Globalization Spread the Happiness - Essay Example

Globalization Spreads Happiness “Globalization is a process through which events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can come to have a significant consequence for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the globe” (Reich, p.5). Globalization is still a controversial concept or subject even though it brought prosperity and happiness in many countries. Many people refer globalization as Americanization rather than anything else. In their opinion, America and its allies are trying to loot the wealth of poor countries in the name of globalization. At the same time it should be noted that globalization has caused more problems in America than in any other countries in the form of economic crisis or recession. At the same time heavily populated countries like India, China, Brazil, Russia, Mexico etc have developed a lot after the introduction of globalization. In fact China is the number one exploiter of globalization at present even though it was reluctant in introducing globalization principles in its territories at the beginning. Supporters of globalization are of the view that globalization benefits the world through the promotion of such ideals as human rights, democracy, and freedom and that it enhances the prosperity of the world through free trade, free investment and better technology.  This paper argues that globalization brings happiness in the world and its drawbacks are negligible considering its advantages. Even though there are many reasons for supporting globalization, this paper limits its focus only to the economic, political and cultural benefits of globalization. Holst (2007) has pointed out that “economic interpretations of globalization cantered around three forms of capital; financial, productive and commercial (Holst). Moreover, Dharam Ghai (1997) has pointed out that “free market and private enterprise were the principal mechanisms for promoting economic activities in the sphere of economic globalization” (Ghai, p.1). Cross cultural business have been increased a lot as a result of globalization. Imports and exports between different countries were also increased because of the liberalized rules implemented in many countries as part of globalization. Earlier, it was difficult for a company to establish a business unit in overseas countries. However, at present, many countries started to liberalize their rules for attracting foreign direct investment because of the late awareness that external capital is necessary to the economic development of a country. “This is an era of specialists each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits. It is also an era dominated by industry, in which the right to make a dollar at whatever cost is seldom challenged” (Carson, p.407). It should be noted that as a result of globalization, employment opportunities have been increased a lot and manufacturing sector all over the world started to produce more. It is possible for an Indian or Chinese to work in America or any other country in the world at present because of globalization. America and other western countries are struggling because of manpower shortage whereas India and China like countries are struggling because of excess manpower. Globalization helped these countries to solve their problems with the help of exchange of manpower resources. Another major advantage of globalization is the availability of cheaper products. Earlier, it was impossible for an American to think in terms of purchasing a Chinese product from its internal market. However, at present, cheaper products from all over the world are available in American and other western markets. In other words, consumers all over the world have more options at present at present and their bargaining power has been increased a lot. As a result of that poverty started to decline all over the world. “The share of people living on $1 a day has plummeted from 40 percent in 1981 to 18 percent in 2004 and is projected to drop to 12 percent by 2015”(Zakaria, p.200). According to Lieber and Weisberg (2002), “Globalization is a vital step toward both a more stable world and better lives for the people within it”(Lieber and Weisberg, p.274). The second major change brought in the current world by globalization is political. The cooperation between different countries have been increased a lot as a result of globalization. Courtiers started to realize that political problems may prevent them from mutual cooperation which is necessary for economic development in this globalized world. For example, India and Pakistan were bitter enemies earlier. However, at present the differences between India and Pakistan seem to be decreasing. Recently Pakistan included India into the Most favored Nation (MFN) group in order to increase the trade activities between them. It should be noted that increased cooperation between India and Pakistan as part of globalization may help them to solve their differences over Kashmir issue. While the risk of nuclear war between major powers still exists, its less acute now than 15 years ago, thank God. Many people worry about terrorists, and so do I, but then I reflect that terrorists could at worst kill "only" a few tens of millions of us. The even graver environmental problems that could do in all our children are environmental ones, such as global warming and land and water degradation (Diamond, p.417) Environmental problems are causing huge threat to the sustainment of human life on earth. it is impossible for a country