Globalization: Whether or Not a Culprit - Essay Example

?Globalization: Whether or Not a Culprit Introduction If there is one thing that is very visible in our society and almost all, if not all, parts of the world today would be the phenomenon of globalization. When we take a walk at the park, we could see different cars from the different parts of the world; at the grocery store we could see several items from different countries like Chinese noodles, Thailand rice, Indonesian coffee and other imported goods where there is a worldwide production international market existing today; while surfing the internet where we could access certain websites that represents certain ethnicity or states; and even in school where we are learning different cultures, dialects and languages and take it as a part of our living. Whether we are aware or not, there is absolutely the effect of globalization that also affects our lives as well as our way of living. In this paper, we are going to be detailed on globalization and look what are its effects and its perceived-to-be effects on our society and in the global sphere. Globalization is a course of action by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become incorporated in the course of global network of political thoughts through interactions, trades and transportations (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2010). Also, with the rise of multinational firms and corporation making and creating a world of collaboration, highly-dependent from each other by means of economy as well as political to survive in the global eco-political battle. Thus, we could view our world now being a spider web wherein each and every country is connected by one another through its dependency in resources and information. Moreover, with the rise of advanced technology like internets, telecommunications and alike, creating a stronger bond between and among countries through faster exchange of information. In this case, we are bounded by the things that these corporations had created. We shall tackle aspects on the history of globalization and its effects in the sphere of economy, politics and even in the society. Thus we shall see the benefits of this phenomenon and its disadvantage though comparative analysis to the studies, investigation and critical analysis made by other people. History It is believed that the process of globalization had started long time ago during the early ages where trades are used by the people to exchange goods and services. Also, in colonization era where one needs to import goods like spices, gold and even cultures from their colonizing countries. What seems to be the turning point of this event is during the 19th century where Industrialization occurs in the Western countries whereas processed goods are being introduces and new inventions are being catered to the business owners. During that time, Europe being the lead country producing goods highly needs materials that it will utilize to materialize the inventions of machineries in support to their production. Also, the dependency of the country to other country to aid its resources for it to create the materials needed and the invention of communication gadgets like telephones strengthen the globalization. The first phase of modern globalization break down during the Word War I in the 20th century because of several monetary forces brought by this phenomenon boost the conflicts between the states during that time (Yeates, pp54-55, 1962). Countries during these times were focused on the battle and their triumph in it. Thus, multinational firms are being used by the state as an asset to support the spending on their warfare. Globalization eventually reached its peak after the World War II wherein international organizations like the United Nations (UN) were being established to solve state-to-states conflict in the international arena and that to settle disputes between and among states in matters of economy as well as politics. Furthermore, the attempt to cut down boundaries of trade was done through the Bretton Woods conference creating a framework of international commerce and finance. These was eventually took into effect when sub-organizations by the UN like the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created mandating its members to engage in the import-export activities which they are managing to make sure that there is a continuous flow of goods in the international sphere. Globalization and Economy One of the advantages of globalization in economic aspect would be the flow of goods that we actually observe in our local markets today, thus, we can easily reach the things that we need in our daily living which implies that the more options we had, the better. This is very important especially on health-related issues wherein antidotes can be easily reached out and that there is a continuous flow of information regarding health problems that could aid pharmaceutical companies to create solutions through medicines. Some also perceive that the spread of diseases are also brought by globalization like HIV/AIDS (Dualaire, 2006). Neither ways, we can see that through this occurrence, we have been living in an integrated society; a financial interdependence that every state are being linked to each other to make their market operations work effectively and progress. Comparing before, the flow of money now are more systematized and faster in which we have these so-called credit cards that we could used almost anywhere in the world to purchase goods and commodities that we want without the hassle of withdrawing money to your own bank. Also, the branched-out of foreign companies in different countries, making their services available and expanding their business scope in our local markets like cars, mobile phones, accessories and alike which makes a harder market competition. Developing countries views this as their way of coping up to poverty by attracting foreign investors that could give a promising jobs for its citizens to solve their unemployment problems and believed that this could escalate their economy giving them the opportunity to offer their goods in the internal market. We can see that Japan had been progressive since it opens itself to other countries and trade with them materials that they utilize to create products that they could sell in the market once they have processed it. They have been successful in their goals making them one of the economic tigers now in Asia making them the leading exporter of IT gadgets in the world. Moreover, workers in developing countries have now more occupational choices and that they are now capable to compete in the global job market for a higher compensation – which implies that there is a greater job opportunity (Bhagwati, 2005). There are also contributions to the country’s economy through the growth of tourism whereas one could now easily travel from other country. Under the concept of globalization, there are set of ideologies emerged like the idea of Privatization, De-regulation and Liberalization. These states