, “Coca Cola culture”, it could also be called
“McCulture”. Artistic genius is coopted into commercials.
The public is told repeatedly, hundreds of times every day,
to buy something, that human aspirations can be fulfilled
by consumerism and replaced by materialism. Do you want to
be popular? Buy our mouthwash, which is portrayed as a
cocktail on a yacht while young eligibles cue to request
the next dance. Do you want prestige and respect? Buy our
car and park it front of your house. Do you want to commune
with nature? Smoke our cigarettes which are illustrated in
front of the Havasupai waterfalls in the Grand Canyon.
Billions of dollars are spent not only to divert attention
from profound and deep seated human needs and values, but
actually attacking them.
In his Republic, Plato referred to those who allow
sensual delights to override judgement, “lovers of money”,
and held them in low moral esteem, but he was not
1
Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld. NY Ballantine (1996)
confronted by sophisticated motivational research, PR, and
massive advertising in the service of consumerism.
Advertising manipulates, even when consumers don’t believe
it, they still buy. Capitalists don’t spend billions on
advertising to support poverty stricken admen. They do it
to enhance profits, and it works. If it doesn’t, they
change agencies.
In the financially threatened magazine, Tikkun,
Michael Lerner observes that even members of affluent
classes recognize the spiritual vacuity of mere acquisition
of wealth. Deathbed regrets of family neglect in deference
to profit and power are common.
However, Lord Acton’s famous dictum has an obverse
validity, “Powerless corrupts”, as does poverty. In short,
maldistribution of wealth and power corrupt. As Lincoln
said, “Neither slave nor master”, both corrupt. The remedy,
and the path to spiritual fulfillment are democracy and
economic justice. Religions generally criticize greed, but
solicit money, often to cater to an edifice complex,
sometimes in the midst of grinding poverty and spiritual
degradation.
Victims often turn to religion. Unfortunately, as
Lerner laments, it often is fundamentalism [Barber’s
“Jihad”] that offers a conformative palliative that does
not require the effort to cope with the existential problem
of meaning, purpose, fulfillment and genuine spiritual
development. The contemporary spiritual quest is anchored
in the injustices of capitalism now being writ globally.
The Jihad has a sour grapes rejection of consumerism
coupled with a rejection of McCulture, but replacing it
with revanchist traditional fundamentalism rooted in faith
and superstition.
The path to spiritual growth and the enhancement of
the human spirit lies between Jihad and McWorld.
The traditional protest slogans, “People over
profits”, or “People are the bottom line”, can well be
extended to corporate globalization. However, UU
traditional values augur for the concept of a “family of
humanity”, i.e., globalization. Corporate globalization may
be a blessing in disguise. The concept of a “family of
humanity” requires much more than a change in attitude. It
requires institutional implementation. Rather than
demobilizing the WTO, and other international institutions,
they could be democratized, perhaps even supranationalized.
How could this be achieved? There are essentially two
routes: domestic and international. Domestically, the
Democratic and Republican parties stumble over each other
in their obeisance to corporations and corporate
globalization, although there is some internal resistance.
Remember, Clinton couldn’t get fast track approval for the
MAI. The Greens are building. The recent election forces
the Democrats to cease taking those holding UU values for
granted. They now have some place to go. The Democratic
party either must coopt those holding UU values (victory!),
or accede to a preferential voting system in which people
can first vote their aspirations before yielding to their
fears (victory!). It won’t be fast or easy, but domestic
opportunities are opening.
But even if corporations maintain their lock on
domestic politics, there are international opportunities.
Structural reform of the UN is currently unfeasible due to
the requirement of unanimous concurrence among the nonelected members of the Security Council for changes to the
UN Charter, unless some domestic reform, like Mike Gravel’s
movement to establish a national initiative succeeds.
However, functional opportunities exist. NGO’s
tomorrow could establish a People’s Assembly as a pilot
program in democracy. Instead of being rudely informed that
a person holding contrary views to yours is your
“representative” in your geographic district, essentially
everyone would be allowed to have representatives that
represent their views. People could be allowed multiple
political identities instead of having a geographical
identity imposed upon them. People could be awarded ten or
so votes that they could cast on a continuing basis to
organizations and representatives of their choice, bringing
to fruition that hoary aspiration, “vote early and often”.
They could vote their multiple interests, concerns, and
identities, as environmentalists, feminists, trade
unionists, family values, etc., whatever they choose. As
long as representatives maintained a minimum number of
adherents, they would retain their seat.
Once established as a shadow UN government, passing
non-binding resolutions, like the General Assembly does, it
would establish a history that, I expect, would make some
people less fearful of democracy.