All those young people protesting Trump and other similar issues, if they were born 15 years earlier they would have been at the battle of Seattle and Trump would be seen as the messiah.
As far as I know, but correct me if I'm wrong, the left has always been pro-globalization, just in a different way ('workers of the world, unite!'?). When it comes to the EU, most (reasonable) left-wing people I know are 'pro', but with very mixed feelings.
But then I feel that a deeper issue is that the words 'left' and 'right' leave out so much information (these days) that they actively harm productive conversation. At the very least we disentangle the 'social' and 'economic' dimensions.
If we'd do that I think at least some of the confusion over the seemingly inconsistent attitudes towards globalization will make more sense.
It's baffling.
What we did have was protections so that first world people weren't competing with third world labor laws. Now the thought of any kind of tariff protection is heresy.
The globalization before world wars was the type which favored the British through exploitation of colonies. That exploitation led to many small scale wars (armed and civil). Towards the end of the British empire, many Brits lost their wealth and investments in colonies.
>> What we did have was protections so that first world people weren't competing with third world labor laws. Now the thought of any kind of tariff protection is heresy.
UK is nothing special on this planet. God didn't come one day and say, "Hey, you guys are special. You guys deserve better labor laws at the expense of your colonies. Here's all the wealth of the world for you."
The wealth, luxury and healthcare that is afforded by the average British is a consequence of colonization (a form of globalization) which started from 1600s. Let's look at the historical timeline:
1600-1950: This was the time when third world people were fighting and dying for resources because the British empire exploited them. All the labor protections the British people got was because of the massive wealth extraction from other countries. There simply was more wealth per citizen.
1200-1500: Before above wealth, Britain had the same labor laws as the "third world".
Looks like the rest of the world is not a slave to colonization any more and are making the most of it. Do you disagree they don't deserve to try to improve their lives?
If UK recedes from the global market, nobody gives a fuck to be honest. Other countries will find a way to continue trade without the UK and keep building their own wealth.
Much of it yes, but the history of global trade is a lot longer than the British empire, a lot wider too.
>Looks like the rest of the world is not a slave to colonization any more and are making the most of it. Do you disagree they don't deserve to try to improve their lives?
They can try all they want, but don't expect the working class in the rest of the world to sit idly by while their standard of living disappears. Ask you'r grandfather about the revolutions that happen when the working class get screwed.
Brexit is the first real anti-globalization decision made in decades. You'd think the left would be beside themselves with joy that finally, after all the shouting, demonstrations, activism, ... finally ONE correct decision was made. Finally.
If large amounts of the left are convinced this decision is wrong. Does that count as stupid as well ? The result of fake news ?
Newsflash: globalization, and the very existence of the EU, works against everyone but capital owners. It works against the working class, it works against the middle class, even against most of the upper class.