Globalisation - Does It Suck?

I've generally shied away from the big questions here because I'm a shallow & apathetic hedonist. However given the glib gibe about globalisation in a previous post on innovation, I feel honour bound to return to the subject.

Philippe Legrain was in Sydney a couple of months back to talk about his new book on immigration (I hate immigrants, taking the jobs of honest, hardworking Australians such as myself). It's not immigration I want to talk about but the topic of Legrain's previous book. The immigration talk at the Seymour Centre largely brought out the "knit your own yogurt" crowd, who whilst hating the current federal government, are too impotent to do anything about them. Had they read Open World they may well have booed him off the stage or thrown fair trade goods in his general direction (I guess coffee & chocolate wouldn't be so bad - but do they have fair trade mace spray?)

Why? Because Legrain is an avowed fan of globalisation - esp. international trade & foreign direct investment. He is also a fan of strong government legislation to control the reach of multinational corporations and manage capital flows. He isn't too keen on intellectual property legislation.

I am also a fan of certain forms of globalisation. I like trade. I like being able to live many thousands of miles from where I was born. However I still see a role for national governments - and for all of us as citizens of those states rather than merely consumers of traded products. For me, Legrain hits the critical issue: Not whether globalisation is "good" or "bad" but which aspects of globalisation we as voters, consumers & shareholders should encourage & which we should oppose. Naturally I have a particular view (and strong opinions on immigration & life-long learning) & that colours my view off the world. But what do I do about this? [Answers on a virtual postcard please]

What I find depressing is that globalisation advocates often paint a world without choices whereas the anti-globalisation paint a world without a common future. Neither seems very enticing - what other options are there?