The world globalization is very important in current affairs and due to its impacts on today’s world; I sometimes think most of the causes of the modern issues is globalization. It affects our lives in many aspects from trading to travelling. Mr. John our tutorial lecturer shared with us this topic and he examined it from wide and different perspectives. Referring on what I have understood from the class and also articles I read, I will lake to take this opportunity to prove that globalization has brought many drawback than benefits.
Globalization can be simply defined as a process of interaction among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. Policy and technological developments of the past few decades have encouraged the increase in cross-border trade, investment, and migration so that many observers believe that the world has entered a qualitatively new phase in its economic development. This process has effects on environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and on human physical well-being.
As globalizations had started long time ago, there have been losers as well as winners during the different periods of globalization. Many people around the world view globalization in different ways. Some argue that it is beneficial key to the world’s economy while others view that it increases inequity among poor and rich countries, threatens employment and living standards and even it causes inevitable and irreversible bad effects to some nations. Thus, the increasing level of globalization is harmful to the world and it should be controlled.
In terms of trade, some advocates say that globalization increases free trade, which is ultimately beneficial to everyone. It is the believe of these supporters that free trade opens access to goods, services, capital, and technology, which provides the countries that use it with their best opportunity to make development. However, the trading systems are not as free as globalization advocates say. In fact, globalization is based on a system of trade that helps wealthy, industrialized countries. These countries control both the rules and the rule-making machinery, and they selectively impose trade barriers when it suits them. It has caused an income disparity which is widening within nations and between the poor and rich people around the world that can lead the likelihood of ethnic or religious tension and armed conflicts. Proponents of globalization may also argue that by connecting people to the outside world, globalization breaks down isolation. These advocates claim that instant people-to-people communication spreads democracy and leads to the fall of dictatorship. This idea could be acceptable to some extent because of threating dictatorship however, it undermines democratic states. Globalization takes political and economic decisions out of the local and national arena and places them into the hands of an unelected people, such as multinational corporations like the International Monetary Fund.
In addition, it undermines the world’s rich diversity of traditional cultures, languages and values. Culture is more indigenous and refers to elements that distinguishes human life to other animals and gives a sense of identity. Globalization has caused a huge impact to the people’s culture and language which became the winning model of life, one that is being spread to the remotest corners of the globe. And as it spreads around the world many cultures and languages are easily lost and disappeared. In addition to that, globalization represents replacing traditional cultures with a materialistic American-centred culture. For example, many Frenchmen feel McDonald’s is replacing French cuisine They believe that Americans are attempting to create an American hegemony using globalization by forcing American culture on them via movies, books, and superstores. Moreover, the negative impacts of globalization are also included the rapid movement of capital out of countries which can cause devastating economic, political, and social consequences for example the Asian financial crisis of 2000 was one of the main negative impacts of globalization.
In conclusion, globalization is a big threat to trade, cultures, and employment with the potential to drive people into poverty and force them to work in inhuman working conditions. In additional, globalization is a threat to the environment and our health and safety. It’s obvious that no one can deny the merits of globalization, but in the mean time we must keep an eye on it to prevent its negative effects. As former United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan states about globalization on September 2000, “It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the law of gravity”. We can say that due to the existence of the negative effects of globalization we should do our best to control its negatives while enjoying the welfare it brings to us using approaches such as more strict law system as well as propagandas among society should be taken immediately.