1. As globalization pervades markets and countries around the world, the wealth gaps are closing and equality across all major indicators of human development are evidence that The World is Flat (Thomas Friedman 2005).
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2. The Washington Consensus encouraged privatization, government deregulation and fewer barriers to trade and financial flows to accelerate the uptake of the free market in developing countries.
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3. “Information technology will have the power to reverse what may have been an aberration in human history: the industrial model of society. Wired technology already is assaulting the industrial concept of the workday; as technology brings greater realism to electronic communications, the work-place for many will become untethered from geography, letting people live anywhere”. The Information Age: An Anthology on its Impact and Consequences (David S. Alberts and Daniel S. Papp).

Has technology or access to cheap outsourced labour has been the primary driver of globalization in the last decade?

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4.”The full potential of trade to reduce poverty cannot be realised unless poor countries have access to markets in rich countries. Unfortunately, Northern governments reserve their most restrictive trade barriers for the world’s poorest people. Competition in the international trading system can be likened to a hurdle race with a difference: the weakest athletes face the highest hurdles. When desperately poor smallholder farmers or women garment workers enter world markets, they face import barriers four times as high as those faced by producers in rich countries. Trade restrictions in rich countries cost developing countries around $100bn a year – twice as much as they receive in aid.” Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation, and the Fight Against Poverty (Oxfam, 2002)

This is anti-globalization nonsense, it is laziness rather than trade restrictions that keep poor countries from prosperity.

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5.”Many corporations have a greater turnover than the GDP of most countries. Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 52 are corporations and 48 are countries, and these corporations have sales figures between $51 billion and $247 billion” Reforming International Trade [www.stwr.org/imf-world-bank-trade/reforming-international-trade.htm]

Corporations have stepped into a succession of power, from kings, to the churches, to governments and the filter through which much of the policy regarding our common global resources is formed.

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6. It is easier for capital to move than it is for labour. Capital sees opportunity while labour sees competition in globalization.

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7. Marx’s theory of working-class emiseration – companies seek to reduce wages and working conditions to increase profit margins – is an effect of industrialization, not capitalism.

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8. The Race to the Bottom is a benefit of the “trickle-down” effect of neo-liberal success. The wealthy few feed the “bottom of the pyramid” by investing in human development programmes which creates sustainable economies globally.

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9. “Global firms can only make their billions of dollars selling deadly cigarettes, gas- guzzling Hummers, hormone-filled beef, butter from the other side of the planet, underwear made in sweatshops, and genetically engineered corn if people buy them. There are several ways that individual consumers can strive to ensure that their spending better reflects their values”. – International Forum on Globalization (2007)

If you supported “alter-globalization” would you be looking to free trade or fair trade to make your buying decisions?

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10. “America sneezes and the world catches a cold” – Because of the fragile interdependence created by commercial globalization, a multi-billion dollar bailout was sought to prevent a world financial market crash when major institutions & banks collapsed on Wall Street in September.

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11. The Central Banks, like the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and our Reserve Bank determine interest-rates and regulate money-supply for their country. Some are public-owned with shareholders, and some privately owned. They are independent entities and have policies to prevent government interference.

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12. When less-developed countries who have been urged by the IMF, WTO or World Bank to “liberalise” their trade policy open their markets, the first effect is a massive influx of wealth especially for small farmers who can now export to new markets, grow from strength to strength under economic globalization.

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13. Protectionism and government intervention is the only way to ensure that countries prosper and ensure their mutual growth sustainably.

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14. Traditional societies find cultural globalization easiest to integrate because they are technologically innovative and communicate easily using new technologies.

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15. The “lingua franca” (agreed language) of global business is English.

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16. Transnational corporations are accountable to the World Trade Organization to ensure that their dealings are practiced ethically, and with a close watch on labour practice and the environment.

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17. World Bank loans are a great relief to countries that have been devastated by war or natural disaster, and statistically helps to stimulate massive resurging growth within an average of 2 years.

