Many problems of the contemporary world, from poverty to environmental degradation, are casually linked to the process of globalization. Globalization refers to the increased awareness among nations of the world. The term globalization is used to refer to the transmission that takes place in societies as well as the world economy (Findlay 2002).
Globalization results from increased trading, cultural exchange and investment across borders. It is mainly associated with the abolition of trade hurdles among the nations involved as well as collaboration and harmonization of the institutions among these nations.
For instance, the concept of globalization increased after the World War I through the World War II when institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary fund and the World Trade Organization were created. After the World War II, the process of globalization increased dramatically.
This was highly contributed by the Global Economic Institutions. For instance, in 1970, Cross border trade and cultural exchange together with its benefits and negative effects was progressively becoming evident.
This notwithstanding, the process of globalization, just like many other human happenings is influenced by the ethics and the inspiration of the people involved. As a matter of fact, Globalization should be profitable to all as it can generate positive economic outcomes (Held 1999).
However, this is hardly the case. Globalization has had several harmful effects. This is seen in regards to ecological dilapidation, poverty, poor working conditions, instances of cultural hostility as well as increased inequity among individuals and nations.
To start with, the people who dominate the market are seen to have neocolonial policies which they use to oppress the developing countries. These dictator nations are given loans by the global community and they never carry out their reforms as they promise, but leave the poor people to pay the debts on their behalf.
Such dishonest loan associates leave the developing nations poorer than they were before (Hardt & Negri 2000). As a matter of fact, globalization leads to credit-based economies, which can result to increased debt predicaments. In addition, global aspects can also lead to loses of jobs.
This can be in form of privatization of companies, currency depreciations as well as foreign investments. For instance, Zambia earned a lot of foreign exchange through the export of minerals. However, an American multi-national company withdrew its investments which made the local currency to drop by about 70% of its foreign exchange (Gilpin 2001).
Such dependency among the developing nations is so immense that a major setback can lead to a drastic outcome for the dependent nations. Consequently, a decrease in foreign exchange leads to a decrease in a nation’s ability to procure staple food at reasonable prices (Bhagwati 2004). In another example, Zambia expected that it would experience a scarcity of maize in 2002.
This made it necessary for the country to import the commodity from either America or South Africa. However due to the drop in foreign exchange, the country did not have the required purchasing power and thus the nation suffered severely. The more debt-ridden a country is, the more likely it is to be subjected to the harsh provisions of foreign aid, as well as multi-lateral and corporate agencies.
Furthermore, for a nation to remain globally viable for direct foreign ventures, it earns comparatively small income in foreign exchange, and may often compromise environmental and working standards in the end. This increases insolvency among the developing nations.
On the other hand, it is hard to address environmental issues without dealing with the local practices of individual nations. Indisputably, globalization causes changes in technology which leads to increased extraction from nature. In addition, the new technologies that are adapted from the global village contribute to the increased release of waste materials into the environment hence degrading it.
In order to upgrade the environment, a nation needs to put a lot of money and resources into the process, which makes it hard for a country to achieve its environmental goals. Environmental strain can also make a nation become marginalized from investments by the global community (Bhagwati 2004).
Poor environmental standards affect the trade pattern as well as investments negatively. Moreover, globalization makes it extremely difficult for nations to formulate policies that ensure the well being of nations as well as individual citizens (Bentley 1993).
In the cases of poor environmental practices, the developing nations hardly have enough resources to deal with the harmful environmental effects that crop up from local or foreign investments (Friedman 2000). For this reason, trade markets should incorporate environmental values in order to sustain the status-quo within the global village. Consequently, all the stakeholders should participate in ensuring that environmental threats have been dealt with.
The case of oil discovery in Nigeria also indicates that the poorest people are the ones who bare the greatest burden, in terms of environmental degradation, and are not the immediate and direct beneficiaries of the resource being exploited in their own country.
These aspects lead to hopelessness as well as lack of political and economic stability (Gilpin 2001). Furthermore, issues such as pollution, environmental dilapidation and resource restraints in this country led to poor living standards and enhanced social differences among the citizens.
In conclusion, Contemporary globalization has had some positive outcomes with regards to cultural enrichment, effective communications, devolution of power and economic growth. It has linked global organizations as well as international systems.
This notwithstanding, globalization has led to increased consumption of the non-renewable resources. This has led to increased pollution as well as global warming. Moreover, it also creates a major problem in controlling the level of production as some companies opt to give subcontracts to other companies in foreign countries with less environmental restrictions.
In addition, it allows a lot of freedom to a country’s workforce making it absolutely difficult for a nation to retain its skilled employees as they will often choose to look for greener pastures in foreign countries. However, in order to solve this problems, sustainable livelihoods as well as natural resource management policies should be put in place within the national and global perspectives.
This would guarantee successful involvement relating to sustainable development goals. In order to achieve the desired results, those who control the globalization market ought to respect spiritual as well as cultural ethics. They should also forego individual economic egotism and sacrifice themselves for an equitable distribution of the globalization benefits.
All nations involved in the globalization process should portray superior governance by ensuring legitimate rights, enhancing public administration and transparency. These are crucial factors in dealing with the issues of poverty and environmental degradation.
Upholding resource integrity supports access, and also guarantees permanence of resources, enabling the poor to meet their day to day needs and plan on how to meet their goals in future. Therefore, the world as a global village should have a common political, social and cultural system sharing a universal lingo, cultural practices, and organizations.
Reference List
Bentley, J. H., 1993. Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bhagwati, J., 2004. In Defence of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Findlay, R., 2002. Globalization and the European Economy: Medieval Origins to the Industrial Revolution. In Henry Kierzkowski (ed.). Europe and Globalization. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Friedman, T., 2000. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. New York, NY. Anchor Books
Gilpin, R., 2001. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Hardt, M., & Negri, A., 2000. Empire. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press
Held, D. et. Al., 1999. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, and Culture. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press.