Globalization’s Side Effects

Globalization’s Side Effects May. 14. 2009 Discussing globalization’s side effects might not be appropriate without determining first what globalization is. Although everyone has his or her own definition and uses the term globalization in his or her own way, globalization can be defined generally as a condition in which cross-border movements of money, goods, thoughts, and even people have become much more available on a large scale. Despite globalization having provided people throughout the world with many benefits, it has caused negative impacts on their countries’ economies as well as serious concerns about their nationalities and identities, which globalization gradually erases. The primary adverse effect of globalization is that it destabilizes the foundation of the developing countries’ economies. After cross-border movements of money and goods had become much faster and easier, many cheap and well-made products have invaded the markets of emerging countries. As a result, many local products almost have disappeared because they simply can not rival the cheap prices and high qualities of foreign products. In Paracho, Mexico, for instance, things are getting worse. A Mexican traditional guitar maker complains that his village has lost its famous craft of building guitars because of the invasion of the cheap and well-made guitars from China (Campbell, 2004). Paracho is not only losing its famous craft, but also losing the smarter and more intelligent workers who are leaving it to seek better job opportunities in the Unite State of America. In fact, hundreds and hundreds of villages and cities, especially in developing countries, are losing their main industries in addition to their traditional crafts and therefore their people emigrate to avoid being jobless. The second adverse effect of globalization is that it is gradually erasing the differences between cultures. Needless to say, a culture is a set of values and assumptions that group of people hold, and what makes the differences between one nation and another is the variety of the differences between these values and these assumptions. People’s thoughts all over the world about what is stylish and fashionable are starting to converge. Today, everyone seems to have the same desire which is buying what the advertisements want them to buy. The more you buy, the more happiness you get (Rifkin, 2003). For some intellectuals, globalization is making people’s desire cheap. It replaces people’s high and noble thoughts such as building their countries and contributing to human development with the culture of consumerism instead. Although many people all over the world acknowledge that globalization has provided them with many benefits, they have a strong feeling that globalization is slowly but surely obliterating their culture and traditional way of living. (The Pew Global Attitude Project). In conclusion, there is no doubt about the benefits that people all over the world gain from globalization. However, it causes developing countries serious problems. People in those countries are not only losing their jobs, but also their identities. They have become consumers of goods that are made in other countries. Globalization indeed is a huge challenge that many societies face: some of them have successfully known how to cope with it, yet many of them, unfortunately, have not, and therefore they have become globalization’s victims