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18. This is the first time in history that humanity has attempted globalization due to the surge in communication and innovation through technology.

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19. ”Almost 3 billion people, about half of the world’s population, live in urban areas and about 160 000 more join them every day..” – United Nations Environment Programme (http://unep.org) 2008.

The majority move to urban areas thanks to increasing personal income and seek access to commercial opportunity because of liberalised markets.

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20. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2008, “The poorest 10% accounted for just 0.5% and the wealthiest 10% accounted for 59% of all the consumption”.

Private consumption of goods and global resources is evenly distributed because globalization has ensured that those who deserve the best standards of living through working hard can achieve it in the free market.

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If globalization excites you too, share some of my faves http://www.diigo.com/user/maximizen/globalization.. you may notice a little bias.

Quick question for all you talented marketers: How would you get media attention and prime.time billing over the throngs of outrageously attired politicians and their associated soap.opera-like antics at the Opening of Parliament, at one of the most critical periods in South African history?

Seems impossible? Not if you’re the Fairy Godmother who doesn’t believe in such limitations, and comes armed only with wings, a wand and fairy dust.

This is my first SA Rocks post in a verrrry long time. Dedicated to the kind of genius that we would do well to learn from in the Attention Economy.
(think I’m a little overexcited about breaking through the writer’s block. Pardons if it’s a touch long AGAIN).
..thank heavens Nic Haralambous had the endurance to wait for my comeback.

I’ve been writing all over the place, next stop SA Rocks (if Nic Haralambous will have me back!) & hopefully I can hold steady this time.

<< this post on Thought Leader is one that may require some endurance on your part, it’s not a quickie, but if you’re following the Endurance month theme with me, it may be worth it.

Whether merely due to placebo effect or common consciousness; for a culture steeped in (what we deem to be) superstition, the sheer volume of subconscious belief is predicted to have groundswell effect on an already burgeoning economy, as more risks and new business have been awaiting the turn into the new cycle.

If ever there was a nation that embodied endurance, it has to be the China, whose people have no fear of 100 year + plans. Those that stretch far beyond individual lives. And it appears that their strategy has worked, with the unstoppable exponential capacity to increasingly dominate the world on their terms; all without a war. Clearly they were reading their Sun Tzu.

In honour of Chinese culture, and this month’s theme of endurance, I’d love to share one of my favourite fairytales (as retold by Chin Ning Chu)

In the North Sea of China, the legend says, “there is a fish called Kun which is thousands of metres long. This great fish evolves into a bird called Pung. Pung also measures thousands of metres long. Swooping as he flies, his wings expand like the clouds covering the sky, Pung flies over the great sea southward to his destination: the Celestial Pool.

“The great Pung flies toward the South Sea, beating the water with his majestic wings for over three thousand kilometres; but first he spins the wind into a tornado that rises to a height of ninety thousand kilometres. It takes six months to reach such a height; only then is the Pung bird ready.

Now with the Pung’s back against the pure blue sky and nothing blocking it, the Pung can set upon his course southward with no obstacles. How can one compare such magnitude with the morning mists, the dust, or the insignificant creatures?

If the water is not deep, it cannot support a large ship; but empty a cup of water on the shallow floor, and a straw can float like a boat. If you place a cup there, it will sink. In the same way, if the wind is not sufficient, it cannot support huge wings. Only at a height of ninety thousand kilometres is there enough space to support the Pung. So the Pung can finally begin his great journey.”

So it is with many who are here to do great works.
Keep going. Never surrender (thank you Mr Churchill)

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison, a master of success through unwavering endurance.

Wherever you need it in your life right now, and we all need the formidable fuel of tenacity in some aspect of our lives.. I wish you the strength of staying power. And perhaps a little re.New Year’s (and fresh 12year cycle of new energy) wish. Just maybe the Chinese aren’t wrong about this one.

PS. this pic is from New Year here in Cape Town 01.01.08 the first sunrise at the tip of Africa.. the story of Pung blazed into life for me again. May it pop into your head when you most need it too.
Never surrender.

