Effects of Globalization

Globalization is a process producing an array of hazards. Hazards caused by globalization include social and cultural conflicts, decaying local markets, and environmental and human rights. The process should be stopped before more problems arise, because the problems already occurring are affecting everyone in the world and many future generations.

To fully understand the issue, it must first be defined. The following also contains the claims by those in favor of globalization which I will refute in the latter portion of the essay. Globalization is quoted by Thomas Friedman as "a state of the world involving networks of interdependence at multi-continental distances with multiple economic/financial, political, national security, environmental, social/cultural and technological linkages among nation states, markets and individuals" (Friedman). The goals of globalization are to help underdeveloped nations to industrialize and then the world market as countries interchange goods and other commodities. This interchange of goods is said to bring the countries participating a much better economy as it industrializes and develops. An interesting point to acknowledge is that the average incomes in the nations participating in globalization are seen to rise rapidly. Globalization also fundamentally runs on the basis of limited regulations and often free trade agreements like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and trade agreements like the European Union.

The United States is a major player in the world market and has large effects on the globalization of many nations. After World War II and the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States occupied Japan and started the industrialization process. In order to show America's hand in Japan's introduction to globalization, the idea of industrialization must be explained. Industrialization is the process by which nations modernize their manufacturing and economic practices. Once the United States helped to industrialize Japan, the U.S. began to compete and trade with this newly modernized nation. This competition of products and trade to other markets in the world started rudimentary beginnings of globalization. The globalization began to take place as Japan intertwined its economy with the U.S.'s economy. An example is when the United States is doing well, Japan also prospers economically. Through the industrialization and globalization of Japan much of Asia began to change and industrialize. The same processes in Asia later spread to much of the world. The actions of helping in the globalization process have made the United States very powerful internationally. Although the United States plays a large role in globalization, and so far it has been good business, will it come back to haunt Americans?

The previous claims of globalizations positive influences are going to be refuted in the rest of the essay. In the article "One World Ready or Not" by William Greider he explains that globalization is a "new machine...that reaps as it destroys. ...huge and mobile...like the machines of modern agriculture, but vastly more complicated and powerful. ...running over open terrain and ignoring familiar boundaries. ...As it goes, the machine throws off enormous mows of wealth and bounty while it leaves behind great furrows of wreckage...but no one is at the wheel. ...The machine has no wheel or internal governor to control speed and direction. It is sustained by its own forward motion, guided mainly by its own appetites" (Greider).

The wreckage that Greider talks about is first the social and cultural conflicts that occur from the globalizing of the world's markets. The warrants to back the grounds for this statement can be seen in many ways worldwide. One such way is the homogenizing of cultures. Homogenizing is described as regulating, regimenting or assimilating. This can be seen as nations compete for resources which as Helena Norberg-Hodge says "creates an artificial scarcity" causing diverse cultures to suddenly become the same as they compete economically. Some of the cultural and ethnic practices sacrificed occur in the culturally rich building of structures, for example in China and its rapid change to homogenized offices, schools, and homes. The development and consumption of foods has been changed as multi-national corporations bring in types of fast food or corporate restaurants, and other businesses. Another idea that proves that globalization is homogenizing our world is stated by Benjamin Barber when he claimed that we are becoming a "McWorld". The definition of a McWorld is defined as "the non-stop, anarchic global domination of a shrinking handful of multi-national corporations, and the even smaller group of individuals who run them" (Barber). This change of social values has much to do with the influence of these large corporations and globalization. A social value almost lost in much of the world is the value of life being not so rapid or turbulent with day to day affairs. In many places like Mexico for example, shops and factories would close for siestas or resting with the family. Now these values are lost to the grind and homogenization of large corporations.

The second point to be made is the effect of globalization in local markets. This is where much of the damage occurs in the process. A large affect is the shifts of job markets to other nations causing unemployment to a once thriving local market. This event is what economic analysts call outsourcing, and can be seen with the production of cars from U.S. companies. With the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) much of the U.S.'s cars are being produced in Mexico and Canada. This is a large industry for the United States that has been moved to other nations because of the effects of globalization. In these cases a few people are getting extremely wealthy at the expense of many others in there local market. The wealthy continue to grow as the poor continue to scramble for work to support themselves and there families. Another fact to consider is that much of the products that are manufactured in poor underdeveloped nations are things they can not afford or use. Thus creating a gap of locally grown goods much needed to the local areas. An example of this is when the poor are busy working in low paying manufacturing jobs; a gap is growing in the agriculture business causing an increase in prices and a smaller food supply. The price increase also comes from the loss of local producers which is stated as causing "problems inherent in large scale production that now puts an unfair burden on small scale producers" (Norberg-Hodge).

A local example of the problems from outsourcing and globalization can be seen in the steel industries. An increasing amount of steel and rebar used in the United States is now made outside of America. Large shipments of steel and rebar are shipped from China which is bad for American steel production. Some American steel producers now can not compete with the international companies and are losing business. The loss of business then causes many people to lose their job and prices now increase. Problems also occur in the local market when international trade agreements and politics get in the way of local political authority over their markets. Political problems occur because the "process enables powerful nations to take advantage of weaker ones, gives excessive power to corporate interests, weakens labor protections, and interferes with the governmental processes of individual countries" (Siddiquee). Thus corporations and politicians from other nations are governing and regulating our own local markets. Problems caused to local markets also can be shown by things that are not environmentally sound or ethical.

All humans deserve the right to an environment free from biological hazards and unethical treatment. Sometimes these rights are infringed upon by large multi-national companies that have looser regulations than in previous nations with higher quality standards or political regulation. Many countries new to globalization are still developing their standards for environmental and human rights and are not up to environmentally sound regulations. In the case of Mexico it allows many large American corporations to open shop in the nation. Then the corporations because of a lack of regulations or consequences abuse the environment through illegal dumping of hazardous material. These environmental hazards many times are not checked because of the large amount of tax dollars brought in by the corporations or in the worst cases corruption. Cases are being studied right now in the sister city of El Paso, Texas. The city is called Juarez in Mexico and the environment is getting so bad that some officials believe that the children are being born with a greater rate of defects caused by the hazardous material in their drinking water. Another concern is the way that workers are treated. The worst of these cases appear in what Americans call "sweatshops". There mainly children work for large corporations for almost nothing, while a few businessmen get wealthier. In these large corporations much of their work is done by people in still developing countries where they also have little benefits of working besides their less then average wages. The benefits they lack include decent wages, insurance for medical purposes, and even a healthy environment in the workplace. The lack of decent wages many times would not occur if the company was owned by a local businessman.

The world is fast paced and only seems to get more competitive. Does this competitiveness need to rob the world of its values in social and economic cultures. If people began a more fervent development of localization the world would be much better. This would mean that people would begin to produce all of their goods by local regions being completely independent of other nations. This would provide the people with the cultures own needed commodities and they could still continue with their cultural traditions and values. It would also provide and help sustain jobs for all people in there local areas, strengthening their own local economies. This would also raise the average income evenly throughout all people instead of just through the rich. The localization of business would also put added pressure on businesses to keep the environment clean and treat all their employees with their basic human rights.

Globalization should be haltered and stopped. As citizens we must be the ones to act now and stop this awful process called globalization. To do this we must begin to localize our businesses as producers and also as consumers. A few rich businessmen won't listen unless we show them with our pocket books because in the end, globalization will hurt our societies, our local economies and our environmental and ethical rights.