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Globalization 101: The Super Story, By Laurence Rothenberg

Decent Essays

Globalization is interpreted in many complex ways due to how confusing it can be for people to understand. Thomas Friedman wrote the article, “Globalization: The Super Story,” to explain how the three balances are the foundation of globalization. In Laurence Rothenberg’s article, “Globalization 101: The Three Tensions of Globalization,” Rothenberg explains what the three tensions are and how they have affected the world. By analyzing Friedman’s and Rothenberg’s articles and how globalization affects culture identity, effects will be brought to a better understanding.

Thomas Friedman defines globalization with three balances. The first is that “...traditional balance is between nation-states.” (472) He notes that “The shifting power between …show more content…

He starts by defining that the first tension is between “individual and societal choice.” (2) This applies to how people think about a certain action based on personal views versus the views of societies. Many people can see a group of people in a positive light but, it might be social accepted to degrade and discriminate them based off lack of knowledge. This can be seen today with how people see Muslims. Many don’t fully know or understand the faith of Islam, so they go off what society has stereotyped them as. The second tension defined by Rothenberg is “between free markets and government intervention.” (3) Rothenberg notes that “…while government intervention is the practical way that societies decide on and implement the choices they make about their value. Thus, a free market determines what goods are produced…” (3) This is the individual side of the tension. All the decisions are formed by those who participate in the free market. The government can step in to help those who are unfortunate to have access to certain goods and products. The last tension Rothenberg defines is “between local authority and extra- or supra-local authority.” Many see this every day in the United States government. The Black Live Matter movement is a great example. Its main focus is to spread awareness about the unjust killings of many African-Americans that are the fault of some …show more content…

Ogechukwu C. Ugbam. Ugbam notes that “Culture is perhaps the aspect of globalization for which people have the power to resist or moderate the process of globalization because we…have the capacity to discern right and wrong.” (69) Global culture is a dominate part to how people identify themselves. It allows people to interact with one another on a more understanding level. Rothenberg’s tension, “individual choice versus societal choice,” (2) is a major factor in culture identity. People look at culture from two aspects; their own personal views and the views from society. Many go off what society says is acceptable, only few fully embrace their full culture. Friedman’s balance, “between nation sate and individual,” (472) is also a major factor to culture identity. When people feel that their culture identity is being oppressed or discriminated against they start to challenge authority. African culture has been forced to conform to outside forces for centuries. This has caused many culture to altered and

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