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this post is part of the monthly theme on Endurance
found here on Hunter of Genius & beyond.

There are 7 rules that help form the framework of a Podcamp:

1. All attendees must be treated equally. Everyone is a rockstar.
2. All content created must be released under a Creative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
3. All attendees must be allowed to participate. (subject to limitations of physical space, of course)
4. All sessions and events must be free of charge to attend.
5. All sessions must obey the Law of 2 Feet – if you’re not getting what you want out of the session, you can and should walk out and do something else. It’s not like you have to get your money’s worth!
6. The event must be new-media focused – blogging, podcasting, video on the net.
7. The financials of a PodCamp must be fully disclosed in an open ledger,except for any donor/sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous.

I’m helping Mr Podcast ZA – the wonderful Glen Verran of the ZA Show to get South Africa’s first PodCamp rocking. It’s an unconference like Barcamp. Which means that it’s FREEE – content, venue, equipment, T-shirts, foodies and all manner of good things are sponsored and shared by those who come to the conference.

We have a few adored sponsors – Zoopy.com (again! – is there no end to their community support? thank you guys x) picking up the bill for the venue & name tags. Henk Kleynhans’ Skyrove (you know I’m a fan!) hooking us up with free wi-fi, prolific podcaster Nico Baird will be shipping in a dataprojector & snacks P-:, T-shirt giveaways from Rudra and Keyjam hooking up the coffee (thank heavens – no tech event would be complete without caffeine!)

There are a couple more sponsorship opportunities (Apple where are you?! Media24? we know you have podcampers coming) – jump in and support the growth of the New Media community while it’s a baby here. It’s a wonderful marketing and networking opportunity, especially at these playful educational gatherings: to speak to the content-creators and experimenters. We’d love someone to take care of AV, bring some fun equipment to play on, bring/sponsor lunch or.. offer some fabulous fun prizes :-D

Remember that collaboration is what makes our unconferences magic.If you’re in Cape Town & love to know more about creating your own content online (especially but not exclusively podcasting) come join the fun.

Register for Podcamp here. If you want to speak, share tools/tips, help with logistics on the day, bring a flipchart or post-its, or sponsor some aspect to make the day more fun – you will get huge respect, link-love and connect in with a some of the best & brightest & bravest in SA’s tech community.

Wiki: http://podcampcapetown.pbwiki.com
Blog: http://podcampcapetown.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6472716436

Join us at Podcamp & grab ideas to give voice to your genius/ rockstar/ superhero >>

[from the press release just issued on Nomadic Marketing]

Think Facebook and MXit have nothing to do with your business?
One of the world’s most innovative marketers coming to SA business school to make sense of social media for enterprise

UCT’s Graduate School of Business is proud to welcome Hugh MacLeod to the faculty for the second run of its powerful and popular new 3-day program, “Nomadic Marketing” (31 October – 2 November).

MacLeod was honoured as one of the world’s 50 top marketers by AdAge last year. What makes this man an extraordinary figure in the marketing industry, is that he did this on a shoestring budget, leveraging the growing force of “social media” (blogging in particular) to achieve his successes for what he calls “Global Microbrands“. Macleod’s blog, gapingvoid.com (with his iconic “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”) ranks among the world’s best recognised blogs.

He will be joined by South Africa’s leading figures in technology, media and marketing in presenting the business case for new technology or the “Social Web” as it has been dubbed.
“The program delivers strategic advantage to business people who aren’t geeks, but have the savvy to know they should be taking early advantage of the opportunities the web offers now” says Dave Duarte, program director of Nomadic Marketing (and founder of Huddlemind Labs).

3 major components executives on the program will take away include:

1. Web:
A comprehensive view of new internet developments and trends; including blogs, social networks (like Facebook), wiki’s, RSS, search engines and aggregators. Hands-on interactivity with these tools and marketing opportunities unlocked.

