Globalization: What do you think?

[nelison]

This semester the theme of my politics course is Globalization. It really isn't something I've given a whole lot of thought about, but at my school it seems to be the equivalent of the devil. It's hard to to find a pro-globalization argument around here, and having talked to about a dozen friends of mine, I've found that only one believes that globalization is not all that bad. The rest are madly against it.

Anyways, the point of this is just to see what you guys think about the issue. I've done a fair bit of reading, but I'd just like to see what everyone here thinks.

Globalization: good? bad? or ugly?

[Corey]

Well, this is indeed a coincidence. Over the summer, I took Senior Seminar and the topic was Globalization. We read 2 books on the subject. Let me assure you, not all of the results of Globalization are bad. For instance, there were colonies in Africa where it was common practice to mutulate women's genitalia. Some sort of ritual. Well, women just always accepted this because it was their culture. As a result of Globalization, women became more educated and they were able to see that this wasn't the way it had to be. With the Global community visible, this injustice was revealed and things started to change.

This is just one example. There are several, and I'll be happy to discuss them with you. Globalization also has several negative consequences, obviously.

[Brooklin Matt]

Yeah, we addressed this issue in Geography and my environment courses.

Globalization gets knocked because instead of linking ideas and culture, economic juggernauts like the U.S. exploit third world countries for resources. When we had borders, internal problems for a country were localized and usually not globally significant.

Now with technology increasing, resouces being consumed faster and faster, and clashing border disputes, people feel that globalization is creating bigger and bigger problems. From a social aspect, the loss of cultural identity and the significance of locality is getting lost. Look at groundwater, which is the next big resource that everyone takes for granted, but is starting to become more and more valuable globally. If temperatures keep going up like they have been, we are going to see some pretty nasty disputes in our time.

Multi National Corporations are part of globalization, and yet the exploit as much as they can for the best price, and really have no incentive to care about the effects that has on the local environment, or about the people as long as they are productive. Out of sight is out of mind apparently.

Anyways, my tutor and professors appeared to also take the stance that globalization is producing far worse effects than it can counter with positives. Globalization sounds nice.........but really all it has done is magnify local problems into a global scale...........

THere are many new ways of thinking right now.........especially about "green" ways of thinking and sustainable development. That's the new paradigm. The problem is that government cops out and only looks for short term solutions to get them re-elected. Take the Atlantic Cod fiasco, in which the government gathered wrong data, ignored claims that Cod disappearing, and instead funded more fishing to keep Newfoundlanders happy.

Brutal..........government inaction led to the downfall of this market, and instead new strains on crab and lobsters so that fisherman could find work. All of this was avoidable, but government will say, "that's what teh people wanted".

I think government has to take a higher stance..............take the heat but make the right decisions that create a sustainable economy.

This "lets bleed it dry" attitude of earlier days worked well........but now the main problems are:

1) Growing Population and resource consumption
2) Declining power of communities over local environment
3) lack of Biodiversity


Anyways, I am really getting away from Globalization, but all these themes are intertwined.............globalization is just speeding things up..........its funny...the myths of progress and what success is...........the media is the worst of the bunch. The US spent more on marketing than it does on education...........nice.


Anyways, I have some articles that you can read if you want a holistic approach to it all (though this is a Geography course so be warned). I'm still getting flooded with info so making opinions are not so cut and dry. Its very complicated.

[nelison]

That's what I was thinking. There are benefits to globalization such as increased knowledge about the world around us, but it seems like most people (and my politics course) are only focusing on the economic issues surrounding globalization.

We're reading No Logo by Naomi Klein, it's a book mainly about how corporations are taking over the world. The odd thing though is that without these corporations millions of people would be without jobs (and I don't mean children working for nickles a day over seas). It just seems like people are trying to cut down corporations that are also permitting food to be on our tables and money in our own pockets.

I'm short on time... hopefully more people will post...

[Brooklin Matt]

With corporations its such a mixed bag. They do provide jobs and do help the economy...........but that's in the short term. I think long term they might do more harm than good because they do not concern themselves with what is best for that country.....only themselves. And the world's economy can't keep growing..............its seems to be unsustainable.


Anyways, I hope more people provide some input.....this stuff is important to know about.

[Furious George]

It's important to realize one thing about globalization: there's no stopping it. It may seem kind of grim, but if you don't follow the globalization trend in todays world, you're going to suffer. What's more important than lamenting it, is figuring out a way to resolve the consequences of globalization we see today and figuring out how to make it all work for everyone.

[thirdhour]

I need to learn about Globalization! This is my goal of the year, so good this came up.

