What Worries You Most About the Direction of America?

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Last week Conor Friedersdork, a California-based staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs, and the author of the Up for Debate newsletter, asked readers, “What worries you most about the direction of the country [America]?” 

Here's what 12 readers said on where America is going wrong.

The Beginning of Work As We Would Like It

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Lately, we’ve seen a proliferation of discussions about the end of work as we know it.  But what about the beginning of work as we would like it?

In this third year of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are burned out, quitting their jobs in record numbers, and reconsidering the place of work in their lives. 

As The Atlantic article proclaims:

If the American theocracy of work is to be dismantled, it won’t happen by just changing jobs or attitudes. It will require a fundamental transformation in the social system that dictates which institutions we derive fulfillment from.

Whether you agree or disagree, work has its place in our life as a meaningful institution.  

Is Globalization Unfashionable?

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The real problem with globalization is that it demands solutions.  Zachary D. Carter for The Atlantic goes on to say, "Few ideas today are more unfashionable than globalization."

It may be too much to ask for a treaty on trade and finance to repair the U.S. relationship with China, provide functional mechanisms to combat climate change, and turn back the rising tide of economic inequality around the world. But we will not solve any of those problems if we do not try. And we cannot solve them on our own.

Read the entire article here.

USA Trump's Cling to Power is Over

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According to The Atlantic (1/5):  The president of the United States is out of options to fulfill his authoritarian dreams.

And the latest (1/6), USA President-elect Joe Biden will now govern with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House. 

In case you missed other developments, here's more on the violent assault on the USA Capitol.

Today in Global Small Business: Kwik Goes After Amazon Dash

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The news that rattled the world:  UK leaves the EU.
• 2nd Edition to my Exporting book is almost ready!
• How global trade is carrying pests worldwide.
• How Kwik is going up against Amazon Dash and plans international expansion.
• Advertisers want to tell global stories and the Atlantic will help them do it.
• Nepal will start exporting products instead of people.

Will It Be Unsafe for Gay People to Travel In Russia?

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Here's the scoop.  It starts with columnist Chicagoan Dan Savage authoring, "Why I'm Boycotting Russian Vodka."  He makes a plea for gay people to stop drinking Russian vodka to protest the Kremlin's aggressive anti-gay laws.  It's now a movement that has gay bars all around the world dumping Russian vodka to show their displeasure with the country's treatment of gay people.

According to The Atlantic Wire:

True, these viral movements often get branded as "slacktivism," a term that suggests people are not really doing anything to help the cause at hand. But, then again, the vodka ban is not asking for your money — only your attention to the plight of gays in Russia and, perhaps, a moment of thought about whether you want to patronize companies that might be a little too friendly with the Kremlin. 

Read the entire article:  Gay Bars' Ban on Russian Vodka Is Going Global

Savage writes a syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love (appears weekly in the Chicago Reader).

Meet the New Kid On the Planet: Quartz

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Look out The Economist.  Here comes a market disruptor: Quartz.  Quartz is a digitally native news outlet, born in 2012 for business people in the new global economy.

We publish bracingly creative and intelligent journalism with a broad worldview, built primarily for the devices closest at hand:  tablets and mobile phones.

Quartz features top news, analysis, photos, data visualizations, commentary and more.

Quartz is owned by Atlantic Media Co., the publisher of The Atlantic, National Journal, and Government Executive.

Explore Quartz here.

Most Entrepreneurial Country in the World?

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Which country is the most entrepreneurial?

According to OECD, the U.S. does produce proportionately more large start-ups than its peer nations and new businesses have a much better than average chance of surviving at least two years.

But which other countries shine in the quest for entrepreneurship?  Jordan Weissmann, author of "Think We're the Most Entrepreneurial Country in the World?  Not so Fast," says the United States has:

a Start-up Rate Lower than Sweden's (and Israel's, and Italy's ...)

Find out more here.  There are enough graphs in the article to keep you busy and scratching your head.

King of Exports: Texas

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First it was California as the leader in exports back in the 90s.  Now it's Texas.

Since 1998, the state has increased its total exports by 217 percent, compared to 139 percent for the country as a whole.

Find out why Texas -- a low-cost state to do business -- is considered king of exports here.  Hint:  a lot has to do with the rise of free trade, the decline of domestic manufacturing, and our transformation into the world's oil refiner.

Is Tipping Obligatory in America?

Below is an article by Max Fisher for The Atlantic which covers in part, as he says, the surprising frankness in discussing the warts of American history and society.

The United States is the second greatest tourist draw in the world, with 60-million-plus visitors in 2010 alone (France, number one, attracted almost 80 million). Flipping through a few of the many English-language tourist guides provides a fascinating, if non-scientific and narrow, window into how people from the outside world perceive America, Americans, and the surprises and pitfalls of spending time here. 

The comments are telling and really crack me up.

Read the entire article:  Welcome America, Please Be On Time:  What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

Green Standards For An Ever Changing Complex World

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Walmart’s Chinese sales receipts account for only 2 percent of the company’s annual revenues or roughly $7.5 billion. Fortunately, its sales in China have risen substantially over the past decade. Not the case in the United States; they have been shrinking.

