- quinoa's increasing popularity as a global health food has been a boon for Bolivian farmers and deepened the challenges for Bolivians struggling with hunger and food insecurity;
- in addition to its severe and important humanitarian and environmental effects, the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan has called attention to the complex adaptive system that is our growing web of global supply chains;
- and that in turn, along with the transitions, conflicts and protests currently engaged throughout North Africa and the Middle East, has called even more attention to our collective uncertainty at the moment, our deep interdependence, and our (Wall Street's, Governments', Corporations', Citizens') seemingly futile efforts to predict the future.
Volvo has ten days more of Japanese-made supplies before it runs out at its plants in Sweden, General Motors has halted production at a plant in Louisiana due to lack of Japanese parts in their global supply chain, and the world is watching with trepidation as international and Japanese disaster responders work to continue to save lives, work with those who are recovering, and God willing, avert nuclear catastrophe (that, if it comes, of course, would not limit itself to the islands).
Today's post is very short as I am catching up on other work and the point is perhaps rather simple: We are deeply interconnected. All of our purchases and employment opportunities are part of a global economy. This deep interconnection requires that we (1) recognize one another's common dignity and humanity, regardless of nationality (my old saw), and (2) recognize that challenges are never merely national. Our webs of interconnection run deep enough and in sufficiently diverse directions that we cannot isolate actions or challenges. We are, for better and for worse, absolutely living in a globally connected world.
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