Speaking of No Logo, that was going to be first on my reading list on the topic, but I'm pretty sure the copy I have is somewhere on in Kenya with my brother...



Globalization is unavoidable, like you said ^. The world is becoming connected, and there's no point in trying to stop it. As much as cultures are being lost in it, one needs to realize that this isn't the first time such things have happened in the world. This is just simply the first time the entire world has been able to witness it. People have been trading with other cultures for thousands of yeqrs, in the process mixing their cultures. Look at how the romans took over most of Europe. As they did that, they spread their culture and as a result, many languages are based upon theirs.

I think the problem is just that it's happening too quickly, and isn't really adapting so much as taking over. I personally don't think that every town in Mongolia needs a McDonalds. Once this starts to happen everywhere in the world, the charm of beauty and simplicity of life in such places will be gone. Why do people travel? To experience different things. If things aren't different anymore, I think that will be quite sad.

[Long Jonny]

I am reviving this thread.

My course, just like Jim's is very much centred around Globalization. Are there any views that people would like to share, even if you have changed your mind since Jim created the thread?

When do you think Globalization began? Can we give it an exact date or has it always just been evolving? My prof seems to think that it is constantly evolving and changing in different years- I'd have to agree with him. Did it begin with the collapse of communism? After the First and Second World Wars? Or even with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Is it a bad thing? Is the world turning into a corporate planet?

In what ways has it affected the planet? I think that it has led to an erosion of state sovereignty; a clash in civilization; increased interdependence; global inequalities (North-South Division); and has also led to a single world state.

The world seems to be affected in almost every single aspect by globalization whether it be economic, militarily, culturally, ecologically or politically.

I don't know whether or not I would consider it to be a good or bad thing- but more towards the middle. I take this stance: Globalization is inevitably happeing with positive and negative effects.

Now, this is pretty much my first real post in the current events forum, so please don't bash me too bad- I'm not as advanced as some of you in this type of knowledge, but I look to you guys to help me broaden it. It's actually a very interesting issue for those of you who haven't learned about it too much, so go read up on it!

Thanks in advance.

[Henrietta]

I have to agree. There is no way in hell it could ever be stopped unless technology was completely lost. I fail to see how that would happen.

But globalization makes me sad. Even to my own "American" heritage, every day I see it going away. There is a store in my town called Cross Western. It was the oldest Western wear store in the United States. Due to things like coughwalmartcough, it's gone. I see people who don't give a shit about the land or using, everyone has to be corporate. You'd be hard pressed to find people who know how to ride a horse, plow the land, herd a cow. I know this is small scale and very localized, but it feels like this is how it effects me. I can't even imagine people who have completely lost their past. It's so awful. I don't know how we could change it.

[nelison]

I just finished writing a paper on the inevitability of globalization... I'll post it tomorrow morning cause it basically sums up a bunch of the questions you just asked.

[Long Jonny]

Oh cool. Looking forward to it.

[nelison]

This is pretty long... so I apologize in advance. I'm still awaiting my mark on it.

The question was "Is Globalization Inevitable? Using actors and structures determine Bgobalization's inevitability""

It's an incredibly vague question but oh well...

----------
The Improvement of the Human Species and the Inevitability of Globalization

The curiosity of what lies beyond our borders and our ability to act upon that curiosity separates humans from any other species on Earth. This allows for a process called globalization. Globalization is the inevitable path of humankind. This essay will analyze the role actors and structures have played in society’s evolution towards globalization. First, a description of the historical facts that have laid the foundation for globalization’s nature and development will be presented. This will be followed by the role of globalization in the present, followed by an examination of how our future lies in the hands of globalization.

Before advancing into the bulk of the essay, it is important to define globalization as mentioned throughout this paper. Globalization is a product of “multifaceted causal dynamics, with the principal spurs having come from rationalist knowledge, capitalist production, various technological innovations and certain regulatory measures.” (Scholte 8) It is also important to express the psychological ambition of humans as beings who cannot be contained, but rather express the desire to expand their borders, and as a result developed the principles of globalization as mentioned above.

Since humans have possessed the ability to explore different ideas, the motivation to expand horizons and enhance knowledge of our surroundings has increased substantially. This section will examine the history of globalization, beginning with primitive man and followed by ancient cities and civilizations, and examine their attempts to increase boundaries and gain knowledge of the world.

The dawn of globalization can be traced as far back as fifty-five hundred years ago with the development of the wheel, enabling quicker travel. Not only was this a breakthrough in terms of completing tasks, but it allowed for goods and materials to travel from one tribe to another (Bellis). As tribes began to grow, small communities formed, and eventually two separate communities would expand into one larger community. This evolution took hundreds of years, but its results developed the basis of cities, and the groundwork for globalization.

