Globalization in the Modern World - Essay Example

comments: Work on developing your analysis and providing points rather than summary. Too long, stick closer to the constraints. Introduction has to be clear, and has specific thesis. Working on the body paragraph. It should have clear and focused topic sentence. Paragraph should exhibit unity, coherence, and completeness. Examples/evidence are adequately discussed. I want to make this essay become 4 pages. I also put the professor’s comment in the paragraph with “(CAPS LOCK)” Globalization Nowadays, globalization is constantly happening all around the world. On one side, globalization gives positive impacts, such that it allows countries to fulfill the needs –idea, foods and inventions from different parts of the world – that cannot be produced in their own country. However, the act of globalization produces new problems to many developing countries. For developing countries that have not ready yet prepared themselves to compete with developed countries, they will suffer from significant troubles and difficulties brought forth from developed countries. Kincaid and Black presented their views regarding developing countries being profusely pressurized with agony from developed countries. The problem faced by developing countries often arise due to financial reasons. Since developing countries are considered “young”, they need to make a lot of improvements in some aspect of society. In order to achieve it, developing countries will need a huge amount of money to support their development. Unfortunately, most of them do not have favorable financial situation. In Black’s documentary film, she also explains how developed countries with their huge and rude organizations - such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) - control the politic, economy, and life of the Jamaicans. After colonialism, Jamaica started her independence with the loan from IMF. The IMF has certainly helped many countries and this is a very good practice. IMF granted a loan with the requisite of short term borrowing contract and trading interest. With no other options, Jamaicans had to accept the condition and open their country to globalization. By then, there are many multinational corporations that followed along globalization, such as Mc Donald, Tacobell, Baskin Robins and many more. For many years, Jamaica had been dependent with the loan of IMF. In 1973, the banking system needed financial support to support the agriculture in Jamaica. Seeking a solution, the government of Jamaica came to IMF again for a loan. Beyond any expectations, the requisite that was given by IMF became stricter than before. IMF proposed the restriction to abandon local subsidy and any control of import product. Without any options left, the government of Jamaica had to accept the condition to help save their financial problem. The exploitation of laborers is very common in almost every developing country and this is unacceptable, it is high time to pay the laborers what they deserve and it is time to bring about a change for the best. For developing countries, being dependent to developed countries does not only constitute of following their rude requirements. But it also causes sufferings toward developing countries due to the negative impacts resulting from the requirements. The requirements from the developed countries may bring a solution to one problem; however, it opens a lot of new problems to the government and society. As in Jamaica, the requirement of tariff and quotas from developed countries destroy the local industries in developing countries. Developed countries work through IMF by requiring Jamaican to abandon their local subsidy and any control of milk powder imports as a pre-requisite for loan. While the United States government gives subsidy to their local industries, they can sell their products for a cheaper price in other countries. As a result, the loan may bring a temporary solution for Jamaica’s financial problem in the short run. However, in the long run, the requirement destroys their local industries. The prices given by local industries cannot compete with imported products that got subsidy from the government. In fact, one of the milk producers had to get rid of the milk from their factories and sell their cow, because their price of fresh dairy product cannot compete with the price of milk powder from United States. The same plight also happens in other agriculture productions, such as banana, carrot, and other kinds of vegetable products. United States’ products began to take over the Jamaicans’ products. On the other hand, the local producers cannot export their product to United States. Most of United States’ companies reject to import Jamaicans’ local products with the reason of quality difference between their US’s products which are done by machine, and Jamaicans’ local products which are done manually (Black). Because of these reasons, the government does not have any ability to save the life of local producer and survive from globalization. The government must intervene and save the life of the people who are suffering, it is high time to bring about a change. In addition, the impacts from developed countries are affecting the culture of developing countries. Colonization allows developed countries to come and introduce their culture and perspective to developing countries. In some ways, the globalization had changed and diminished the culture of the developing countries. In her novel, A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid tries to express her anger and thoughts about the situations that happened in her homeland, Antigua. Kincaid explains how her beautiful homeland turns to be a piteous place by the time colonialism started in Antigua. Her anger is vividly directed towards England, which colonized Antigua. She was filled with feelings of hatred and disappointment towards England for ruling most of the business and politics in her country and how the Antiguan fails to adopt the positive aspects of colonialism. The colony with its new cultures has taken control of the life of Antiguan, from the government until business and economy of Antiguan. The colony also diminished the origin culture of Antiguan and replaces it with English culture. Almost every event in Antigua is held to show respect to England. Kincaid also gives us examples on how Antiguan was being taught in English, and how they celebrate the Queen’s Elizabeth birthday as a holiday, or how every building and road was being repaired when the queen arrives there. As it stated in A Small Place, “And so everywhere they went they turned it into England; and everybody they met they turned English.” (Kincaid 24). Kincaid is very angry to England due to her reign. The foreigners and most of the private multinational corporation who enter the Antigua only care about their own business and how they can make profit. These countries have very less or no concern for their employees and they treat them like muck, low paid laborers get exploited day in, day out and this has to change and it must change sooner rather than later. In general, Stephanie Black and Jamaica Kincaid have high credibility in the way they explain about the saddening situation in their home country. Born with the status of being the natives from both islands, both authors could be generally assumed generally assumed as trustworthy. They presented the story with detailed information, such as giving exact statistic number and interviews from reliable sources to convince the readers with their perspective. It is also explicitly shown that they try to express and describe their anger and feelings to successfully convey their childhood memories to the readers. It is also true that many foreigners and big multinational corporations often use the international organizations such as IMF or WTO to get more profit from poor developing country with the reason of globalization. It is described in Twelve Reasons To Oppose The World Trade Organization, “…. WTO would like to believe that its purpose is to inspire growth and prosperity for all. In reality, the WTO has been the greatest tool for taking democratic control of resources out of our communities and putting it into the hands of corporations” (Global Exchange 34). This flier lists 12 reasons to oppose WTO that often brings the prosperity to develop country and lead many politic economy social to developing country. Some of the reasons state that WTO always make regulations that will benefit the corporations without giving any consideration to the labor’s life, human rights, and environment. Globalization is believed to have brought about changes for the better but the facts presented in this paper suggest otherwise. The difference between the rich and the poor has increased because of globalization and this has been proved with the evidence presented in the paper. People who are rich get richer day by day and those who are poor work for the rich people in order to sustain. For instance, a company established in Jamaica or Angola would make the workers work their socks off and the person who would benefit from this would be none other than the owner of the company, this proves the above concept of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. People in Jamaica and Antigua are the good examples that represent the negative effect of globalization. From the personal account that is given by the Kincaid and Black, it clearly portrays the saddened truth about the fact behind globalization. Works Cited Black, Stephanie, dir. Life and Debt. 2001. Tuff Gong Pictures, 2001. Global Exchange, “Twelve Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization.” Global Issues, Local Argument. Ed. June Johnson. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. 33-36. Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988. Read More