GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2005 by Irogbe, Kema

In highlighting the profit-driven logic of media globalization, Herman and McChesney have assailed the global media with this gloomy prognosis:

The stress on consumption as the primary end of life, and individual freedom to choose (especially among good) as the fundamental desired social condition....strengthens materialistic values, weakens sympathetic feelings towards others and tends to diminish the spirit of community and the strength of communal ties.22

The global media define the scope of international political discourse, channeling world attention in certain directions and determining -- in ways that are essentially supportive of the existing socioeconomic structure -- what is political reality. The notion that the United States is endowed with a free press is a fallacy. The control that the multinational corporations exert over the American and European media leaves the public and the world with a press that is far from "free" by any definition of the word. The primary function of the media is not to keep anybody informed, but like any business, to make profit for their owners, a goal seldom coinciding with the need for a vigilant, democratic press. The owners of the press determine who has something to say, which facts, which version of the facts, and which ideas shall reach the world at large. Thus, as agents of the globalization or neoliberal order, global media are complacent about inequalities in wealth distribution among nations and are hostile to organized labor and other oppositional forces.

THE WORLD BANK/IMF (THE BRETTON WOODS TWIN SISTERS)

Formally named the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations' associated agencies, were created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference. Formed originally to provide long-term loans for the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe, the World Bank has become one of the primary international institutions that provides long-term loans to the underdeveloped countries. The IMF was established for the purpose of supporting international monetary stability as well as establishing stable exchange rates among nation-states. The IMF was to do this by establishing exchange rates between currencies under a fixed exchange rate system. It had at its disposal a fund of gold and currencies that it could use to credit accounts of countries that experienced chronic balance of payments deficits. Although fixed exchange rate system was eventually replaced by a floating system by former President Richard Nixon (unilaterally) to the advantage of the U.S., the IMF still uses its funds to credit the accounts of countries with chronic balance of payment problems. The developed countries fund both the two financial institutions. They operate on a weighted voting system, providing the most votes to the countries that contribute the most funds. The presidency of the World Bank has always been an American and the presidency of the IMF has always been a European.