to counter environmental problems single handedly. It is a fact that the negative effects of injudicious activities of a country may not confine to its territories alone. For example, carbon emission from automobiles is causing atmospheric temperature rise and climate changes. It is impossible for a country to control the atmospheric temperature rise in its territory by reducing carbon emission from vehicles. In other words, collective efforts are necessary to reduce environmental problems and globalization helps countries to attack environmental problems collectively. It is wrong to think of globalization as just concerning the big systems, like the world financial order. Globalization isnt only about what is "out there," remote and far away from the individual. It is an "in here" phenomenon too, influencing intimate and personal aspects of our lives (Giddens, p.18) Increased cross cultural cooperation is another major advantage of globalization. As mentioned earlier, globalization helped the exchange of workforce between countries. It should be noted that there are many Indians and Chinese working in America at present. Moreover, there are many Americans working in China also. In other words, the suspicions between the people of China and America has come down considerably and the mutual cooperation between these two global powers increased a lot. American companies have established many subsidiary units in China as part of the Offshoring business strategy. Same way many Chinese companies are currently operating in American soil. Such a phenomenon was made possible by globalization. Now many of the people all over the world started to learn foreign languages because of their awareness about the possibilities of working in overseas countries in future. Learning of foreign languages will help the people to learn more about the foreign culture. Many people believe that the recent revolutions taking place against the Islamic dictators in Arab world is the contribution of globalization. In other words, globalization helps people to fight against autocratic administrations and to welcome democratic administrations. Racial discrimination has been reduced considerably because of globalization. Increased cooperation between cultures helped people know better each other and therefore the complexes and egos with respect to cultural dominance has started to decline after the introduction of globalization. There are certain criticisms also labeled against globalization. At the time of introduction, the major objective of globalization was to help the poor countries in stimulating their economic growth (Mander et al, 2001). However, critics argue that globalization failed to bring any economic progress in poor countries. They cite African countries as examples. It should be noted that many of the African countries have poor governance and because of that internal violence and ethnic clashes are severe in these countries. Moreover these countries do not have the necessary infrastructure to exploit globalization possibilities. Instead of blaming globalization, these countries should improve their infrastructure facilities and governance in order to reap the benefits of globalization. “Opponents who are against outsourcing argue that hiring people from foreign countries effects the US economy in a negative way and strips hundreds to thousands of Americans of jobs, especially the skilled and semi-skilled workers” (Hasan). Another criticism labeled against globalization is the possibility of increased outflow of capital. America is currently struggling to block the uncontrolled capital outflow in the form of outsourcing. It should be noted that India like countries are benefited immensely from the outsourcing of jobs from America. However, outsourcing of jobs increased unemployment problems considerably in America. At the same time it should be noted that American companies are saving billions of dollars through outsourcing. The ability to exploit cheap labor market will definitely increase the competitive power of American companies. To conclude, globalization has definitely increased the happiness of life among people in different countries. It helped countries to increase mutual cooperation and thereby reduce political and cultural differences between them. Works Cited Carson, Rachel. “Chapter 11 The Fate of the Earth: Can We Preserve the Global Environment?- The Obligation to Endure”. Diamond, Jared. “Chapter 11 The Fate of the Earth: Can We Preserve the Global Environment?- Lessons from Lost Worlds” Giddens, Anthony. “Globalization”. Ghai, Dharam. “Economic Globalization, Institutional Change And Human Security”. 2003. Web. 27 November 2011. Hasan. “How Outsourcing Affects The U.S. Economy!”. 2008. Web. 27 November 2011. Holst, John. D. “The Politics and Economics of Globalization and Social Change in Radical Adult Education: A Critical Review of Recent Literature’. 2007. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies Volume 5, Number 1 (May 2007) Lieber Robert J and Weisberg Ruth E. “Globalization, Culture, and Identities in Crisis”. 2002. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 16, No. 2 Mander Jerry, Baker Debby and Korten David. (2001). “Does Globalization Help the Poor?”. Web. 27 November 2011. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Globalization/DoesGlobaliz_HelpPoor.html Reich, Simon. “What is Globalization?”. 1998. Web. 27 November 2011. Zakaria, Fareed. “Chapter 6 The Challenge of Globalization: What Are the Consequences?- The Rise of the Rest”. Read More