Cities, such as Rome and Athens, became hubs of great importance. Many of the citizens of these cities can be considered the first true immigrants as they gravitated towards these centres, which had developed into places of commerce, resources, and culture. As their populations grew, the need to expand beyond their borders increased. Each society conquered territory to further its boundaries and resources. As new cities were added to the developing nation, merchants took their ideas, customs, and products into the newly acquired cities, allowing a melding, borrowing, and adaptation of their influence to enhance the city’s development. The borders expanded to the frontiers of the world they knew until vast empires swept across continents.

The fall of the great empires resulted in an era coined “The Dark Ages.” The bleakness of the title signified a lack of exploration and advancement. The notion that globalization is constantly happening is clearly visible when you take into account the negative tone in the title of this, the only large period over the past five thousand years to restrict itself from expanding its possibilities.

By the fifteenth century, over a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was divided into a plethora of smaller countries. The boundaries stretched from sea to sea, and did not allow for expansion. Expansion could only occur by exploring the vastness of the oceans. Human’s determination to increase their surroundings led to attempts by countries to find new land to develop by sending ships to explore. This led to the discovery of the Americas, causing the expansion of a country’s borders to become more global than it ever had before. Colonies began forming in the Americas and within three hundred years, much of the western world had been discovered. The rebirth of exploration allowed new resources to be exploited, new trades routes to be discovered, and more frontiers to be conquered.

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the development of new countries as smaller territories merged with others to form nations. What had occurred in Europe two thousand years ago was re-emerging as the American empire grew exponentially. Other large and vast countries such as Canada, Brazil and Argentina also developed, but not at the same rate or with the same flair as the United States of America.

The willingness to explore and advance beyond our boundaries, as outlined above, marked the beginning of globalization. The next section will examine how globalization continues during present time, and will describe the actors and structures that have laid the foundation for an inevitable globalized future.

Globalization reached a new height at the turn of the twentieth century. Industrialization moved to the forefront as countries stabilized. The invention of new technologies, much like the wheel, allowed for easier migration, and the assimilation of cultures. Humans have now conquered every possible piece of habitable land on Earth. A skeptic might say that globalization has ended due to the fact the globe has been conquered. This is not the case. To push our boundaries beyond our limits, humans have developed an overabundance of structures that have expanded our borders literally, technologically, and psychologically.

Industrial pioneers such as Colt (USA), Siemens (Germany) and Kikkoman (Japan) were among the first to establish factories in foreign nations (Scholte 70). Not only could a product be manufactured and bought in your home country, but also the same product could be found halfway around the world. Borders and boundaries did not exist for products. Since the industrial age, manufacturing, production and consumption have expanded greatly. Corporations have become nations without borders. “In 2001 there were approximately 65,000 multi-national corporations worldwide with 850,000 foreign subsidiaries” (Held and Mcgrew 26), and as capitalism continues to flourish, the amount of global corporate entities will only increase.

To have a globalized corporation, the capability to transport people, materials and product to and from various locations must be present. Structures such as the automobile, airplane and, to a lesser extent, boats have given the ability to travel outside a human’s boundaries, and arrive in a location thousands of kilometres away in mere hours. The result is an immense increase in possibilities for humankind and capitalism (Scholte 52).

Furthermore, our world has developed a global culture. “Globalization has intensified intercultural relations, in the process encouraging countless new combinations and blurring distinctions between nations and between civilizations” (Scholte 24). Its presence can be felt on the streets, and in the media of any and every country around the world. Globalization frees individuals from the shackles of blind nationalism.
Just because someone was born in France does not mean they can only aspire to speak French, eat French food, read French books, visit museums in France, and so on. A Frenchman can take holidays in Spain or Florida, eat sushi or spaghetti for dinner, drink Coke or Chilean wine, watch a Hollywood blockbuster or an Almodóvar, listen to bhangra or rap, practice yoga or kickboxing, read Elle or The Economist, and have friends from around the world. (Legrain VI)

The human species’ desire to expand from its boundaries reaches its essence when the life-choices above are taken into account. A global culture reaches inevitability when the discovery of a new previously unknown subject grasps our attention. To say that globalization is avertable would be to say that humans do not possess the desire to increase their knowledge of the world around them, and otherwise insist that foreign products are unworthy of attention. Global culture has benefited from the implementation of vast, new technologies, and in particular the increase in trans-national communications.

