Globalization Is Good For You ! By Noah Smith: Article Analysis

Kofi Annan, a UN diplomat, once said,“...that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.” He is undoubtedly correct in this assessment. Indeed, globalization is no longer something to be skeptical of, it is very real and is changing our world exponentially. The affects of globalization, however, continue to be a heated topic for debate. Proponents praise the overall economic lift provided by free trade, the diffusion of cultures, and the spread of democracy and capitalism. Critics cry foul at the loss of national identity, the accelerated and uncontrolled use of natural resources, and the redistribution of wealth into the hands of a few very powerful people and corporations. Globalization is a

If you were to travel anywhere in the world and ask their people what “McDonalds” is, the likelihood of that person knowing the renowned food chain is skyrocketing by year. This is because of Americanization, which is basically the spreading of American cultures and traditions. Americanization is one of the biggest parts of globalization to date. Globalization is the idea of countries getting more and more involved with each other; becoming more and more interconnected. Essentially, increased globalization has a severe impact on several different aspects of general life, but overall, the effects are far more positive.

Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. According to economic and political writer Doug Bandow, “Some critics of globalization have contended that the process has helped the rich and hurt the poor. However, the best research indicates that this is accurate: ‘Poverty is falling rapidly in those poor countries that are integrating into the global economy.”. In both documentaries “The True Cost” and “Living on One Dollar” we can see how companies exploit their employees for consumer benefit, as well as the social and economic inequalities that are attached with globalization.

Globalization is a phenomenon that allows nations to trade goods and services on an international scale in order to increase wealth and strengthen economic infrastructure. Since globalization encompasses such a large scale of businesses and workers, many people pose the question as to whether or not globalization is actually a benefit.

This power, in turn, is creating an even further division in the labor force with people of color being virtually forced into jobs as slave laborers; 2) The U.S. as a Global Superpower. The U.S. has emerged as the world’s only super power and thus has a tremendous influence in setting the terms for global trade. The style of globalism pushed by the United States has favored the free movement and protection of capital, while being at best indifferent and at worst hostile to the more place-dependent labor; 3) Democracy on the Demise. With the spread of globalism, there seems to be a constant demise of democracy. We speak of an expanding global market, but a diminishing public space, and we hardly speak at all of citizen participation and justice. There are no organizations to protect the interests of workers, racial minorities, the environment, or women and children; 4) Undermining Social Movements. Globalism is effectively undermining the social justice movement and the very people of color that this movement is seeking to defend.

Globalization: a process of interaction between the social, economic and political systems of different nations, a process powered by international trade and investment. Some assert that globalization encourages the spread of more “enlightened and egalitarian” Western values and international tolerance, while others believe that this phenomenon harms more than it helps and fosters an uncontrolled and abusive economic environment. There is no shortage of opinions on the matter, though one sure point of fact is that globalization affects all aspects of modern life, including the murky world of gendered violence. Between the signing of NAFTA in 1992 and the middle of 2002, just shy of three hundred blue-collar female factory workers were murdered in the border town of Juarez, Mexico. However, these numbers are simply the tip of the iceberg when compared to the four-hundred-and-fifty additional disappearances during that decade, a grand total that is only increasing with each passing year. In short, these murders eventually sparked international intrigue and distress, forcing the world to take a closer look at some of the uglier consequences of globalization. Essentially, the femicides of Juarez are simply a symptom of a patriarchal society unconcerned with the lives of its workforce, a culture that values products more than the people who produce them: the overlapping timelines of the Juarez

Starbucks windows were smashed, Niketown looted. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell declared a state of emergency. This is what was going on in 1999 in Seattle. This was one of the turning points in the Anti-Globalization Movement. The Anti-Globalization Movement is against globalization and capitalism. Globalization and capitalism are the outsourcing or free transfer of labor, goods, and services between countries. The Anti-Globalization Movement is not exactly one movement, but many movements throughout the world, and is still going on today.

In this week’s “Working with Evidence”, the primary focus was on globalization, which is the process of businesses or other organizations developing international influence or operations on an international scale, after World War II. Based on the provided six images and the text of Chapter 23, it presented different ways various groups of people experienced globalization since the end of World War II. To begin, visual source 23.1 (‘Globalization and Work’) shows a Chinese-owned company producing jeans in a small country in southern Africa called Lesotho - this image shows the economic benefits of globalization. Many companies in wealthier countries would often find advantages to build facilities in places where labor is less expensive or environmental regulations are less restrictive. However, some companies would abuse the process of economic globalization as shown in visual source 23.3 (‘Globalization and Protest’). Visual source 23.3 shows a protester in Sao Paulo, Brazil, holding up a sign that reads “A better world according to Monsanto is a world with more cancer.” The company Monsanto is a major producer of herbicides, genetically modified foods, and many highly controversial chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and bovine growth hormones. In dozens of developed/developing countries activists have demonstrated or riot against government policies that removed subsidies raised prices on essential products, frozen salaries, or cut back on social services. Although

Giblin (2013, p.137), stated that “The Seattle protestors and WTO occasion was well planned and orchestrated, the ways these organizations worked together to orchestrate the protest took months of planning, they created delays, the state of emergency created and curfews established. There were contributions by a great number of generous individuals, who represented the diversity of interests that participated. Despite being a relatively young international organization having come into existence only in 1994, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has attracted considerable intellectual and media attention.” (p.137)

Contemporary globalization is an exceptionally multifaceted phenomenon and can be defined as "an intensification of cross-national cultural, economic, political, social and technological interactions that lead to the establishment of transnational structures and the global integration of cultural, economic, environmental, political and social processes on global, supranational, national, regional and local levels" (Huynen, Martens & Hilderink, 2005). The very nature of the American society has experienced insightful and compound changes due to globalization that has brought with it both new opportunities and risks. Similarly, the impacts of globalization

Since the era of globalization, people all over the world became closer than ever before. Goods and services that appear in a country are immediately promoted by the others, as well as international transfer and communication. Thomas L. Friedman, the author of “globalization: the super-story” that was published in 2002 as a book prologue, examines the factors of globalization from diverse aspects and how it could help people better understand the 9/11 events. Friedman not only claims that the globalization brings the world closer together, but also that people are no longer bound by where they come from.

Radicals are a different position than skeptics. They argue that globalization is real and its consequences can be felt anywhere around the world. Because of globalization nations have lost most of their authority and “capability to influence events” (Giddens 16). Giddens explains that it is no longer

“Globalization is not just one impact of the new technologies that are reshaping the economies of the third millennium” (Thurow 19-31). When speaking of globalization, most people will not have a complete understanding as of what it actually means or what aspects of the world it affects. Globalization promotes free trade and creates jobs. The capital markets attract investors, resort cheap labor, and leads to job losses in some areas of higher wage. While all of this is happening, the world economy is being effected: economically, culturally, socially, and politically.

Supporters of globalization argue that it has the potential to make this world a better place to live in and solve some of the deep-seated problems like unemployment and poverty. But the opponents general complaint about globalization is that it has made the rich richer while making the non-rich poorer. “It is wonderful for managers, owners and investors, but hell on workers and nature.”

In theory, globalization should help contribute to the equality of the global economy. Yet this is not the case in reality. Globalization contributes to unsustainable prosperity for a very small percentage of the world’s population. For those in developing countries, it is especially unsustainable. The resources in these areas are consumed at an unstable rate and the environment given very little consideration. The workers are treated as if they are expendable. The smaller economies of these countries are vastly taken advantage of. For these reasons, globalization contributes to sustainable prosperity to a small extent.