Negative Aspects of Globalization

Globalization

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.

Globalization is deeply controversial, however. Proponents of globalization argue that it allows poor countries and their citizens to develop economically and raise their standards of living, while opponents of globalization claim that the creation of an unfettered international free market has benefited multinational corporations in the Western world at the expense of local enterprises, local cultures, and common people. Resistance to globalization has therefore taken shape both at a popular and at a governmental level as people and governments try to manage the flow of capital, labor, goods, and ideas that constitute the current wave of globalization.

To find the right balance between benefits and costs associated with globalization, citizens of all nations need to understand how globalization works and the policy choices facing them and their societies.

Positive Aspects of Globalization

· As more money is poured in to developing countries, there is a greater chance for the people in those countries to economically succeed and increase their standard of living.

· Global competition encourages creativity and innovation and keeps prices for commodities/services in check.

· Developing countries are able to reap the benefits of current technology without undergoing many of the growing pains associated with development of these technologies.

· Governments are able to better work together towards common goals now that there is an advantage in cooperation, an improved ability to interact and coordinate, and a global awareness of issues.

· There is a greater access to foreign culture in the form of movies, music, food, clothing, and more. In short, the world has more choices.

Negative Aspects of Globalization

· Outsourcing, while it provides jobs to a population in one country, takes away those jobs from another country, leaving many without opportunities.

· Although different cultures from around the world are able to interact, they begin to meld, and the contours and individuality of each begin to fade.

· There may be a greater chance of disease spreading worldwide, as well as invasive species that could prove devastating in non-native ecosystems.

· There is little international regulation, an unfortunate fact that could have dire consequences for the safety of people and the environment.

· Large Western-driven organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank make it easy for a developing country to obtain a loan. However, a Western-focus is often applied to a non-Western situation, resulting in failed progress.

If you look at the tag on your shirt, chances are you would see that it was made in a country other than the one in which you sit right now. What's more, before it reached your wardrobe, this shirt could have very well been made with Chinese cotton sewed by Thai hands, shipped across the Pacific on a French freighter crewed by Spaniards to a Los Angeles harbor. This international exchange is just one example of globalization, a process that has everything to do with geography.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1074