Landlord Crisis (coming soon to LA)

There seems to be some difficulty by those in the globalization movement articulating how global issues become local issues. This article really brings some of it together.

The dot.com phenomenon is fueled, in great part, by the assumption that online businesses in the US, by taking the lead, can dominate global operations. (Yahoo is a good example of a dotcom that has [relatively] successfully scaled out globally.) In order to effect this globalization, American companies will fight tooth and nail to establish restrictive intellectual property laws, and turn every idea into a commodity. Dominance in IP will create numerous SF clones -- zones of extreme affluence disconnected from their surrounding world.

It goes beyond this, of course. Dominating IP is only one part of the trend. Western domination in management techniques and business practices also tends to create a largely unified, corporate, business empire.

Also in this article is the flip side of globalization -- immigration. Global pressures like extreme unemployment in the third world drives individuals to emigrate to the "core" economies. In this case, it's Latin Americans moving into cities in the US. Because they are "illegal" they lack even the most basic rights, and are subject to extreme exploitation. (The irony is that, because they are closer to the core economy, they really don't suffer much more than they would if they were being exploited at home. It's neither good nor bad - it's globalization!)

The presence of "illegals" is being used to apply pressure on African American communities. This article highlights one way in which public policy is creating tension between communities, and also touches on the relationship between landlords and larger corporations.