What does this mean? Is China changing Walmart or is Walmart changing China?  Looks like new green initiatives are in the works.

The world’s biggest corporation and the world’s most populous nation have launched a bold experiment in consumer behavior and environmental stewardship: to set green standards for 20,000 suppliers making several hundred thousand items sold to billions of shoppers worldwide. Will that effort take hold, or will it unravel in a recriminatory tangle of misguided expectations and broken promises?

Read the entire article here.

Is Walmart Really Changing China?

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Or is it the other way around?  Walmart wants to set green standards for 20,000 suppliers making several hundred thousand items sold to billions of shoppers worldwide. The question becomes:  Will that effort take hold, or will it unravel?

Although Walmart’s $7.5 billion in Chinese sales receipts account for only 2 percent of the company’s annual revenues, its sales in China have risen substantially over the past decade.  Sales in the United States, by contrast, have been shrinking.  And as China’s retail market—the world’s fastest-growing—expands by 18 percent a year, Walmart’s executives smell the intoxicating scent of more growth to come.  Equally important, if not more so, some 20,000 Chinese suppliers, or “partners,” reportedly provide Walmart with about 70 percent of the nearly $420 billion worth of goods that it sells globally each year.

Take a look here.

As It Relates to Global Business, What Is a Triple Bottom Line?

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This commentary is really about:  is it harder to run a business in China than America? That should draw your interest! But take a good look at how contributor Liam Casey, founder and CEO of PCH International, covers what a "triple bottom line" is and how it can help companies achieve a successful and sustainable global business model.

Read the entire piece here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Business Megastars: The New Global Elite

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Around the world, are the super-rich different from you or me?

Excerpt from the author, Chrystia Freeland:

Through my work as a business journalist, I’ve spent the better part of the past decade shadowing the new super-rich: attending the same exclusive conferences in Europe; conducting interviews over cappuccinos on Martha’s Vineyard or in Silicon Valley meeting rooms; observing high-powered dinner parties in Manhattan. Some of what I’ve learned is entirely predictable: the rich are, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously noted, different from you and me.

According to Freeland, a lot of the distinctions have to do with our light-speed, globally connected economy.

Learn more:

The Rise of the New Global Elite
by Chrystia Freeland
The Atlantic 

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

What Makes French Country Guesthouses So Charming?

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Take a break. Dream of your own year in Provence. It's the rooms, gardens and breakfast tables that make a difference.

Be our guest here (be sure to click on full screen).

Related piece: French Connections

Global and Domestic Demand Begins to Return

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The Atlantic reports:

Even though the trade gap hit an 18-month high in May, exports rose substantially, by $3.5 billion. Imports just grew faster, by $5.5 billion. But increasing exports is pretty significant news. Last month they declined by $1 billion, so a big bump in the positive direction is welcome news. In fact, exports grew to the largest amount we've seen since September 2008, hitting a 20-month high.

Read more here.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Meat from Down Under

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As an export, Australia has some convincing to do when it comes to consuming camel meat worldwide. Apparently, the people in the Middle East enjoy it (widely accepted). Vegetarians beware, the following material may not appeal to you (it didn't to us -- not because we're vegetarians or vegans -- more due to the cultural difference).

It tasted like a juicier version of beef. But the meat in question was camel—freshly slaughtered at Dann’s abattoir, Centralian Gold, which he has been running, off and on, since 1986. In that time, the population of Australian camels has escalated to plague proportions, and Dann believes that selling their meat could become a multimillion-dollar industry.

Camels were first brought to Australia ...

Read more:

The Atlantic
Outback Steakhouse

American Rodeos Go Global

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The boys from Brazil know that big money can be made in the rodeo.

Learn how and why here:

The Boys from Brazil
Why American rodeos are taking on a Latin flair

Is Canada's Economy Freer?

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Than what?

I work for a libertarian think tank, and libertarians are supposed to disdain the land of poutine and Dan Aykroyd for its socialist health-care system and general failure to really love liberty. Yet not only can you get gay-married in any of the provinces, or almost-legally toke up in your toque up there, but Canada’s economy is also slightly freer than that of the global hegemon to its south. According to the Cato Institute, at least.

Read the full whimsical story here.

Note: We are posting without related labels for a while because Blogger.com set an arbitrary limit of no more than 2,000 labels over the course of a blog. We can use existing labels but not new ones at this point. For example, we would normally include the author's name to the article we link to as a label with this post but if we do that, we cannot post. Stay tuned.

Made in China

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Watch James Fallows's Made in China video. He does a fantastic job narrating about China's dynamo manufacturing capabilities and has an accompanying article, "China Makes, The World Takes," in the current issue of The Atlantic online. Unfortunately it's only available to subscribers but that doesn't mean you can't go out and buy a copy. James is an Atlantic national correspondent.

A hat tip to Paul Barsch, Global Services Marketing, Teradata, a division of NCR, for turning me on to the piece.

Separately, but related, I'll be posting on, "Dragons At Your Door," in a couple of days. The fascinating book is scheduled for release tomorrow (June 12).

Photo credit: Michael Christopher Brown.