Effect of Globalization to Society - Essay Example

Title: Effect of globalization to society Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name and Code: University: Date of Submission: Globalization Introduction Globalization is a process that involves the cooperation and integration of societies in different parts of the world. This process has far fetching reputation due to the effects that came with it. Globalization as an idea has both proponents and opponents. Proponents argue that the process is in favor of the developing countries and the poor society. They strongly feel that developing countries benefit in totality through; international trade, industrialization, expansion of the job market, language, religion and enhancement of technology. On the other hand, opponents of the globalization claim that the big beneficiaries are the multi-international companies in the Western world, in the expense of common people and local culture in general. Effects of globalization have led to discomfort between both at the society, and government level. The society has welcomed in a new culture, in the expense of a local culture. It is perceived by a number of developing countries that its future generation will have by far, forgotten their believes and practices to the Western culture. Globalization comes with a lot of success to a society; this has been established through observation. The society and the nation at large, benefit from the free trade formed between nations by mutual understanding. This is what led to the formation of international cooperation. Globalization has the answers to the global problems from; climate change, piracy, drug trafficking and bad governance. It has greatly led to improved living standards in the society. The development of international policy on human rights, trade and international laws are all the products of globalization. Business has been made easy by the removal of trade barriers and formation of trade blocks to over see fair play in all business transaction. Globalization will initiate the formation of a common government to govern all the sovereign states. Advantages of globalization Industrialization The free movement of both people and goods has exposed the society to a variety of foreign and local products. The formation of international trade has played a key role in the development of industries, to meet the needs of the people. Through globalization, factories and manufacturing plants have been developed between two or more nations, to serve their own interest and needs. The demand of foreign products by the developing countries has facilitated the growth of industries in countries like, China and Japan. The past decade has seen business between Africa and Asia double by more than twenty folds. This has led to improved living standards of people in those countries. Industrialization is of great help to the society, by providing goods to already available market (Dell'Ariccia, 2008 P. 54). Job market The formation of a global market has created more job opportunity to the society. The integration of training and exchange program exposes individuals to a wide job market in the globe. ''With the improved mode'' of information, global jobs are advertised to more than one country, and wages are not based on the performance of the economy, but on international standards. The creation of this market has forced the society to improve on its labor laws. Different countries have set the minimum wage allowance to their workforce, to meet the set international labor laws. Globalization has opened up this market and ''therefore'' the formation of an international body, to oversee the welfare of employees. The job market improves living standards of the society, and also empowers individuals to own property (Hewa & Stapleton, 2005 p. 56). Economic growth Economic growth in a country can be measured by the development in infrastructure, key reforms in the financial sector and good governance. The cooperation between nations in trade, a good example is the formation of (WTO) World Trade Organization. This organization key role is to formulate business policy and regulation. The World Trade Organization, oversees the interests of all member states are met. Member states attain economic growth due to; fair business environment, reduced business competition, no trade and movement barriers. Products from member states are treated like local products (Virginia & Warner, 2006 p. 2008). The free movement of goods led to development of industries to places or countries, where there is availability or cheap labor. Industries also tend to move to countries which have weak pollution laws and this will translate to the economic growth of the country in the expense of the environment. The relocation of an industry in one country, translate to the increase in job creation and improve livelihood of its citizens (Teegen, 2003 p. 11). Health policy The health status of the society is critical to the development of the country as a whole. ‘’The free will’’ of nations to cooperate under mutual understanding; basing on the interest of each member state. There was a need to form a health policy body. The United Nation was formed, and mandated to formulate health policy, but this has long changed due to different emerging health issues. The health sector has changed from strategic management to privatization, with each member fronting his own objectives. The United Nation offers grants through its agency, World Health Organization to different health sectors in a country. Each society has its own challenges, thanks to globalization. The scientific research and advance technology that are carried out in partnership with multilateral