The communications aspect of globalization has developed significantly since the fifteenth century with the invention of the printing press. Recent innovations have revolved around a digital world, allowing person-to-person, or person to group communication to occur on a global level. Highlights of the impact communications have had on globalization are the first transborder telephone connection in 1891 and the first transatlantic telephone call in 1926 (Scholte 73). Both of these events have resulted in the ability of information to travel between people of different countries, sending news, and other information. “Fax machines, satellite hookups and the internet connect people across borders with exponentially growing ease while separating them from natural or historical associations within nations” (Mathews 204). These, along with the invention of radio and television, psychologically created a seemingly smaller world. Examples of this can be seen every evening as multiple news programs display events occurring around the globe. It increases knowledge of the earth as an entity, rather than land inhabited by thousands of different cultural and political entities. Our desire to increase our knowledge of the world around us through communication and knowledge spurred further developments in global communication technology with the creation of the internet.

The internet provides globalization with a true vehicle. On the internet, borders and nations are invisible. By typing, or clicking a mouse, we are capable of communicating with others, and understanding life in a different part of our world. Chat based applications allow the user the ability to instantaneously speak to another individual (no matter the location) in real-time. This furthers the ability for humans to increase knowledge as global perspectives become apparent, while developing a social base over a global spectrum. Beyond social interaction, the user can increase his own knowledge of the world around him through a tertiary resource by accessing news from any country, or source, in seconds. Popular news sites such as the BBC and CNN offer immediate news as it happens, allowing the user to keep up to date on current affairs.

From an economic standpoint, the internet has created a wealth of benefits for the global markets. E-commerce (commerce over the internet) has allowed companies and small businesses to access customers globally. This allows customers the capability of purchasing items over the internet at better prices than they may have found in their area. The recent example of American seniors purchasing prescription drugs over the internet for cheaper prices than their American counterparts (French Reuters) only furthers the inevitability of economical globalization. Without the benefit of the internet, customers could pay more for their products and generally, the quality of life would decrease, not necessarily substantially, but noticeably. The capitalist advantages of creating outlets for a borderless global economy will ensure the inevitability of globalization. Some outlets have already been implemented, such as free trade areas and non-governmental organizations.

The modern global economy is dependent on trade between countries, regions, and groups. The restriction on trade, and therefore the restraint on globalization, is not in the best human interest.
The volume of world foreign trade expanded at about 3.4 per cent per annum between 1870 and 1913. After 1913 trade was adversely affected by the growth of tariffs, quantitative restrictions, exchange controls and then war, and it expanded by less than 1 per cent per annum on average between 1913 and 1950. After 1950 (…) trade really took off to grow at over 9 per cent per annum until 1973. (Hirst and Thompson 336)
The time between 1913 and 1950 is a modern “dark age,” as protectionism placed globalization on the backburner. Once it returned, thanks in part to World War II, the need to rebuild Germany, and the realization that countries needed one another for the better of their people, the economy boomed, and programs increasing our desire to expand our boundaries – such as the Apollo lunar missions - were implemented. Other economic programs were implemented resulting in a transparency of borders in economics and business sectors.

As nations claimed the final pieces of land, how to further our ability to expand our borders without land became a dilemma. Economists, governments, and businesses developed the concept of free trade with the help of non-governmental organizations. Essentially, this has been a leading model in the pursuit for expansion of boundaries. The idea is that although national boundaries are in place, products from other countries can still be purchased without the use of tariffs to increase pricing. This enables citizens the chance to own the same product as another individual in a completely different country for relatively the same price (when cost of living index is taken in to account), allowing them and the nation to feel as though the borders have become transparent. Free trade agreements - such as the North American Free Trade Agreement in North America - are common between countries around the world, but meanwhile some countries have brought the concept of transparent boundaries to a new level.

“Europe is a concrete model often referred to as an example to follow by other regional organizations” (Hettne 362), because their pursuit of regionalization is the first large step towards a completely global economic and societal system. Currently consisting of twenty-five European nations, citizens of these countries are able to work and travel from country to country as though they were one large state. They have adopted their own currency (with the exception of a few nations), and are considered as one entity in economic trade. As well, other groups have been formed, which promote globalization before individual nations. Incipient global communications, markets, money, and finance encouraged – and were at the same time encouraged by – the formation of prototypical global organizations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These institutions included a number of market actors, regulatory agencies and civil society bodies. (Scholte 70)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) are the most powerful of the non-governmental organizations implemented by governments. Their power supersedes the power of a nation, and acts as a global body of governance. “There are good reasons for supra-national rules of governance that limit what one country can do in light of the rights of others who reside on other parts of the globe” (Pattern 102). Furthermore, The WTO is the first group to regard businesses and people before governments, which is a step towards the inevitability of globalization.