2. Mobile:
The surge in cellular phone technology is particularly significant for South Africans. The trends arc beyond SMS to WAP, MXit, bluetooth and mobile TV. Staggeringly expensive bandwidth demands creative solutions, a look at where South African technology could flourish.

3. Strategy:
Tools and technology are put into the context of practical business. Dynamic consumer environments force business to innovate at a faster pace. Metrics, case studies and strategies will be explored, to see the theory in action.

One of the unusual highlights of this program is a dinner. Connecting delegates with those working with the new technologies now; entrepreneurs, media folk and corporates testing the edges.

Practical application of learnings is one of the reasons that sees the Graduate School of Business’ Executive Education Unit placed among the top 5 in the world (alongside Harvard and the London School of Economics).

Bookings are now open for Nomadic Marketing:

Cost: R8 500.00
Contact Junita Abrahams at the GSB to reserve a seat:
Tel: (021) 406-1323
Fax: (021) 406-1462
E-mail: abrahams [at] gsb.uct.ac.za

Dates: 31 October – 2 November 2007

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5801247398
Course Blog: http://technomadicmarkets.com

Thank you to Elaine Rumboll, Director of Executive Education at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town for initiating this course;  and to Dave Duarte (Course Director) who started making the most of many minds and quickly invited some of South Africa’s finest thinkers in this space to co-create this powerful course¹

Today’s line-up includes: Mike Stopforth – Web 2.0 Beyond the Hype; Mike Perk – Search Engine Marketing Basics; Graham Knox – Blog Marketing; Jon Foster-Pedley – Strategy and Innovation since Web 2.0.

The Marketing Geek has done a superb job of collating a wealth of information for course delegates on the course wiki and blog, herded a wild bunch of those of us who made up the faculty and with the superb GSB team created something fairly innovative for any business school anywhere on the planet right now. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can effectively translate the reality that we digital nomads live, work and play in, to South African business leaders attending this course.

1. I was privileged to contribute to the course in helping to design the educational experience with Dave. Making it engaging interactive and ensure that what could ordinarily be a daunting subject is rendered human-scale and brain-friendly. Lucky me!

Lucky beast if you are!

For those of us who aren’t going to be there :-( there is still the option of hooking up a live feed¹ & throwing a house party to support the chilling-out of our gorgeous Gaia²

[In case you got left out of the PR 7.7.07 Live Earth Concerts (em, make that Al Gore) has attracted some of the planet's hottest musicians to rock the world to start turning the tide against global warming. Smart fellow, applying a time.honoured strategy. I believe in an old maxim of economics that shows how throughout history ..culture precedes commerce.. entertainment is a clear & very useful way to gather power around the issue. Not just feelgood fluff³ ]

Anywaaay, so I checked around Cape Town for a riotous gathering of hearty earthy revellers & was a little underwhelmed.
What surprised me was that our green geeks like Ian Gilfillan or the Greenhouse boys haven’t strapped a satellite link in for us to party with a purpose on Saturday! maybe you guys just haven’t registered your party on the Friends of Live Earth to keep out rowdy skollies like me?!

Either way, if you also don’t fancy looking like a biltong on legs⁴ in a few scorching years time.. consider supporting in a small way starting this Saturday. The exponential power of consolidation of many people applying a small tweak regularly in their own way is incredibly potent: it’s the principle of kaizen or as we know it better in trendy wikinomics or web2.0… long-tail theory.

Show the hottie some love on 7.7.07 >>

1. oh heavens – mustn’t forget sadass SA bandwidth could hamper this plan
2. the great ole Mother Earth
3. Emperor Nero knew it well with his bread & circuses
4. no offense meant at all to any San bushmen who would probably be the only ones to survive – again

So plz forgive the mangle & ugliness here for now – under re.construction & re.creation.

good gracious I am an ass! Linkloving in the blogroll needs unscrambling & reclassifying.. who knows what the hellacious is happening with the sidebars.. and boy Ultimate Tag Warrior not happy – - – - intravenous caffeine please!!