Pros and Cons of Globalization

Globalization has strengthened the nexus and has helped us know each other's needs in a better way. It has helped demolish those walls that separated us and curbed our natural identity of being fellow human beings. Globalization has primarily become a fiscal term but its impact is not limited only to the economy of the countries, the term globalization actually refers to every aspect of life-like cultural, social, psychological and of course, political.

Globalization - The Iceberg

It is true that the impact of globalization is only visible on politics and the economy of countries, but its effect on the mindset and culture is noticeable gradually in the way people think and react. It's like the Iceberg theory wherein what we do and say are at the tip and what we think and believe is at the base. The base is not visible but manifestations at the top are conspicuous. It also applies here where people do not change abruptly, but may be after a decade the change starts showing.

World During the Pre-globalization Era

Globalization is not a new phenomena, the seeds were sown 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 Arab and Egypt, and now in modern times, that has translated into Globalization or Free Trade. It's true that ultimately all the free trade resulted in the white man taking the burden proactively, but then globalization leads to more employment and higher standard of living, especially among developing countries. Theories suggest that globalization leads to efficient use of resources and benefits all who are involved.

According to libertarians, globalization will help the world to deal with crises like unemployment and poverty. It will help us to raise the global economy only when the involved power blocks have mutual trust and respect for each other's opinion. Globalization and democracy should go hand in hand. It should be pure business with no colonialist designs. The way we have developed in the last 10 years, globalization seems to have given us good returns. Globalization has made the life of the third world citizen a completely different story. There are so many foreign companies that have made way to Orient and have made India a brand name all over the world.

Advantages of Globalization

Globalization creates a worldwide market for the companies and for the customers there is a better access to products from different countries.

Because of globalization there is a steady cash flow into the developing countries, which gradually decreases the dollar difference.

Due to the presence of a worldwide market, there is an increase in the production sector and there are lots of options for investments for different companies.

Gradually a world power is being created thanks to gloablization, instead of compartmentalization of power sectors. Politics is merging and decisions that are being taken which are actually beneficial to people all over the world.

Along with globalization, cultural intermingling increases and every nation tries to know more about the other nations cultural preferences. In this process, we are actually coming across things that we like and in the course of time adopt it.

The influx of information between two countries increases, especially those nations who do not have anything in common between them.

Since globalization means we share financial interests, corporates and governments are trying to sort out ecological problems for each other.

Globalization has made us more socially open and tolerant towards each other and these who live in the other parts of the world appear more approachable than before.

There is a lot of technological development that countries have undergone over the years. Thus, helping share information faster and easier. This helps most of the developing nations progress at the same speed as the developed nations.

Globalization helps in increase of demand of products. This in turn increases rate of production. Manufacturers find this profitable and this helps in increasing the number of jobs.

Globalization makes the economy of one country dependent on the economy of the other country. Any change in economy of one country will affect the other. Thus, governments become more concerned about one another and try to curb the economical imbalance between them.

Disadvantages of Globalization

Globalization means many people from developed nations are losing jobs, since the companies are outsourcing work to developing countries where the cost of labor is low so as to increase their profits.

Corporates are building up units in other countries that are equally well equipped, thus transferring the quality to other countries.

There is also a threat of corporates ruling the world because there is a lot of power and money invested by them due to globalization.

There are some experts who think that globalization is also leading to the spread of negatives like communicable diseases and social degeneration.

Nations at the receiving end are also giving up the reins into the hands of a foreign company which might again lead to a sophisticated form of colonization.

Globalization may lead to loss of cultural identity as Western ideas are imposed upon the Eastern thoughts.

Impact of Globalization

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 into the picture. The marginal are getting a chance to exhibit themselves in the world market. The term "brand" is catching up in the Asian countries.

It is not only modernizing but also westernizing the native cultures. The power play is leading to the linguicide or linguistic, cultural and traditional genocide. That is probably where we need to keep a check and not let diffusion go wild. There has been significant de-localization that needs people to be more tolerant since face-to-face interaction is no more the order of the day. It so happens that an American is trying to sort out his billing issue of his mobile phone with an Indian call center employee who is not the direct employee of the service provider. Now that sounds complicated and has to be dealt with carefully. Globalization cannot be stopped. But, one can always keep a check on its scope and outcomes. Globalization does makes the world better, but are we willing to live with the consequences?