Globalization is the process of integration and interaction of the
ideas, world views, product and other aspect of the culture. Hailed as one of the best thing to happen in
the world by the advocates of it, globalization does have several advantages on
the economic, cultural, technological, and social fronts. On a different note,
it is also said to have undermined cultural diversity, marginalized less
dominant culture, and to have brought about neo imperialism, environmental
degradation, economic inequality, and loss of jobs in the host country. Despite
these criticism, we need to heed and commend the positive role it has played to
change the lives of millions of people around the globe. The positive aspects
of the globalization outweigh the negative ones, the reasons which we will try
to examine in the paper.
Economic prosperity is supposed to be the main advantage of the
globalization. As author Thomas Friedman
has said, today globalization is farther, faster, cheaper, and deeper. Since 1950, the volume of world trade has
increased by 20 times, and from just 1997 to 1999 flows of foreign investment
has nearly doubled, from $468 billion to $827 billion, increasing the economic
growth of the whole world (York) . Free trade and foreign trade has been another
blooming aspect of globalization. As huge capital influxes into the developing
countries through these processes, there is a greater chance for the people of
those countries to uplift their economic standards and improve their standard
of living. It also creates the much needed employment opportunities in these
countries.
Globalization has made it possible for education, knowledge, cultures
and technology to spread around the globe in a way that has made it possible
for the many countries and people to take benefit from it, which would not have
been possible otherwise. If it was not
for the globalization, I, as a citizen of Nepal, would not be studying here at
the USA. The knowledge and skill gained
here in the USA can be returned back and incorporated to Nepal to make it a
better place. Similarly, an example of the spread of knowledge is that the “western world today is waking up to the
benefits of Ayurveda and Yoga - traditional Indian practices, while the Western
antibiotics are flooding the Indian markets and improving the quality of life
of people in India”( (Kulkarni, 2012) . Developing
countries are able to gain the benefits of latest technology without having to
incur the pain associated with development of these technologies (Kulkarni, 2012) . Cooking styles, languages, movies, musical
style and other art forms have spread all due to globalization and have made
one particular place an eclectic one.
On a flipside of the argument, some opponents of the globalization
argue that the globalization has outsourced the western jobs to the third world
country, while other argue that the globalization has led to an increase in
activities such as child labor and slavery in places with little or no
accountability. This could be true to a certain extent, but what outweighs this
is that globalization has a positive impact to reduce the poverty, to reduce
the gap between rich and the poor, and to encourage growth in the third world
countries (Kraay, 2001) . Similarly, there are other arguments about
impact of the global recession and its devastating effect on the interdependent
countries. Once the wave of economic meltdown starts, it is believed to ripple
across the countries that are impacted by globalization. Empirical records
support the assertion, but it would be important to note that the economic
growth and prosperity, which we claim to dwindle across the globe, would not
have been gained, had it not been for the globalization. Examining both pros
and cons of the argument, it would not be fallacious to assert that positive aspects
of globalization offset the negative ones.
Works Cited
Kraay, D. D. (2001, September). Finance and
Development. Retrieved April 06, 2014, from International Monetary Fund:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2001/09/dollar.htm
Kulkarni, A. (2012, September 6). Buzzle.
Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Buzzle:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/positive-effects-of-globalization.html
York, T. L.-T. (n.d.). What is globalization?
Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Globalization 101:
http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/
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