Globalization concepts and effects

globalization is directly connected with the availability of homogenous goods and services worldwide. In larger context however globalization occurs when these products and services also bring with them the cultural, social and even moral values of the countries they represent. Globalization may be a negative force for some as it has been held responsible for everything from deep resentment against Americans to terrorism to slowing economy but it is also synonymous with availability of wider range of products and service, better quality commodities, more homogenous facilities and efficient and full use of world's resources.

I feel that it is extremely important for the world to unite as one nation with a global economy. Globalization emerged when everyone from Asia to Europe to Latin America sought to realize the great American dream. Since America has often been regarded as the land of opportunities, immigrants in the early 20th century chased the American dream wildly and in their pursuit, they gave rise to the phenomenon of globalization. Capitalism became stronger and due to a very strong American corporate world, globalization became synonymous with Americanization. However this is not accurate charge since globalization is neither an evil phenomenon nor it has primarily been occurring due to American corporate presence.

It is mainly due to the fact that globalization facilitates mobility of economic resources that people see globalization as a negative force. Most feel that globalization has affected the world's resources but putting unnecessary burden on them. But that is certainly not true when we view globalization from natural progression and mobility perspective. Every person, thing or entity that is movable naturally tries to move to a place where it can reap the most benefits from its skills or presence. No one would try to stay in one geographical location if that proves harmful or less beneficial to him. Every economic resource may it be labor or capital would this to try to follow the same rule of natural progression and mobility. For this reason, labor moves from one geographical area to another in search of maximum benefits. Similarly capital moves to areas where it can find most favorable circumstances for its growth. Now this is only natural and if we try to stem this process, we would then be responsible for development of unnatural tendencies in capital and labor. These unnatural tendencies would then lead to unnatural consequences and damage the global economy. Globalization only facilitates the natural growth of labor and capital by providing the best means of its positive exploitation. We need to understand that every economic resource has some potential and unless this potential is fully tapped into, we cannot progress properly. We would be wasting world's resources if we let them lie around without putting them to maximum use. In the world today, we see many positive ways in which globalization has affected and changed lives of people. What was once considered impossible is now being done. We never thought that people in the third world would one day be wearing the same brands, using the products, watching the same programs as us. But this dream has now been realized and it has all been primarily due to globalization.

DANIEL T. GRISWOLD (1998) writes, "Evidence of globalization is impossible to ignore. In our living rooms, kitchens, driveways, and offices, growing proportions of the goods we enjoy as consumers are made or grown by workers in other countries. Overall, imports and exports as a share of the American economy have never been higher and will soon approach 30% of GDP. In the last decade, global trade in goods and services has grown twice as fast as world output, while the flow of foreign direct investment has grown three times as fast. In 1973, about $15 billion was exchanged daily on foreign currency markets; today the figure is $1.2 trillion. Equally evident is that Americans are ambivalent toward globalization. Its surging momentum in the post -- Cold War world marks a triumph for American ideals of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and the rule of law."

Globalization is not something new even if it has only been recognized now especially after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. But this phenomenon took birth a few centuries ago when Industrial Revolution completely changed the way people thought, behaved, conducted business and lived (Rodrik, 1997). We all know that Industrial Revolution opened gates of opportunity for millions around the world. Despite the fact that there was serious downside to Industrial Revolution which involved the emergence of urban poor, we must not forget that it was due to this revolution that some of the poorest nations in Europe managed to stand on its feet and are now literally ruling specific areas of the world. While "The growth of urban slums, the concentration of new monopoly power in the trusts, and the scandalous corruption of politics made many turn-of-the-century Americans feel their nation was losing its democratic promise" (Derber, 14), it also opened doors of blessings for these poor who would have died of starvation if they had not been allowed to move. We need to understand that nothing comes with absolutely positive outcomes. There are always some negative things involved but in the end, we need to weigh the pros and cons and then decide if the world was better off with or without that change. How many of us really think today that our world was better before the Industrial Revolution, how many of us would actually want to live in the agrarian society of 17th century? How many would even imagine our lives in those times? Probably no one! This is because Industrial revolution brought with it many important and critical changes that forever changed the way we viewed the world. The freedom we enjoy today, the free mobility of capital and labor that allows skilled workers from poor countries to migrate and create better future for themselves, the easy access we have to world's resources and the sharing of resources around the globe is due to the changes that took place during the Industrial Revolution. Globalization today is mainly an offshoot of that revolution. It is nothing evil because it only facilitates natural growth and helps the natural process. "Globalization has many positive, innovative and dynamic aspects, all related to the increased market access, increased access to capital, and increased access to technology and information which have led to greater income and employment opportunities. There is no dearth of examples: The world as a whole is definitely more prosperous and more healthy, with average per capita incomes tripling in the last fifty years, child mortality rates halving and life expectancy increasing by ten years since 1965. Trade-flows also increased 12-fold in the past fifty years as a result of the removal of natural and artificial barriers." (Monsod)