From this point, no return

the Necessity of Sustaining Globalization

obert Wright's world is a game.
In his recent book,  Nonzero, Wright expounds his view that all of human history has had one general direction: toward more socially complex interactions that are, on balance and in the main, non-zero-sum, and generally positive sum. Applying the logic of game theory to human interaction, Wright posits that humans beings are destined for certain things: much as biological evolution on this planet seemed certain to give rise to eyesight (in some form, eyes evolved independently many different times), he believes cultural evolution was destined to give rise to capitalism.

In its basic form, capitalism, Wright believes, is the natural state of man. Free to do as he pleases, man will seek out others to mingle and eventually trade with. Why? Because just because it is, such interactions are positive-sum: trade between two individuals (besides being simple to carry out and requiring no other agent or mechanism, although money sure does help oil the gears) benefits both parties (this is undeniably true: if there were no benefit in some economic measure - time, money, quality - then one party or the other would avoid the trade). As more and more trade happens, more and more people realize its value and continue to partake in its results.

This principle, once applied over the course of thousands of years of cultural evolution, necessarily results in some form of globalization. Globalization in some form (from a very basic level) has been happening since the dawn of man, Wright argues. The free flow of information, aided by new information technologies, is essentially unstoppable - and with that, globalization. While the human race may encounter some setbacks along the way, ultimately it will pick itself up and march along toward that interminable destination: of one world, one government.

Such a view might put Wright in league with the hyperglobalists who believe the end of the nation-state is near. But Wright has a more nuanced view. As supranational governmental organizations (not mega-corporations) spread their tentacles, the sovereignty of nation-states will be diminished. But global governance will not eliminate the nation-state. Nations will become more like provinces of a global framework - retaining their culture and control over their society, albeit to a more limited extent.

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