Globalization

Globalization is an economic, social, and political phenomena that has taken place during the last fifty years. Economically, it is the interdependence of the economies of various nations. It is the United States exporting things like food products to all parts of the world as well as importing things from China. A corporation in the United States now can communicate ideas to Chinese factories, have Chinese labor manufacture a product, and ship/distribute the products to markets across the world. Economic globalization can sometimes be seen as an inevitable manifestation because of how economics has evolved throughout the years. If we were to go back to colonial America, most everyone was a farmer, self-sufficient, making everything they needed. During the Industrial Revolution, it was more efficient to allow a factory manufacture a specific type of product than farmers making everything themselves. The United States soon became a market economy in which people could buy what they needed. Globalization could be seen as the next extension of the market economy; since China can manufacture goods more efficiently and cheaper than the United States, it would make sense for the United States not to compete with China in this field. Countries have become dependent on one another to supply them with goods in the same way how the American farmer had become dependent on stores to supply them.

We can now communicate and transport ideas and goods faster and to more places than ever. Western popular culture is being diffused throughout the world. The attraction of the mainstream culture often times weakens local cultures. The domination of Western culture throughout the world has disturbed the cultural diversity of the world as more and more people are becoming westernized. Some people whose local culture is being destroyed rebel against the strong pull from popular culture.

From an American standpoint, globalization has been great. Americans are the ones who are dominating the word culturally and benefiting much from it economically. With globalization, I can buy things relatively cheap. I can call my grandmother in India and can even visit her several times, but I do not know if others in other countries would have the same luxuries as I. While I benefited, others may be suffering from globalization.