A panel set up by the Counsel on Foreign Relations wants Americans to stop thinking of themselves as United States citizens and to think of themselves as just North Americans. The panel has published a report called “Building a North American Community” in which it proposes a single common border around the three countries. The purpose is to create a free flow of goods and labor between the countries. They hope to accomplish this over the next five years, by 2010.

It seems unfortunate that Asia is not adjacent to us so that they could provide even larger numbers of even cheaper labor for the corporate citizens of this new world order, that has now completely bought out our government.

In reality, this is just another salvo in the battle to create an aura of inevitability around the idea of globalization. The destruction of borders for the purpose of moving cheap labor is only one facet of this new deity. If we can be convinced that we are caught up in the inevitable tide of history, then the right to choose has been taken from us.

It has become the obligation of our highly paid government officials to prepare the middle class citizens for changes that their employers intend to make in this world. Certainly, if they can pull it off, this would be a great step forward toward globalization. In any case, these kinds of discussions create another great stall to keep the borders open.

Globalization, the idea of a ‘One World Government” is not new. We fought WWII so that the world would not become fascist. We endured the cold war so that the world would not become communist. Since then we have worried that the UN would take over the world and form a world government. Now we find that the seeds of our cultural destruction are to be found in the very basis of our democratic free enterprise system.

This country has always indulged the corporate community as one of our children, giving it status, favoring it over any other public interest. We have asked little in return. We mistakenly assumed that in return for this favored status, these entities would naturally provide employment for our citizens with wages sufficient to sustain an improving standard of living in the long run. For the past thirty years we have considered failure in this regard as only a temporary setback. Now we find that sustaining a reasonable standard of living or even the continued employment of middle class citizens is not on the agenda, not even a consideration of the corporate community. Unfortunately, this unwritten contract or understanding does not exist in principle any more than it does in writing. What did we expect? We have failed to discipline this child of ours and now it has become a self-serving tyrant. You probably thought the “Robber Barons” were tough. I can assure you that, as Ronald Reagan would say “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

We are spectators to the birthing of this new world order called Globalization. Large international corporations, which even now are no longer responsible to, nor contributing to any public good, have high hopes of running the world as a single cooperative trading entity. The very concept of traditional nation-states will become irrelevant. Large trading companies will run this brave new world on an “as needed” basis. Nation-states will become reduced to mere cultural centers. These will become the transport systems of the trading companies, with which they will trade in people and goods wherever required. A managers’ dream! Indeed, the managers are already, at this very moment, the aristocrats of our time. Globalization is to become the manifestation of their consolidation of power.

Managers have already replaced the capitalists and entrepreneurs in the world of international corporations. Only minor players and small companies are still willing or need to risk their money in today’s environment. International companies do not invest in new enterprises or attempt to compete with other companies. They either buy out small companies that appear to be successful within a given market, or merge with their competitors. In either case, market share is increased and a secure established market is acquired without risk. Little is left to chance; they are managing everything; most especially the governments of the western world. Management has finally trumped leadership in business, as well as in government.

To be sure, at the moment they still need other companies with whom they can appear to compete. This is not an overt conspiracy. It is rather, a “gentleman’s agreement”; an understanding, if you will. For the moment, at least, the illusion of competition must be maintained. But, consider that just this week, Toyota is taking the poison pill because they fear someone will take them over due to their recent financial success. In the dawn of this global environment, the realization of any entrepreneurial success will probably become sufficient reason for your immediate demise, as expanding international interests will try to gobble you up. Our enormous financial institutions will even provide money for little fish to eat big fish, providing the big fish have control over secure markets. Because of the low risk factor in these kinds of takeovers, these financial institutions only require a relative premium over the current interest rate.

The United States has been an easy mark for the globalization movement due to the close ties developed by corporations between themselves and financially dependent and greedy government officials, readily managed by corporate money. These corporations are, to our elected representatives, their “financial constituents”. The pharmaceutical industry alone has two people lobbying on every congressman.

Asian countries may not be so easy; they only needed corporate connections with the west until they were locked into the relatively affluent western economies. They have the world’s largest cheap labor force and are now graduating great numbers of highly educated people. They will soon have the largest and cheapest well-educated work force in the world. Their economies have gained momentum and as they grow, they become somewhat insulated and independent of western style corporate persuasion. They will appear to tolerate a certain amount of corporate “rule making” such as “intellectual property” only so long as it serves their interests. They understand the greed of our corporations and are happily building “feed lots” for them. When all is said and done, Asia will not view these international corporations as their own children, to be coddled and upon whom they will stake their future. When these corporations have been fattened and can no longer contribute to the national interest, their assets will be nationalized; gobbled up by some “really big fish” that are hardly manageable.