Indigenous Consumption

Perceived and Posted by Jerry Schwartz

Splitting the atom 65 years ago almost split the world forever. Now, the Internet is bringing communities, if not the whole world, together. Without splitting hairs, some call this globalism.

On the other hand, capitalism is a better term. Certainly, it is an attractive economic and social order often resulting in another “ism,” materialism. No surprise. People like to live well. Pretty jewelry, big cars, nice homes. They don’t call them goods for nothing. The production of goods and services is for something -- economic growth. Fun and profit are byproducts. So, buy products!

A thousand years ago, peasant life sucked. As feudalism declined, capitalization flourished. It developed slowly after the middle ages, then rapidly transformed Western Civilization through the 20th century, giving rise to industrialization, computerization and now “Internetization.” Materially, it’s all about monetization. Arguably, there is a higher pursuit, “the Lord’s work.” Actually, poverty still sucks.

Gimme a good war, Mr. Roosevelt, maybe a trade war, even a cultural revolution. Wars are how different countries balance their socio-economic goals. Great change often results, often for the good and the goods. Civilizations usually advance. Certainly, healthcare does. So does tourism, based on all my friends vacationing in Vietnam, recently, who resisted serving there 40 years ago.

Great change is happening now. There is a huge shift in the world’s balance. The sun is rising, again, in earnest, this time led by China. In fact, many Asian countries are posting double-digit growth. Singapore recently reported record expansion. South Korea’s credit rating hit new highs. The difference now is Asia’s emergence as both a producer and a consumer. Large concentrations of wealth are building up and the challenge is multi-national and multi-platform. Multi-denominational, too. For decades, suburban Jewish families consumed Kosher Cantonese on Sunday nights and now Chinese families are consuming diamonds -- $2.2 billion worth from Israel alone.

Clearly, the world is opening up. There’s no going back because the opportunities are huge. Large numbers of people in Pacific Rim countries are rising from great poverty to a new social order that includes Tiffany’s and Mr. Softee. You are not gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen the Internet. A recent study noted that China, with nearly 400 million users, is far more connected than we are, surpassed only by Japan, in time spent on the Web.

And that’s China’s conundrum. How do you move a 3,000-year-old culture, heavily agrarian, smoothly into the 21st century? Not easily. China is like a big time machine, trying to transport 1.3 billion people rapidly to global centricity. Actually, the time and speed problem is common, particularly on unpaved roads to success. Driven by boredom, curiosity and ambition, youths on farms and fields, as much as in mountains and deserts, want more and they want it fast.

Beyond the ancient social need to connect, the Internet is instant entertainment and knowledge. Billions literally are flocking to the Web for movies, music, games and information. Centuries of thirst and hunger fed in a click. Yes, Mr. Disney, another mouse. . . for another screen. Comically, South Korea is the world’s largest supplier of animation.

Of course, an educated population gives rise to horrible capitalist desires, like shopping. Amway, for example, sells $3 billion in cosmetics and household products in China alone. Consumption brings money, power and access to the Web’s greatest benefit, community (no, not pornography). Connectivity enables communities to organize quickly, giving rise to social movements and unrest in minutes instead of generations. A different Tea Party, Mme Pei-Lin.

With so many countries now linked to China’s future, this raging “Asian Contagion” is surprising the West by its broad, rapid spread. Incidentally, China, which invented the rocket, wants to help us with manned space exploration. Occidentally, in Europe, it takes 11 countries to produce three times China in goods and services. In Argentina, the top export is soybeans (not wine) and China and India are its largest markets. Accidently, these countries are interdependent on salad dressing. And we all thought the problem was the value of the Yuan and all those shirts and shoes made there and sold here. Incrementally, China’s current demand for foreign commodities is helping foreign currencies and economies. A Yuan is contagious.

Countless articles, books and speeches raise the roar of the Eastern Tiger. Europe will grow 1% this year and the U.S. 3%. China will grow nearly 10%. The 2010 Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual ranking of Most Innovative Companies, shows 15 of the top 50 are Asian. There were only five four years ago. Importantly, China’s fertility rate is declining, as its inflation rate is increasing, like much of Asia. Healthcare and pensions are next. More change.

Complicating and driving the change is the Internet with all its transparency. Technology is not a shortcut to progress, it is progress -- high-speed, broadband and worldwide. We once laughed about tribesmen riding camels with cell phones. Now, we smile about peasants driving Geelys with GPS systems. We think it’s cute that “American Idol” is top rated in Singapore. Cute doesn’t describe Samsung’s 85% of the LED TV market in America. BTW, Lenovo will tell you Oriental is PC. LOL.

Calculators weighed a pound and cost hundreds 25 years ago. Today, they cost a pound (U.K.) or are even free. We prophesize about the iPad and its glorious future, yes, but a simple cell phone tied to the Internet creates jobs, sells products, completes transactions, connects peoples, searches information and creates a global party line. In India, as elsewhere, texting is the center of life and commerce. Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child, while noble in trying to reach two billion children, could be replaced by an inexpensive versatile mobile handset, with fewer components, less cost and no politics. Many people have less access to a good toilet.

Starbucks sees Asia as its biggest coffee break. Japan is the company’s largest market outside the U.S. South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand are not far behind. China is set to surpass Japan in bean sales and screen sales. And you know one reason for the popularity of coffee in the land of tea? Internet marketing. Very powerful in a region where young people consume everything online on phones, from product promotions to contests and events. Plus, information travels rapidly, virally on blogs, bulletin boards and instant messaging. Mainstream Google’s mainland difficulties are mainly awkward steps to a global market economy. And that’s where Asia is going. It’s called “indigenous innovation” and even South Korea, home to two top cell phone makers, banned iPhone sales last year. It’s also called nationalism. It’s also practiced here.

Clearly, the creation of exciting new products like the iPhone and iPad, the spread of broadband and the decrease in prices through innovation and low cost providers will lead to world peace. Eventually.

It’s as American as Apple. Bye.

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