Those who reject globalization will only be abandoned by the times

In the view of bestselling American author Charles Mann, the answer is no. In his new book 'The Clash of History: 1493', he argues that globalization is an inevitable result of the synthesis of multiple factors in history. The decoupling of the economy and the disconnection of trade cannot reverse the fact of globalization.

Readers familiar with world history can easily guess that 'The Clash of History: 1493' is actually a 'twin work'. Prior to writing this book, the author had already published 'The Clash of History: 1491'. And 1492, which lived among them, was the year Columbus discovered the New World. The author undoubtedly intends to use this as a boundary to explore two completely different modes of world operation: isolated development and interconnectivity.

In the author's view, although globalization may seem more like an economic issue, it actually covers all aspects of social life, from human migration to species migration, from global climate to national politics. Globalization "subtly changes every corner of this world, all the way to a 'homogeneous' world".

The reason why people tightly grasp the economic factors in the process of globalization is partly because the original motivation for geographical discoveries is economic.

After the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-15th century, traditional trade routes between Asia and Europe were blocked, forcing Europeans to set sail from the sea in search of trade routes to the distant East. At that time, Europeans had already realized that the Earth was a sphere, and as long as they sailed westward, they could reach the East. But they knew nothing about the distribution of oceans and continents: so Columbus, who was thinking of gold mining in the distant East, accidentally discovered America.

From the moment they set foot on this mysterious land, globalization began.

The most immediate manifestation is species exchange. Although the fleet did not find the treasure in the East, they unexpectedly discovered many crops on the New World that they had never heard of, especially potatoes and tobacco. After these crops arrived in Europe, they quickly changed the local dietary structure and social atmosphere: high-yielding potatoes became one of the most important sources of staple food for Europeans later on; Tobacco, which was used as medicine by Native Americans, completely conquered the European aristocracy, and smoking a pipe and holding red wine became a symbol of successful people.

But Europeans haven't been happy for too long either. Soon after, the world ushered in a small ice age (also known as the "Little Ice Age") that lasted for over 200 years. From the Americas to Europe and then to Asia, the climate gradually became cold and arid, with long-term crop failures and rising conflicts between humans and land, ultimately intensifying the turmoil that spanned half of human society in the 17th century.

As a result, humanity tasted the "butterfly effect" of globalization: crops such as potatoes, which were introduced to Europe earlier, eased their urgent needs, but due to the withdrawal of Native Americans, the agricultural population in the vast Americas was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of Europeans. Not only food, but also products such as rubber, cotton, and sugar that Europe could not be self-sufficient in were in complete shortage - the dark and bloody slave trade thus entered the historical stage.

At the same time, China on the other side of the ocean was also moved by the "wings" of globalization.

The "pioneers" of Eurasian maritime trade are still crops, sweet potatoes, corn, chili peppers... They have gradually spread from coastal areas of China to inland areas, especially in the arid and rainless northwest and rugged southwest mountains. These crops quickly occupy the agricultural ecological niche and become "regulars" on the local people's dining tables.

But crops are not the protagonists of maritime trade, porcelain, silk, and tea are. If Europeans want to purchase these luxury goods, they must have silver in their hands.

China in history was a poor silver country. Before the Ming Dynasty, the main coinage metals in China were copper and iron, and the main precious metal was gold. With the development of maritime trade, a large amount of silver entered the market and quickly became an important currency. This is also the background of the agricultural tax law reform proposed by Zhang Juzheng in the late 16th century, which required farmers to "convert silver into tax", indicating that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, silver had already sunk into rural level transactions.

However, although the direct source of silver is Europe, its origin is in the Americas. At its peak, more than half of the silver produced in the Americas was exported to China. However, due to the significant increase in demand for silver during the Thirty Years' War in Europe, coupled with consecutive mining accidents and strikes in Mexico since 1630, silver production in the Americas sharply declined, and China also experienced a shortage of silver. In this sense, behind the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty, there was also the shadow of globalization as a "behind the scenes driving force".

The story is far from over yet. However, with the development of the economy and society and the formation of a series of global consensuses, globalization has gradually put away the fangs of its barbaric growth period and shown a relatively peaceful appearance.

Nowadays, cross-border trade, cultural exchange, talent exchange, and technology sharing have closely linked the world together; People's awareness of key issues such as global climate has also risen to the level of international cooperation; People of all skin colors have gradually understood each other's cultures and concerns through centuries of interaction - the author refers to this era as the "homogeneous world" and believes that the "homogeneous world" is the "back" of globalization. Its arrival means that humanity has formed a community with a shared future, and globalization, as an important driving force, has crossed the critical node from quantitative change to qualitative change, truly becoming an unstoppable tide of the times.

Currently, economic globalization has encountered unexpected setbacks, with unilateralism, isolationism, and protectionism rampant. A few countries are keen on building "small courtyards and high walls" and promoting "decoupling and chain disconnection", posing a risk of global industrial and supply chains being disrupted. The phenomenon of anti globalization occurring at the government level of major Western countries is not accidental, its essence is the fear of economic dominance being shaken. However, from a global perspective, since the millennium, the total global wealth has grown at an average annual rate of 3.4%, especially the situation of the middle and low-income groups has significantly improved. This once again demonstrates that globalization serves the interests of more countries and regions and is beneficial for the development of human society.

The prosperity and stability of the world cannot be built on the basis of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. Those who refuse globalization will only be abandoned by it.