Globalization

The use of phones, satellites, vehicles, ships, airplanes, Internet, etc. has made the world seem smaller. We can now easily find out what is happening in most places, how people live, or better yet; we can even go out and see the world ourselves. This is what we call “globalization” and the question is, “is it a ‘good’ thing?”

Globalization is neither black nor white. Its values differ depending on perspective. I would say it is more of a “good” thing. It allows humanity to gather a lot of information and see different things much easier than before. The Taiwanese did not invent the high-speed train but we still get to have one here in Taiwan. Because of easier access to places like Japan and France, which have made their lives easier. Even though the Taiwanese did not know how to build a high-speed train, they can still hire specialists in technology these days. Internet and cell phones are two of the fastest growing technologies because those are things that help connect people around the world. In other words, more people got to use them and give feedback and comments, which helps with their growth.

The other thing that globalization has brought is something not a lot of people have realized. Because of globalization, more people have stopped feeling ashamed of who they are. The minority is no longer vulnerable. Groups of people, such as the ones with different colored skin, hippies, rock music artists, gay, etc are more capable of expressing and showing who they are. How does globalization have anything to do with this? Because of globalization, it is now easier to find people that are similar to you. When people are with the ones that share the same beliefs, they are much more comfortable of being themselves. Eventually, tools like the Internet will help disseminate new ideas and influence other people. In the end, we will get to see that gay people are not harmful, hippies are not always on drugs, people with different colored skin are not mightier or less superior and that is when the majority will start accepting them.

We have begun to move as a whole now, which leads us to another great thing globalization has brought us. The U.N, The United Nations, is made up of many different countries. It allows most countries to have meetings to help solve problems. For example, Global Warming; the crises we are all facing right now is getting worse each year. A lot of scientists and engineers have been trying to solve the problem or at least find ways to reduce emissions. Globalization allows us to be able to all work together as a unit. People living in different places have different knowledge. We can now easily get everything to combine with what we already have and build something we could not have done all by ourselves.

However, working as one unit is not always a positive thing. What if we all made the same mistake? Then the problem could be bigger than our imaginations because it is now we, the whole world, making things worse. Take the use of vehicles for example. Humanity has gotten to know how convenient vehicles are and so even in developing nations like China and India the use of vehicles is increasing. Not knowing much about pollution before, we have all polluted the world together, as a team. Just like the growing speed of technology, pollution rates are also surprisingly high.

Globalization is also responsible for the low cost of labor around the world, which is another big issue. Different countries have different values of money, economy, and job opportunities. Therefore, some people had to go to another country to earn a living because they could not find a job in their own country. Places like America, where big corporations welcome migrant labor, because the lower they pay, the higher corporations earn. The world seems to be a smaller place, and so it is also easier to find people to “use” in order to gain more profits for oneself.

Some people have lost pride in their own nationality because of globalization. The stronger countries, like The United States, are on the media most of the time. People listen to pop songs and want to be like the Americans. Most of us grow up with Disney and Hollyood, and so we like to act like them. Taiwan has a stranger case because it is right next to Japan and was once ruled by the Japanese. We are more connected to Japan than to America, so most Taiwanese would prefer to be like Japanese. Anyway, the case is that globalization brought us all together, but not on the same level. What it does is to pull us together and see how “good” the stronger nations are. Eventually, most people would start to compare them with their own and feel that the other ones are better. Why? Because the others are the ones that get to go on TV and get famous with riches and pretty faces.

In conclusion, globalization is both good and bad because it ties all of us together. When we are together, we have the opportunity to slowly accept each other and create a huge force. This force could be a power for the negative or positive, but it certainly depends on the perspective.