Globalization is definitely the exhortation of new millennium. The issue of effects and nature of globalization has become an insightful controversial topic and a major concern in economics nowi. There are debates surrounding the unending controversy on globalization on whether unregulated market forces will either unite or differ income in the worldii.
Those who support globalization say that it has encouraged information exchange, raised people’s living standards, promoted cultural understanding and democracy, done away with communism and increased the power of purchasing, mainly in the westiii. However, there are those people who are against globalization, for example, the people who objected to the World Trade Organization (WTO) conference that was held for ministerial in Seattle and Quebec Cityiv.
According to their views, the West’s gain is mainly expenditure to developing countries. The opponents of globalization believe that it is tantamount to imperialism and has done little but promoted corporations that reposition their factories in the regions where the labour is cheap, and environmental laws are not steadyv.
Globalization opponents believe that insecurity in the job market has increased as a result of freedom established by globalization. Unskilled workers are threatened since most companies are shifting their line of production from overseas markets to countries with low gross economiesvi.
Some think that globalization would help poor people overcome their poverty, integrate cultures, dissolve dictatorship, reverse the economic gap between the poor and rich around the world and also protect the environmentvii. However, these opponents and those who oppose globalization are fighting a tide that has already swamped all of them.
This shows how globalization has become a polarizing factor in international community. Everyone has his/her own opinion concerning globalization, but their views divide them resulting in more harm, especially when a solution is not found since both parties believe their opinion concerning the issue is rightviii.
In Wake Up and Face the Flat Earth, Thomas Friedman describes the gap that exists in the world that has been affected by globalization and its effects, such as polarization and numerous results of insecurity in a flat world. Friedman argues that globalization is a tool for intensifying inequalities that exist in the international community.
He also believes that globalization has destroyed local cultures. Thus, Friedman states that, “people should not only look for information from the world web but consider looking at the reality that is present in the life web, local economies web, food web, local cultures and community web before they make any fault arguments of the world being flatix.”
Friedman wants people/economists to view the issue of globalization polarization keenly with overturned goal of mutiny that would enable them to see that the world is actually spherical. He considers that is the only way they can see the reality of the world being flat.
In conclusion, globalization has become a debatable topic which has led to division of international community. Some people think that globalization has excluded them from many benefits while some consider that globalization has improved their lives. It is a win-win situation which has made globalization to be seen as a polarizing factor in the international community. However, finding the answer calls for more than just going beyond modernization thesis.
Bibliography
A World Bank Policy Research Report: Globalization, Growth and Poverty. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Web.
Bhagwati, Jagdish. “Why the Critics of Globalization are Mistaken,” Handelsblatt (2008). Web.
Ghemawat, Pankaj. “Why the World Isn’t Flat,” Foreign Policy. (2007). Web.
Imade, Lucky O. The Two Faces of Globalization: Impoverishment or Prosperity? (2003). Web.
Klein, Naomi. “Rebels in Search of Rules,” New York Times. (1999). Web.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. “Making Globalization Work – The 2006 Geary Lecture,” The Economic and Social Review 39, no. 3, (Winter, 2008): 171-190. Web.
Vandana, Shiva. The Polarized World of Globalization. (2005). Web.
“‘Wake Up and Face the Flat Earth’ – Thomas L. Friedman.” YaleGlobal. (2005). Web.
Footnotes
i A World Bank Policy Research Report: Globalization, Growth and Poverty. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.) Web.
ii Lucky O. Imade. The Two Faces of Globalization: Impoverishment or Prosperity? (2003). Web.
iii Joseph Stiglitz. “Making Globalization Work – The 2006 Geary Lecture,” The Economic and Social Review 39, no. 3, (2008): 171-190. Web
iv Lucky O. Imade. The Two Faces of Globalization: Impoverishment or Prosperity? (2003). Web.
v Shiva Vandana. The Polarized World of Globalization. (2005). Web.
vi Jagdish Bhagwati, “Why the Critics of Globalization are Mistaken,” Handelsblatt (2008). Web.
vii Naomi Klein. “Rebels in Search of Rules,” New York Times. (1999). Web.
viii Pankaj Ghemawat. “Why the World Isn’t Flat,” Foreign Policy. (2007). Web.
ix “‘Wake Up and Face the Flat Earth’ – Thomas L. Friedman.” YaleGlobal. (2005). Web.