Having examined a few of the major factors in modern globalization, and detailing their roles in the quest to expand boundaries, it is important to display how these will continue the inevitability of globalization for the future.

The most obvious argument for globalization’s inevitability is the notion that globalization has made advancements since the beginning of civilization. The only era not making advancement is known by historians as the bleakest period in history. Modern humans, being the most advanced humans to walk the planet, learn from their mistakes. The benefits of globalization match the psychological goals of humans to expand their borders, and their world. For globalization to not occur in the future would be as though man did not exist. In addition, by simply examining the role technology has played over the past five thousand years, we can view our goal for expanding our borders.

With the recent inventions of the internet, satellite systems and wireless communications, we must remind ourselves about the degree technology has influenced globalization. Earlier, the technological advances were mentioned, such as the wheel, printing press, and airplane. Before these inventions and the others mentioned, it was inconceivable by most humans that anything of the magnitude of importance these would have on the world would exist. To say that globalization is avertable is to say that we have created the pinnacle of technologies, and cannot continue to research and develop our knowledge of the world. It is not possible to understand what we may develop in the future, nor is there an argument for the basis that globalization has suddenly halted after five thousand years of momentum. As technology increases, so does communications, and in turn culture becomes more globalized.

Culture cannot be defined by borders. The future of culture involves a melding of cultures around the world to the degree where culture becomes more of a historical context than a present and future notion. Examples of this can be seen daily, as restaurants of multiple backgrounds can line the streets of the world. It is more than possible that someone could be purchasing the same lunch at a Toronto Mcdonalds as another person in a Mcdonalds in Paris. Globalization gives us choice, and as humans yearn to expand their boundaries to find new resources and knowledge of the world, we can expect more choices from more cultures to be found. If we cannot travel to Beijing for Chinese food, we can have it delivered to our doorstep, and the globalization of culture makes this possible. Not only is culture a prime example for the future of globalization but future trends in economics and governance are pointing towards globalization’s inevitability.

Negotiations have taken place over the past ten years by leaders of the Organization of American States to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005. What was discussed earlier regarding the European Union is becoming much more of a reality in the west. Although the citizens of North and South America will not be able to work in different countries without the proper documents, nor will they be able to travel across borders without inspection points, a free trade area across the Americas will allow businesses in Brazil to compete with American or Canadian business, while improving a citizen’s access to products and goods from different areas of the world. The immediate future in North America does not call for one large nation much like the European Union, but considering the age of the countries involved in Europe compared to their American counterparts, it is possible to use Europe as an example of what the future of the America’s may look like. Admittedly, it is a slower process than what is visible in the technological and cultural aspects of globalization, but its inevitability due to human interest to expand their borders is remarkably present.

Humankind’s desire to expand beyond his known realm, and his ability to create facets upon which he can further his knowledge of the world separate humans from all other species on Earth. The result is a process called globalization. Humans have created a path towards the inevitability of globalization. This essay displayed the role of actors and structures in the progression towards globalization. An explanation of globalization as it has occurred throughout history preceded globalization’s current role in modern society and concluded with the apparent trends that forecast the inevitable future of globalization.

[nelison]

I had a feeling the length of that post would end the thread

[Long Jonny]

Actually, I've been meaning to get around to reading it, but exams got in the way. I read some of the beginning and I thought it was actually very interesting. I will get back to you on Thurs or Fri though after the week of hell is over.

[thirdhour]

I scared of university now :O

[happening fish]

It's gonna chew you up and spit you out until you look like nikki:

[Henrietta]

^:nod:

[Corey]

University? psh.

Easiest 6 years of my life.

[reza]

u can go to university for 6 years depending on the program you take

we're studying globalization in my Sociology class, and they've completely shown it in a negative light. with child laborers and junk. i find myself in a same position, not one good thing comes to mind when it comes to globalization. it all just seems so negative.

[Long Jonny]

so many of the things which you probably consider to be good are actually the product of globalization.

Example:

I'm sure you would consider a microwave to be a good thing. (I know this isn't the best case, i'm just showing it the easiest terms).

The case for the microwave may be made in Kentucky
The electronic element of it might be made in Japan
The heating components may be formed in China
Assembly could take place in Mexico.

I consider a microwave as something that is helpful to me. Therefore, in a sense, globalization is actually a good thing.

Now I know that doesn't represent the whole argument of Globalization, I'm just giving a pro to come out of globalization.

There are so many things around us that are the product of globalization- you may just not realize it.