How to Be a Good Globalist

It has never been fashionable to openly embrace globalism...until now.

It’s easy to paint globalists as the villains. Their very existence sets up a David v. Goliath scenario, where freedom-loving Americans are up against a powerful cabal of wealthy elites who allegedly want to make us all live in pods and eat bugs.

No doubt some globalists are, in fact, entirely malevolent. But globalism has lifted 1.2 billion people out of extreme poverty. It has led to improved labor standards, greater awareness and tolerance among different cultures, the sharing of art and music, the quick diffusion of new technologies, supercharged scientific progress, and on and on. Alex Jones can scream all he wants about globalists aligning with Satan, or whatever, but that doesn’t change the reality that globalists, in general, have radically transformed the world for the better.

Despite this, for as far back as I can remember, it has never been particularly fashionable to openly embrace globalism. Until now. At last, the vibes have shifted in the globalists’ favor.

The origins of this vibe shift are pretty easy to track. In recent years, nationalists, protectionists, and populists have been a little too loud and proud. It has turned a lot of people off in big way. It was only natural that the antithesis of nationalism would become the next in vogue thing.

Donald Trump has personally done much to revive an embrace of globalism. Whatever he’s selling, many people want the opposite. For example, in direct reaction to Donald Trump’s genius tariff policies, Americans’ support of foreign trade has skyrocketed, according to Gallup. As Noah Smith put it, “Trump is going to singlehandedly bring back neoliberalism.”

On Twitter and other social platforms, a swath of the anti-MAGA contingent is now full-time dunking on Trump’s protectionist fantasies.

It’s to the point where even George W. Bush is being celebrated for his spicy pro-globalism takes.

And then there is the direct evidence of people openly fawning over globalism. Zoe Booth, from Quillette, said it best: “Woke up craving seed oils and globalism more than usual this morning”

Now that globalism is hip for a change, it’s worth considering how one should be a good globalist, as opposed to the nasty supervillain type.

Globalist Supervillains

First, it’s important to clarify that the stereotypical globalist supervillain is largely based on misinformed, paranoid conspiracy theories. A small amount of digging will reveal that, for example, the World Economic Forum does not, in fact, want you to “own nothing and be happy”—as Alex Jones and other anti-globalists would have you believe. This idea originated from an essay written by Danish politician Ida Auken titled, “Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better.” This essay, published by WEF, was written as a thought-experiment based on current trends with the rise of Airbnb and Uber. It was meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive. Auken herself has said that the world she describes is not the world she would prefer. Anyone who takes a moment to read the essay themselves would understand this.

Was the WEF shortsighted in publishing such an obviously sinister-sounding essay? Yes. Does it mean that Klaus Schwab and his goons at the WEF are going to personally confiscate your car, your watch, your shoes, and the rest of your personal property and require you to pay a monthly rental fee if you want them back? Sorry to disappoint Alex Jones fans, but no, it does not.

For a thorough takedown of the conspiracies surrounding the WEF and the Great Reset conspiracy theory, check out Jon Ronson’s podcast episode “You’ll Own Nothing and You’ll Be Happy.”

So, who are the real supervillains of globalism? Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, perhaps? He certainly has attracted a ton of ire through promoting ESG, but the claim that his company is buying up all the single-family homes in America is oversimplified according to Slate and flat-out wrong according to HousingWire.

What about Bill Gates? Again, it’s not entirely straightforward. He can either be seen as a supervillain or a hero depending on whether you agree with any particular project he has contributed to. Past failures of the Gates Foundation are well documented. Even the most celebrated achievements of the Gates Foundation are susceptible to fairly devastating critiques.

It’s probably fair to say that all of the flagship supervillains are a mixed bag. Consider George Soros and Elon Musk. On any given day, it’s hard to tell which is Mario and which is Wario. One day Soros is funding the fight against AIDS and Ebola, the next he’s funneling ungodly amounts of money to political campaigns. One day Musk is saving astronauts stranded on the Space Station, the next he’s haphazardly firing cancer researchers and disabled veterans.

Are Soros and Musk supervillains? Depends on the day! In any case, we should always subject them—along with Gates and Fink—to unrelenting suspicion and criticism, since too much power is easily abused.

The Good Globalist Inside Each of Us

The average person will never have a chance to be a globalist supervillain, but we can participate in building societies where the spoils of globalism are enjoyed by the many, not just soaked up by the elite of the elite. We can appreciate that global trade makes some commodities extraordinarily cheap, while still making sure to buy some products from local artisans. We can vote for smart regulations to stamp down monopolies, to make sure businesses don’t destroy the planet, and to safeguard workers’ rights. And we can vote for political leaders who stand for democracy and free trade and who—just as importantly—stand against cronyism, nepotism, and authoritarianism.

In a recent livestream, the YouTuber Vaush articulated a basic rule for being a good neoliberal (or globalist). Speaking in reference to the new Canadian Prime Minister, he said:

There is a difference between 1) people who promote neoliberalism because they hate you and they want more money to go to corporations, and 2) people who promote neoliberal policy because they want to incentivize investment out of a genuine interest of promoting business growth.

If that sounds painfully obvious, it’s because all of this is quite obvious. Promoting business growth and wealth expansion is good; promoting unregulated, oligarchic capitalism is bad. Simply recognizing the difference between these two goes a long way toward being a good globalist.

Ironically, the globalist vibe shift is occurring right at a time in history when globalism itself is under threat. The New York Times recently ran an opinion piece making a strong argument that globalization is collapsing. An increasing number of economists and cultural commentators seem to agree. I’ve long been a fan of the geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan, who has been sounding off about the impending downfall of globalization for years.

Then again, our friends at the World Economic Forum are confident globalization will continue to adapt.