Commerce As a Barrier To Internationalism
The civilized world is still divided into separate nations, each distinguished by its own language, customs, traditions and modes of thought. The spirit of nationalism, that is devotion to one’s own country as distinct from all other countries, is perhaps stronger to-day than it ever was. Carried to excess, this nationalist spirit leads to jealousy and distrust of rival nations, and is the main cause of political and economic wars. The ideal of internationalism is just the opposite. Internationalism is thinking internationally ; that is, regarding mankind as one great family, and all nations as brother members of that family. What is needed more than anything in this distracted world of jealous, suspicious and warring nations is this larger spirit of internationalism, which would bring about international co-operation and friendly helpfulness among all nations. In the long run this might lead to the development of a world state a “federation of the world”.
Now commerce between nations should be one of the influences making for internationalism ; for when nations trade together they should get into more intimate and friendly touch with one another. Commerce should be a shuttle weaving nations into one web. And this commerce would be if it were free and untrammeled, as is a country’s own internal trade.
But international trade is far from being free. It is regulated and hampered by customs barriers and all kinds of trade restrictions. In order to protect its own national products from the competition of other nations producing the same kind of goods, every nation imposes heavy customs duties on foreign goods coming into the country. The object of this protective policy is either to keep foreign competing goods out, or so to raise their selling price if they get in as to prevent them from lowering the price of home produced goods.
Commerce so carried on, instead of exerting a uniting influence, simply intensifies the narrow spirit of nationalism. It makes still more serious national jealousies, suspicions and antagonisms. Each nation aims at being self-supporting, so that it can stand a siege in time of war. Regarding other nations simply as trade rivals, trying to steal its own commerce, every nation thinks of every other nation as a possible enemy. Commerce carried on in this spirit and on these lines is therefore a serious barrier to internationalism. It is both a result and a cause of narrow nationalism; for it is the narrow nationalist spirit that hampers commerce with trade restrictions, and these very trade restrictions and their consequent tariff wars still further intensify the narrow nationalist spirit. A vicious circle!
