Two Sides to Going Global

Globalization is a process that is taking the world by storm.  For better or worse everyday the world grows closer, advanced developments in technology have greatly impacted the way people and businesses communicate and work with one another.  Globalization has many positive and negative affects.  The issues discussed today in regards to globalization are consistent; depending on one’s personal beliefs do these issues become positive or negative.  In my last blog I discussed the globalization of the English language, this is an example of an area of globalization that can be looked at as either good or bad.  I realize that some people feel that this process could lead to significant cultural losses worldwide, but wouldn’t the global advancements in business be worth the sacrifice.  This is a question that many people feel quite different about. 

         My past articles have contained discussions built upon the readings assigned to me in my literature class.  A couple of these books, Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee and An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, contain characters that have been directly affected by the process of globalization.  In Ishiguro’s book Masuji Ono, an artist of Japanese World War II propaganda, is faced with the process in his attempt to recover from the outcome of the war.  After World War II the country begins to go through a changing process triggered by its attempt to globalize to a certain extent.  New businesses and practices have infested Ono’s countries and he is left feeling out of place.  Ono is a prime example of someone who feels that this globalization is negatively affecting his quality of life.  Early in the novel his annoyance with the changes going on around him becomes evident as he says with a sigh “only a few years ago, Ichiro wouldn’t have been allowed to see such a thing as a cowboy film.”  This comment coming only after his grandson Ichiro had been prancing around the house as if he were the Lone-Ranger.  Ono is displayed as a man trapped in a time full of changes; changes that he does not want to happen nonetheless partake in.  As the story plays out our main character does begin to come with a pleasant understanding for the events unfolding around him. 

         In the story of Jasmine we see an Indian girl who desperately wants to escape from her current life situation, she feels that if she is able to move to America she will be able to create a fulfilling life for herself.  Jasmine states early in the novel her thoughts on growing up in an empty situation.  “We murder who we are so we can rebirth ourselves in the images of dreams.”  This quote by Jasmine can be used to describe her desire to become a success.  As we find out through the novel Jasmine seems to believe that the more Americanized she can become the more content she will be with herself.  I think that you can look at the story of Jasmine and compare her thoughts and ambitions may be similar to Indian women of today.  A difference between the women of today and Jasmine is that Indian women may grow up wanting to work in one of the giant building brought to their county by the businesses of America.  When I look back at Jasmine I feel that many women in India probably have life goals to one day work the phones for IBM or Macintosh.  I feel that if these opportunities had been available for Jasmine she would have been satisfied with this lifestyle. 

         I feel that globalization is an inevitable process and that the people who preach against it are the only thing slowing it down.  Nonetheless I believe that one-day, maybe not in my lifetime, but within the next one hundred years we will see a global language.  I also believe that we will see many of these third world countries disappear due to the expansion of businesses.  I feel that in the future big business will most likely take over the globe.

          My views on globalization tend to lean towards the positive side.  I believe that the bigger businesses get, the more businesses there are, and the more people they influence the better.  I hope to one day see the expansion these businesses lead to beneficial economic opportunities for people in countries in which they are otherwise unavailable.  I believe that this is a positive result of the process, bringing income obtaining opportunities to people in countries that need them.  This comes however at the expense of the normalities in which the people of the “invaded” regions had previously been accustomed to.