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(CNSNews.com) - In a speech to Canada's parliament on Wednesday, the president of the United States embraced globalization and the "international order," rejecting politicians who hearken back to "bygone days of order and precitability and national glory."
Without naming Donald Trump, President Barack Obama warned that the Republican presidential candidate is playing on people's fears of globalization:
"The world is more prosperous than ever before. But alongside globalization and technological wonders, we also see a rise in inequality and wage stagnation across the advanced economies, leaving too many workers and communities fearful of diminishing prospects, not just for themselves, but more importantly, for their children," Obama said.
"If the benefits of globalization accrue only to those at the very top, if our democracies seem incapable of assuring broad-based growth and opportunity for everyone, then people will push back out of anger or out of fear.
"And politicians, some sincere and some entirely cynical, will tap that anger and fear, hearkening back to bygone days of order and predictability and national glory, arguing that we must rebuild walls and disengage from a chaotic world, or rid ourselves of the the supposed ills brought on by immigrants, all in order to regain control of our lives."
Obama advised against restricting trade and giving in to protectionism.
"How we respond to the forces of globalization and technological change will determine the durability of an international order that ensures security and prosperity for future generations," he said.
'Build this world anew'
Obama devoted the rest of his speech to his vision of a "rapidly changing world."
"As Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said, a country, after all, is not something you build as the pharaohs built the pyramids and then leave standing there to defy eternity. A country is something that is built every day out of certain basic, shared values."
Obama defined those shared values as pluralism and tolerance, rule of law, openness, global engagement, commerce, cooperation, equal opportunity and "an investment in our people at home."
He ended his speech with another reference to the pyramid-building:
"A country is not something you build as the pharaohs built the pyramids. A country is something that is built every day, out of certain basic, shared values. How true that is.
"How blessed we are to have had people before us day-by-day, brick-by-brick, build these extraordinary countries of ours. How fortunate, how privileged we are to have the opportunity to now, ourselves, build this world anew."
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