institution, has enhanced the health sector; discovery of better treatment methods and the prevention of fatal diseases. Politics Countries have begun seeing the integration they enjoy through trade organization, this can be taken to a greater height, and form a world government that will have enough resources or create wealth. The United State has been a powerful country for a very long time, but this is likely to change if China continues with its current development and expansion. In the next twenty years, China would have acquired enough technology, and wealth to make it the super power. This will lead to rearrangement of the countries order in terms of wealth power. The society benefits from globalization by the development of good governance structure, and the promotion of transparency, and accountability in our leaders ((Virginia & Warner, 2006 p. 197-200). Language The movement of people within the globe makes them learn different languages of the world. Globalization forces nations to form collaboration with other state. Not all nations speak the same language. All countries which want to succeed have to learn other languages. This extra language enables the society to communicate effectively with its neighbors, and provide a good environment for business, since there is no communication barrier. The job market encourages job seekers to learn a foreign language, and position themselves for any job in a different country. Information Communication has been improved over the last decades with new innovation. The discovery of the computer has helped a great deal to make the world a global village. Information moves faster through the Internet. This enables the society keep track of the world events from any where and at any time of the day. The mobile hand set and telephone invention have made communication easier and faster. Businesses can get feed back from their clients at the comfort of their offices. The farms can sell their produce through the mobile handset and receive cash at the same time. Thanks to the development of the telecommunication industries. Globalization has really improved the flow of information. The set up of media companies in a nation, leads to job creation and facilitate the easy flow of information, through print media. This era, the backbone of all activities is the flow of information. All business needs this information to know what their target market wants at a particular time. The fashion industry cannot grow with the lack of information. Magazines are produced on daily basis, weekly or monthly to show the fashion trends of the globe. Information from around the globe has a lot of influence to the society. The society empress change by getting informed of the latest trends in world events (Teegen, 2003 P. 91). Ecological Our environment is a major asset to the society. It should be taken care of with a lot of emphasize. Globalization has open doors to all kind of industries to flourish in the expense of the environment. Industries are mainly set up in countries where the pollution laws are not strict. The waste from industries and factory has far reaching effects to the ecology. Globalization has led to the automobile industry to flourish. Gas emission from these vehicles pollutes the environment and leads to global warming. The vessels in deep water, leak oil on the water surface, and this leads to death of marine animals. The destruction of the environment causes serious effects to the society. Global warming ''which is a product'' of globalization, has led to loss of lives by the society through; floods, drought and earth quakes. Rainfall pattern has changed over the years due to interference with the environment. The cutting down of trees by factories to produce wood products, has gravitated all issue. In the developing world, there was total dependent on wood fuel. Globalization has led to the availability of cheap and safe energy that does not destroy the environment. The destruction of the environment by the global activities, led to the formation of an international body to over see the emerging issues within the environment. UNEP, ''United Nation Environmental Program'' was formed (Dell'Ariccia, 2008 p. 54). Legal/ethics Interaction of people with different opinions to issues of common interest, has led to the formulation of international laws to guide us. The human right policy is a product of globalization that was agreed upon during the post cold war era. These rights are still not agreed upon fully, because of different believes and practices within the different societies on the globe. Communities have their own customs that they hold dearly and it is not easy to let go. “A good example’’ is the nomadic community in Africa, they have resisted all forms agriculture. There way of dressing is totally different to the rest of the globe. They have conserved their culture. Globalization erodes the culture of society through influence and leads to assimilation. The local communities in the developing countries have been greatly influenced by the culture from the West in the expense to the local culture. This is a worrying trend in Africa and there are need to control what they copy and embrace like being good. Globalization has led to the formation of International Criminal Court at The Hague. This court is mandated to investigate and prosecute all forms of abuse to the society. This court is here to bring sanity and good governance between member states. All international laws are agreed upon not by individual, but by governments, and these laws have general ethics that are to be followed for harmony ‘Globalization’. Religion History has it that most communities under the sun had a religion profound