that countries should allow the economy to move by itself and that it must not intervene in its affairs. Privatization explains that roads, infrastructures and other public establishments should be sold to corporations and let them handle the said property to survive with the international standards and latest updates. The De-regulation implies that the government should not intervene with the prices set by the international market like oils coming from the idle east. The Liberalization suggests that countries should open it from trades, abolishing tariff taxes to the goods which enter to its country. These are what the economist suggests that the countries should be doing to maximize the effectiveness and benefits of globalization. This is actually in line with Keynesian and Smith’s perspective, having economy with no government intervention. It is a pro-capitalist ideology making multinational companies to move within the local as well as the international market, free from any liabilities and obligations set by the government wherein they could easily enter one state to the other without fear of tariff taxes and other responsibilities. One thing that these overlook would be the effects of these things in the internal economic affairs of the country. This is actually a method used by other states to out-power other states thus exploiting their resources to gain benefits like human resource. As Kuruvilla (2008) mentioned that globalization is a double-edge sword wherein there is a benefit and a disadvantage as well. What seem to be erroneous in globalization are the advantages done by other states to keep their selves in power. This is a strategy used by other state to uplift their local economy. Like for example, they used the concept of comparative advantage to make sure that there would be a country to support raw materials for them to make a processed good and sell it at a higher price. Thus, those who are making raw materials are the ones being subjugated because in the end they will be the ones who will be buying the products that they have supplied. An example would be chocolates, whereas country X is the exporter of sugar in the international market which county Y needed to create its product which is chocolate. Once the chocolate was processed or made, then it will be again imported to other countries including country X (the exporter of sugar needed) at a higher price. The point here would be, those countries producing raw materials are the ones who hardly progress in the international market having a lesser income than those who produced finished products. Also, the brain drain phenomenon makes the poor country’s case worst because their best people were utilized by other country for their benefit in the end. Globalization and Politics Globalization is the creation of world government which regulates the relationships among government and guarantees the rights arising from the social and economic globalization (Stipo, 2009). We can observe these through the international organizations and agencies that we have in the present days like the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Association of East Asian Nation (ASIAN), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) and alike. These are actually the effects of globalization in our world today, creating organizations that could unite all countries into one. In a liberalist perspective, we could say that these are good ones because there is cooperation among states and that this is very beneficial for all, aside from it could prevent military war, it could also be a hand to countries that needs a help in times of calamities and disasters. We could actually see the result of this in the recent Japan tsunami wherein number of volunteers and aids were brought to Japan to help them and ease their burden in their worst situation. Also, other non-government organizations and corporations could see this as an opportunity for them to reach out those who are in need of help, this are the ones we see at the televisions asking for donations to help the affected country. One the other hand, some political scholar believe that globalization demoralizes the country because it actually takes away it autonomy in its decisions, therefore, taking away their sovereignty which is one of the essential element of the state. Grinin (2008) mentioned that ‘globalization contributes to the change and reduction of nomenclature and scope of state sovereign powers, and besides it is a bilateral process: on the one hand, the factors are strengthening that fairly undermine the countries' sovereignty, on the other – most states voluntarily and deliberately limit the scope of their sovereignty’ (121). Thus mentioned previously, the limitations set by globalizations like the deregulation law, privatization, liberalization takes away the power of the state in economic matters. Furthermore, the WTO mandates its members to import goods and export as well their goods to other country. They are mandated to do so thus, states’ decision on this matter was minimized as a result their sovereignty was not properly exercised. Globalization and Society On of the positive contribution of globalization according to McLuhan (1992) is its path to a world where people from all countries will become more integrated and aware of common interest and shared Humanity. This is true in the sense that our world had already been a world of peace and order-seeking. Our mindset had already been tuned by what we watch on televisions and hear on radios. We are becoming integrated in seeking peace and freedom which is shown in the people power revolutions in the Middle East Asia like Egypt where they had fought in order to be “democratized”. People are lured with the perceived positive attributes of democracy that they even fight to acquire it. This is actually a unity of vision that was being contributed by globalization. Also, there are transformations of cultures coming from different Multinational Corporation to sell their products in the local market. We have now company, like in food industry which they acculturate ones culture to make their products catchy to the consumers creating now multiculturalisms. What could be the risk of globalization are the fainting cultures that were being destroyed by globalization. The preservation now of our society’s practices and norms was being alternated of what we saw in televisions that they depict to be the trend where everybody is in to it. Also, other languages, aside from English, are seemed to be threatened. English today is being emphasized in school for them to be competitive in the global companies because it is known to be the lingua franca of globalization. References Bhagwati, J. N. (2005). In defense of Globalization.New York: Oxford University Press. Chapman, Roger (2009). Culture wars: an encyclopedia of issues, viewpoints, and voices, Volume 1. M.E.Sharp. Charles, H. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and consequences, 6th ed. P.91. Crosby, A. W. 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