Reading and Research

Globalization has made way for free trade and business. It has also helped improve communication around the globe. It has potential to make this world a better place to live in. It is changing the political scenario, thus deep-seated problems like unemployment, poverty and shift in power are coming to the picture. The marginal are getting a chance to exhibit themselves in the world market.

It is true that the impact of globalization is visible and affects largely the politics and the economy of the country, but its effect on the mindset and the culture is noticeable gradually in the way people think and react. It's like the Iceberg theory wherein what we do and say is at the top and what we think and believe is at the base. The base is not visible but manifestations at the top are conspicuous. It applies here as well where people do not change abruptly, but maybe in a decade the change starts showing and seems radical.

Thus, it is not only modernizing but also westernizing native cultures. The power play is leading to linguistic, cultural and traditional genocide. That is probably where we need to keep a check and not let the diffusion go wild. Evidently, globalization cannot be stopped, but one can always keep a check on its spread and outcomes. The question now is how prepared are we to face all the pros and cons of this global change?

Globalization is not a new phenomenon, the base was laid long back when the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company started trading with India. In history there were trade relations between different countries like Arabia and Egypt and now in modern times that has translated into Globalization or Free Trade. It's true that ultimately free trade resulted in the white man taking the burden proactively, but then globalization leads to more employment and a higher standard of living especially among the developing countries. Theories suggest that globalization leads to efficient use of resources and benefits for all who are involved.

Globalization refers to the absence of the walls of matchboxes that every country had between themselves based on suspicion, mutual distrust and ambition. It is long-term change towards greater international cooperation in economics, politics, idea, cultural values, and the exchange of knowledge. We were different countries, in fact divided into worlds, and therefore could never manage to deal with natural holocausts and deadly epidemics that time and again challenged us. Globalization has strengthened the nexus and has helped us to know each other's need in a better way. It has helped to demolish those walls that separated us and curbed our natural identity of being fellow human beings.

Primarily, globalization has become a fiscal, term but its impact is not limited to the economy of the countries only, the term globalization actually refers to every aspect of life such as cultural, social, psychological and of course, political one.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of globalization. Some of these good and bad points of this worldwide phenomenon are discussed below.

The pros of globalization are many and they are as follows:

It Breaks the Communication Barriers

People from different areas of the world are more in touch with each other than ever before.

The Consumer and Economy Benefit

Globalization helps in increase of demand for products. This in turn increases rate of production. Manufacturers thus find this profitable and help in availability of more jobs. As a result, a worldwide market has appeared for the companies, and the customers got a better access to products from different countries. Money and information can travel at astonishing speeds all over the world thanks to the Internet.

It Speeds the Developing Nations Progress

There is a lot of technological development that countries have undergone over the years, thus helping to share information and technology. This helps most developing nations progress at the same speed as the developed nations. The influx of information between two countries increases, especially those nations who do not have anything in common between them.

It Enriches Cultures

Cultural intermingling increases and every nation tries to know more about other nations’ cultural preferences. In this process, we are actually coming across things that we like and in the course of time adopt them. Additionally, we have become more open and tolerant towards each other, and those who live in other parts of the world appear more approachable than before.

There are also some cons of globalization. They are as follows:

Unemployment

Many people from developed countries are losing jobs and that is posing a problem for them since the companies are outsourcing work to developing countries, as the cost of labor is low and profits the company considerably.

Loss of Cultural Identity

Globalization may lead to the loss of cultural identity reducing the number of languages that humans speak. As the world economy becomes more integrated, a common tongue has become more important than ever to promote commerce, and that puts speakers of regional dialects and minority languages at a distinct disadvantage. In addition, culturally specific information may disappear along with a language. For instance, knowledge about unique medicines and treatments used by aboriginal groups may be lost forever if the language used to transmit that information is banned by a majority culture.