to it. The Western countries had what we call churches in the present time, while Asian community had their own believes and practices. The Africans who were more primitive believed their gods resided in mountains and caves. All these are religions, globalization that changed and converted societies to a different religion occurred during the colonial era. Colonial governments forced its subject to join its religion in exchange of privileges. These privileges were; free education, access to modern medical facilities, good housing within the mission centre, and a guarantee of a job. This strategy worked very well for the colonial government, because of the frustration of the colonial subjects. The spread of religion can also be attributed to the different exchange programs that nations which cooperate have. The change of religion is mainly based on the interaction with people of a certain religion. Some religions believe in the force converting from one religion to the other by the use of force. Each religion has its own believes and practices. Globalization has exposed the society to different religions of the world. Negative Effects of Globalization Exploitation of labor Globalization has led to the need for countries to produce more products at very low cost to maximize profit. The emerging industries employ women and children, and under pay them. This mainly occurs in the developing nations like China. Women and children are forced to work long hours in manufacturing, and processing plants to produce the products at a very low cost. This is against the international labor practices. Poor nation that cannot meet the basic needs of its people, especially women and children exposes them to exploitation by the multi-national industries (Virginia & Warner, 2006 p. 208-2016). Pollution Pollution is a major problem and a big challenge to the world. The different industries of the world emit poisonous gasses to the environment, which has a devastating effect to people, and animal. Global warming is a problem that is caused by globalization. Industries tend to move and set base in countries with weak policy on emission and disposal of waste. Globalization has led to the movement of goods and people on water. The ships leak oil on the water surface reducing the percentage of oxygen into the water hence death of water animals, and plants due to suffocation. The waste products disposed on water bodies like plastic paper bags also suffocate the animals. This big water vessels that move from continent to continent, drag, and introduce alien species of water animals to different water bodies that end up destroying the natural flora. Spread of disease Diseases emerge from different countries due to exposure to different factors. In the research plants, researches are in danger of contracting new and complicated diseases that can only be spread to other nations, by contact method of the infected and uninfected person. “A good example” is bird flu and HIV (Daniel, 2008). These diseases spread to most remote areas in the world, and it is because of globalization. Polio disease also spread from country to country through the movement of infected people. This has led to the strict travel regulation to citizens of countries experiencing these diseases. For example, the out break of yellow fever in Egypt has forced authorities to allow only vaccinated passengers to land to Egypt. Increase in human trafficking The society has developed different values due to exchange of culture from different people of different countries. Countries that have passed prostitution into law are experiencing the rise in cartels that control this business. Girls at an early age are trafficked to or from different parts of the world, with the promise of good jobs and improved living standards, only to be forced into prostitution. Child labor is high in Asia. Children and desperate adults are trafficked to these countries to work as casual laborers (Daniel, 2008). Citizens of war torn countries are more venerable to human trafficking in need for a better living standards (Buzzle.com). Conclusion Globalization is a process that we need to embrace. The modern world can only be a safe place to live in with the international integration and cooperation of ideas. Today challenges can easily be overcome through globalization. Global challenges are; piracy, security, poverty eradication, and human right issues, just to name a few. These challenges are overcome by the cooperation of countries in terms of policy formulation and implementation. This is done through an international body or agency that can see to it that, all interests of all members is taken care of. Globalization has also facilitated exchange of expertise in different fields of study like science, engineering, and medicine. Let’s embrace globalization. References Buzzle.com. Negative Effects of Globalization. Retrived March 8, 2010, from Dell'Ariccia G. (2008). Reaping the benefits of financial globalization. Frankfurt, International Monetary Fund. Daniel, G. (2008). Globalization (2008): Stella, solidarity and sex workers: “Communities” and social mobilization under globalization1. Retrieved march 15, 2011. http://globalization.icaap.org/content/special/Grace.html Hewa, S. & Stapleton, H. (2005). Globalization, philanthrophy, and civil society: toward a new political culture in the twenty-first century.German. Birkhäuser. Teegen H. Globalization and NGOs: transforming business, government, and society. Westport, Greenwood Publishing Group, (2003). Virginia, A. L. & Warner, D. (2006). Social issues, globalisation and international institutions: labour rights Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 208-14   Read More