BagongPinay - Sigaw ng Mutya (Cry of the Muse) What is Globalization?, A. Vender

When we heed the needs of our fellow man we become closer not only to society, but also to our Higher Self... to God...the universe...
We find that our consciousness expands.

Five years ago I was on a mission to figure out what “globalization” was all about. I attended weekend “teach-ins” and public education events in which progressive public policy analysts debated NAFTA and labor rights. Third-world activists said that because of globalization, Indian women dream of looking like a Barbie doll. One speaker made the point, “With globalization, soon every place in the world will look like everyplace else.”

I still didn’t get it. There were those other arguments from the globalizers like: “No turning back to the dark ages now, everyone just has to get used to globalization.” And, “Multinational corporations bring needed jobs to developing countries.” Or, “Hey we all benefit from the cheap imported goods that globalization brings.” So what was it? Just enough to make anyone’s eyes glass over at the sound of the alphabet soup WTONAFTAIMFWB.

The following year I went to the Philippines as part of an exposure and community organizing program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Much to my surprise Filipinos seemed to understand what globalization was all about much better that most Americans. It was because they were directly experiencing its affects every day.

I visited Vilma, the leader of a farming association in Davao, a town in Mindanao. She explained to me all about globalization as she swatted flies in her kitchen. “That land that I used to farm has been taken away,” she said pointing to the open land outside her kitchen window. “The land has been converted to develop a chicken farm. Even though I have a Certificate of Land Reform, my home was demolished to make way for this development. The government does not help us. They defend the wealthy developers who will produce products for export.” She only had a small plot of land left, not enough to support her family. And the flies came because of the chicken farm.

Judy Philippines is a garment factory outside of Manila and is owned by New York-based American, Allan Safdieh. Judy’s women workers had camped out at the factory gates for months because the company wasn’t paying their wages. Even if they were paid, the wages were hardly enough. “What they pay me here is barely enough for me to eat and get back to work in the morning,” said Luz, a woman in her 40’s who had been at the company for 17 years. She was still making a mere $5.40 a day. “Safdieh owes us a lot of money in back wages and unpaid benefits. But he’s contracting out to other companies now that pay their workers even less. He may move to another country where the wages are cheaper.” The baby garments made by the workers at Judy Philippines are all exported for sale the US. While the workers of Judy do not prosper from globalization, certainly Safdieh does.

That was how globalization began to make sense to me. By hearing the voices of those affected by it. Any jobs it purports to create, are short-term and low-paying. The people who profit are the wealthy. Thus, the exploitation of workers and farmers in developing countries is made even more extreme by globalization.

The last question in my mind was: “Does this really benefit us common US citizens like they say it does?” Even if goods are cheaper because their labor costs were cheaper, there is still a huge profit being made by the people who own these large corporations, and that profit comes out of our pockets. Nearly every week there is another massive merger in which more US workers are laid-off and greater profits are amassed by a few. Furthermore, can we really live in good conscience knowing that the clothes we buy and the food we eat was produced under slave-like conditions with our tacit approval?

This is why I joined the People’s Assembly Against the IMF/ World Bank in protests in DC last April, finally having understood why I should be involved. The IMF and World Bank are very powerful agencies that dictate financial and monetary policy in developing countries. They impose conditions on the countries that take out loans. These conditions include liberalizing trade in which Philippine markets are flooded with cheap apples and other imported goods. In the end, small Philippine farmers (well over 50 percent of the population), who do not have the benefit of government subsidies, mass production, and advanced technology like US agribusiness does, cannot compete. The focus of economic policy must be export-oriented meaning converting land like Vilma’s. Loan conditions also include privatizing services. That means making public hospitals and schools private and therefore raising the costs making poor people unable to afford basic services. And 32 percent of the country’s budget is drained to pay the interest on the debt while only 14 percent of the budget goes to education and 2 percent to health.

The United States controls over 17 percent of the voting power in the IMF, far more than any other of the 181 member countries, and it controls a similar share of the decision making power in the World Bank and WTO. Through these agencies, the US paves the way for multinational corporations, virtually all of which are Western-owned, to control a greater portion of the world market and enrich themselves.

Not only do Philippine farmers and workers know about globalization, they also know who the culprits are and how to organize for alternatives. Luz from Judy Philippines said, “We know that it’s not the people of the United States who are to blame. In fact, it’s not really globalization that is the problem. The problem is the foreign domination of globalization controlled by a few corporations who with the help of government leaders exploit people like us. We need to be working with the people of your country to fight this.”

The word is getting out. More and more people, even here in the US, are becoming educated about the affects of corporate globalization. And when tens of thousands of people take to the streets to chant: “Junk IMF, Junk Junk Junk!” and “Ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cuz the power of the people don’t stop!” you know there’s powerful movement growing that is not easy to turn back.

To find out more about organizing for economic justice in the Philippines, even from the US,

check out the website: www.geocities.com/philippineinfo .
In New York, contact the Philippine Forum, an education and advocacy organization working for social and economic justice in the Philippines and for Filipino-Americans, at 212-741-6806
or write: damayanNY@aol.com
Also Visit the Philippine Forum table this June 4 at the
Philippine Independence Day Parade.

NOTE from B. Ellorin, Assistant Editor:
Ms. Vender heads the Filipino Workers Center, or DAMAYAN, in New York City. Amanda is a Caucasian American, grew up in Buffalo, and lived a portion of her adult life in the Phils. She speaks Tagalog fluently and continues to amaze me every moment I spend with her at the Center. She is a New Filipina in a very literal sense.

Other article at BagongPinay on Globalization:

Learning What the IMF is about