The Lexus and the Olive Tree

Globalization is creating a single marketplace, which rewards businesses for selling the same product all over the world instead of locally. This is a culturally homogenizing environment, and thus globalization poses a risk of wiping out ecological and cultural diversity. Just as countries need to develop protections when associating with the Electronic Herd, they need to develop protections for their environments and cultures. The hope is that technology will emerge that helps preserve the environment faster than the herd can trample it, but we can’t rely on technological breakthroughs alone, and conservationists need to learn to move faster to build globalized networks. However, it is also unrealistic to believe that conservationists can move fast enough in all areas, and so the only solution is to show the herd that capitalism can benefit from going green.

The only way to “green” globalization is to demonstrate to corporations that profits and share prices will increase if they adopt environmentally-sound production methods. Companies are learning that poor environmental performance means wasted profits and potential expense later. When profit isn’t enough motivation, the last strategy is for activists to learn “how to use globalization against itself.