I recently returned from New Delhi, where I spent two weeks getting to know six new members of my team. They were all eager to take on the work, to learn, to grow, and to help the enterprise I work for succeed. The world becomes stronger when we build meaningful, lasting relationships across cultures. International business has been vilified in recent times, but history demonstrates that lasting peace and prosperity belongs to those who build partnerships that reach across the globe.
Would you believe that global poverty rates have been cut in half since the year 2000, that malaria outbreaks are being thwarted by mosquito nets, or that the literacy rate has went from 42% in 1960 to 86% in 2015? These statistics are all true, although you won’t hear about them often by tuning into the news. Globalism has been slowly increasing the welfare of humanity.
This is not to say that globalism does not have its difficulties or frustrations, but the solution to these problems is not to create a cloister of separation from the rest of the world. Doing so will inevitably leave you behind. The solution is leaning into the challenges that globalism creates, building fair trade policies, protecting the interests of workers and entrepreneurs alike and having honest conversations between citizens and governments.
There are six intelligent and enthusiastic people who work on my team halfway around the world. The opportunities they have been given due to globalism is slowly modernizing India. The same is happening in China, Africa and Latin America. The most powerful person is not often the biggest or strongest or even the smartest. The most powerful person is the one with the most friends. When we reach out and form relationships, we become more understanding, dynamic and interesting people. Global business allows us to broaden our relationships, build partnerships, and change the world for the better.
After experiencing India, I am more thankful than ever to have been born in the United States of America. I am also more confident than ever that the country I call home is stronger, more prosperous and more enlightened when it forges builds partnerships with the people beyond the artificial borders we have created. We have only one world to live on. The quality of that life depends on our ability to work together.
Travis Buell 