The Global Trap: Globalization and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity
First edition
Original title
Die Globalisierungsfalle: Der Angriff auf Demokratie und Wohlstand
Language
German
Subject
Globalisation Technology and society
Published
1996 Rowohlt Verlag
Publication place
Germany
Media type
Print (Paperback and Hardcover)
Pages
351 pp (first edition)
Die Globalisierungsfalle: Der Angriff auf Demokratie und Wohlstand is a 1996 non-fiction book by Hans-Peter Martin (born 1957 in Bregenz, Austria), and Harald Schumann (born 1957 in Kassel, Germany), that describes possible implications of current trends in globalization. It was published in English as The Global Trap: Globalization and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity in 1997. At this time, both authors were editors of the news magazine Der Spiegel. From 1999 to 2014, Hans-Peter Martin, who is stated in the book to be one of just three journalists to be allowed to take part in all activities at the Fairmont convention, was a member of the European Parliament.
The book was a best-seller in the authors‘ native Austria and Germany[1] and went on to be a worldwide bestseller with over 800,000 copies sold and translated into 27 languages.
In particular, the book is known for defining a possible "20/80 society". In this possible society of the 21st century, 20 percent of the working age population will be enough to keep the world economy going. The other 80 percent live on some form of welfare and are entertained with a concept called "tittytainment",[2] which aims at keeping the 80 percent of frustrated citizens happy with a mixture of deadeningly predictable, lowest common denominator entertainment for the soul and nourishment for the body.
^Hugh Aldersey-Williams (5 March 1998). "It's advertising, but not as we know it". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved March 30, 2011. The new world of brands is not a pretty place according to The Global Trap: Civilisation and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity, by Hans Peter Martin and Harald Schumann. The German best-seller outlines the scenario as companies react to new technology and globalisation. Ultimately, a few global brands will grow to dominate, driving down taxes, starving public services of funds. Nike is one of its principal villains.
^"Workplace Faith". Retrieved 4 May 2014. Certain trends in society indicate that there could be several painful good-byes. In the book, in September 1995, there was an assembly of experienced world leaders in the famous Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Among them were Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and George Shultz. There were also certain business magnates, key players in the IT field, as well as equally respected financiers and professors from Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford. This "global braintrust" predicted that just 20 percent of the world's workforce will be sufficient to keep world economy going. Just one-fifth of the workforce is needed. The pragmatists in the Fairmont Hotel summed up our future in the ration "20:80" and the phrase "tittitainment." In other words, 20 percent of the world's workforce will live a very active life, earn money, and have the capacity to be good consumers, regardless of which country they come from. But what about the rest, the other 80 percent? For them the future will be very different, as one of the leaders put it, "To have lunch - or be lunch!" Mr Abigniew Brzezinski, the former advisor to Jimmy Carter, coined the word "Tittitainment." This word is a combination between "entertainment" and "tits" - American slang word for female breasts. It describes the need for plenty of entertainment and enough food to keep the world's frustrated 80 percent in a good mood! What a world to live in! We could be describing the Roman Empire just before its fall.
implications of current trends in globalization. It was published in English as TheGlobalTrap: Globalization and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity...
"Trap Queen" is the debut single by American rapper Fetty Wap from his self-titled debut album (2015). Following its online premiere in March 2014, it...
The Thucydides Trap, or Thucydides' Trap, is a term popularized by American political scientist Graham T. Allison to describe an apparent tendency towards...
Bowling Alone The End of Education Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, 1978 critique of television by Jerry Mander TheGlobalTrap Is Google...
of the World | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 13 December 2021. Martin, Hans-Peter; Schumann, Harald (1997). Theglobaltrap: globalization and...
EDM trap (simply known as trap) is a fusion genre of hip hop, rave music and EDM (electronic dance music), that originated in the early 2010s on peaking...
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system...
A liquidity trap is a situation, described in Keynesian economics, in which, "after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level, liquidity preference...
1996 book TheGlobalTrap. Yet for the most part, other than during the periods of intense debate in the 1930s and 60s, the consensus in the 20th century...
and former footballer. In 2022, she released her debut EP, Trap Kitty, featuring Latin trap tracks. In April 2024, she released her debut studio album...
these hairs, thetrap prepares to close, only fully enclosing the prey if a second hair is contacted within (approximately) twenty seconds of the first contact...
The Death Trap is a text adventure developed and published by Square for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, and Fujitsu FM-7 in 1984. The game and its supporting...
these marginalized groups in a poverty trap. Economist Paul Krugman is another staunch supporter of globalization and free trade with a record of disagreeing...
The Cult of the Amateur Amusing Ourselves to Death An Army of Davids TheGlobalTrap Postman (1993), pp. 71–72. Postman (1993), p. 16. Postman (1993), p...
Martin's TheGlobalTrap from soldiers' hands in October 2010, despite a petition made by a group of military judicial officers protesting against the order...
A fish trap is a trap used for catching fish and other aquatic animals of value. Fish traps include fishing weirs, cage traps, fish wheels and some fishing...
The middle income trap is an economic development situation in which a country that attains a certain income (due to given advantages) gets stuck at that...
According to the Encyclopedia of International Development, the term demographic trap is used by demographers "to describe the combination of high fertility...
The Deccan Traps is a large igneous province of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). It is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, taking the...
America. Thetrap is slang for a place where drugs are sold. Latin trap is similar to mainstream trap with lyrics about life on la calle (the street),...
"Beez in theTrap" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj, featuring American rapper 2 Chainz. It was released on May 29, 2012 by Young Money, Cash Money, and...
Stupid?" TheGlobalTrapThe Wisdom of Crowds Kakutani, Michiko (June 29, 2007). "The Cult of the Amateur". The New York Times. Archived from the original...
policy, and the search for truth in a dynamic world." An Army of Davids TheGlobalTrap Citations Richard Ebeling (May 1999). "Book Review – The Future and...
The Siberian Traps (Russian: Сибирские траппы, romanized: Sibirskiye trappy) is a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in...
A progress trap is the condition human societies experience when, in pursuing progress through human ingenuity, they inadvertently introduce problems...
fellow at the Center for Global Development, stated that "[t]he language of "debt-trap diplomacy" resonates more in Western countries, especially the United...
standards to the point of triggering a population decline. This event, called a Malthusian catastrophe (also known as a Malthusian trap, population trap, Malthusian...