# Narratives of the world When trying to understand the world, you do not simply aggregate facts: you create a narrative in which the facts fit. Human brains are naturally designed to process stories with remarkable efficacy, probably because this ability greatly helped social interaction. Below are some very high-profile lenses through which globalisation can be seen. First is the *establishment narrative*, which claims that globalisation benefits everyone, although gains can be uneven. This view can be seen as naive or self-serving since it conveniently interprets events which might have had other motives than global welfare. For instance, the American support of Western Europe during the Cold War had more to do with opposing the Soviet Union than fostering Europe's economic development. Second is the *left-wing narrative*, which claims that domestic policies have been shaped to favour rich people and large companies. This point is mostly true, but it cannot explain everything. In particular, while the leniency of legal tax frameworks towards the wealthy has not helped it, the decline of the Western middle class has also been caused by the outsourcing of manufacturing work to developing countries. Third is the *right-wing populist narrative*, which claims that foreign welfare does not matter, and that nations should strive for a national cultural homogeneity. A major flaw of this narrative is that it is at odds with the reality of gloablisation: you cannot import cheap goods produced from abroad and keep high-paying manufacturing jobs in your country at the same time. Fourth is the *geoeconomic narrative*, which puts national interest as its priority. Globalisation is not good or bad *per se*, but it can be good or bad for your country. This view can justify apparently inconsistent policies, such as enforcing different trade policies with different countries, because they might each be the optimal choice for your country, irrespective of the interests of the other party. Finally, there is the *globalist narrative* which claims that we should all cooperate towards a global improvement of human life. Unfortunately, thie view is too simplistic to be relevant in most issues. --- ## 🔍 See also - [[Filters of the media]] ## 📚 References - Milanovic, Branko. [“Globalinequality: Can Globalization Be ‘Improved’?”](https://glineq.blogspot.com/2021/09/can-globalization-be-improved.html) Globalinequality, 14 Sept. 2021.