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After World War II, we hoped the world might be united for the sake of peacemaking. Now the world is being 'globalized' for the sake of trade and the so-called free market-for the sake, that is, of plundering the world for cheap labor, cheap energy, and cheap materials. How nations, let alone regions and communities, are to shape and protect themselves within this 'global economy' is far from clear.

Wendell Berry#33

SocietyEconomicsEconomyGlobalization

About this quote

What does it mean?
Post‑World War II hopes for global peace shifted to a market‑driven globalization that exploits cheap labor and resources, leaving unclear how communities can protect themselves.
In plain terms
Globalization now prioritizes profit over peace.
What can you take from it?
Communities must develop strategies to safeguard their interests in a market‑driven world.

Where it applies

  • local governance
  • economic policy

Putting it to work

  • fair trade initiatives
  • community resilience planning

Questions to consider

  • How can communities balance economic participation with protection?
  • What policies can mitigate exploitation?

Another view

Global markets also bring technological and cultural benefits.

More from Wendell Berry

  1. We cannot hope to be secure when our government has declared, by its readiness 'to act alone,' its willingness to be everybody's enemy.

    Permalink to quote #32
  2. Our Constitution, by its separation of powers and its system of checks and balances, acts as a restraint upon efficiency by denying exclusive power to any bran…

    Permalink to quote #34
  3. One cannot reduce terror by holding over the world the threat of what it most fears.

    Permalink to quote #31

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