When it’s all said and done…

Posted on December 4th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: Uncategorized.

So class is officially over, and yes I am writing this last post to have 14, but I’m also writing it because doing my blog portfolio has really made me do some reflecting.

Looking back, I realized that I’ve learned a lot, and not just about globalization, but I guess that is to be expected because globalization impacts so many things, it’s impossible not to learn a lot. I have definitely overcome my initial prejudices towards globalization. I’m not as afraid of it, and I don’t think it’s as bad as I used to. I’ve also learned a lot about economies and just expanded my horizons. 

Not to say all my questions are answered, but I’ve definitely learned a lot.

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A million miles from reality

Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

I started writing this as a comment on Megan’s blog post about technology and globalization, but then got a little carried away, and decided to make my own post out of it.

Globalization is definitely dependent on technology, but technology has been growing for all of time. Sometimes I think we overlook the fact that block printing, paper making, telegraphs, etc were all forms of technology that helped enable globalization. In a comment to one of my blogs, Seth brought up an interesting point that we like to look back on the good aspects of the past, and forget the bad. Is it possible that when we look back at globalization in the past we overlook that it was having similar effects. Globalization comes with modernity, so there has always been fear of losing jobs, culture, etc. Obviously today it is on a much more massive scale, but even the environmental movement can be seen in the same light. I know that it seems like in today’s world, because of economic dependencies, the environmental movement is having increased publicity. More people seem to care about global warming, recycling, and finding alternate sources of energy. When I brought that up in class, Professor G pointed out that cleaning up the environment was a major movement in the 70s too. Instead of examining the same issue in the past, we tend to look at where it is today and magnify it. 

As Friedman pointed out in his book, globalization has been happening since people began migrating around the globe. The spread of ideas is inevitable, it just seems like today it is on steroids, mainly because of technology. So, though they aren’t interchangeable, it is hard, almost impossible, to imagine globalization without technology because they are so interrelated.

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And we’re slow to acknowledge the knots in the laces

Posted on November 18th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

We’ve recently been discussing the impacts of globalization on culture. 

I think a lot of people’s fear is perceived. With all progress we lose something. Whether it be an old tradition, or the importance of certain values to a society. Many times we feel nostalgic about these losses. 

Take a look at the 50s. Often “the good old days” are referenced when speaking of today’s problems. We look back at the 50s, and remember the best parts, like family values. Those that are emphasized by TV shows and other stereotypes. We think of housewives cooking and cleaning, and being concerned and involved in their whole family’s lives. Today the number of stay at home mom’s is much lower than before, and so mother’s have a lot less time to devote to those type of things. 

Not to say that mother’s today don’t care, but when they work full time, it’s a lot harder to bake cupcakes from scratch for their children’s birthday. We see that as a negative, but isn’t it a positive that women are now able to work and support themselves? 

Society makes great strides that are usually for the greater benefit, but we mourn the loss of smaller things. It’s impossible to say that modernization is entirely good or entirely bad, but it is an inevitable process. 

A lot of times, change is gradual, and things are drastically different before we even realize. Globalization seems to be speeding up the change, and making it harder for people to deal with it, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

1 comment.

Now make it make some sense to me

Posted on November 7th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

This election was an historic one. More people voted than in any other election. All Americans recognized the significance of electing Barack Obama into the white house. What I think many people failed to realize was that other countries were just as interested in this election as we were. 

We discussed this point in my sociology class the other day, and it made me wonder if the increased foreign interest has anything to do with globalization. Of course other countries usually discuss who the next American President will be, but I would assume that it makes as much of an impact upon the citizens as it does when we are told who the next Prime Minister of England is…I mean it’s good to know since we are pretty closely tied with them, but I don’t really care.

This election, however, peaked the interest of many average citizens worldwide. I think that globalization has allowed others easier access to our election news. Given that this election was arguably the biggest news topic of the last few months, I’m sure it was hard for anyone scanning any news source worldwide to not see at least something about the campaigns. In addition, people worldwide now have a bigger interest in what happens in America, because American companies that will be affected by the outcome of election are their employers. I wonder how many middle class Indians were pulling for McCain, because Obama plans to end tax cuts to those companies who send work overseas.

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I put people on the map that have never seen a map

Posted on November 1st, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

So, because I’m feeling a little behind on blogging, I spent some time watching youtube videos about globalization. Surprisingly, there are several out there.

After watching a few of these videos, I’ve been given a lot more to process. One thing is that globalization is about more than economies and opportunities becoming equal, it’s also about power. As other countries are becoming economically stable and their standards of living improve, their presence on the world stage also increases. I think this is one fact that Americans have realized, and is probably most worried about, although it is never implicitly stated. Of course we’re used to being one of the wealthiest nations, and we are enjoying the benefits of globalization, like better jobs and higher wages. But what of our status as a world superpower. We’re sort of it right now, but I think it’s a major source of fear as to what will happen when we are equalled by several other countries. Not only is it a blow to our ego, but what are going to be the political ramifications? Right now, we have more play over other countries, but what is going to happen when we are just as dependent on other countries as they are on us right now. I’m not sure that will ever happen, but it would seem that our power will be limited by the improvement of other countries.

Another point that was raised by these videos was that though wages have increased, and the percentage of the world living in poverty has decreased, the actual number of people living in poverty has stayed virtually the same. Because our population is increasing so rapidly, the percent might be lower, but there are still a startling number of people worldwide living on less then a dollar a day.  So while we can see that globalization has been helpful to increasing wages, it isn’t a means to ending poverty.

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In Defense of Globalization

Posted on October 27th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

So I read Chapter 10 of this book “In Defense of Globalization” by Jagdish Bhagwhati. It was a really interesting chapter on labor and wages. 

Basically it confronted the fear that by outsourcing to countries that pay cheaper wages, wages in our country will drop to be competitive. What Bhagwati says is that we’re actually in a race to the top, not to the bottom, and that historically, outsourcing only serves to improve conditions in those countries.

So, I was pretty comforted by that whole deal, and this book in general. It definitely gives a new perspective on the whole globalization argument. I would recommend it…even though I’ve only really read like 4 chapters.

1 comment.

Give me a yellow brick road and a Japanese car..

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

Once upon a time, Dr. Greenlaw commented on my blog and asked me “Do you think that jobs and other economic opportunities are a zero sum game, so that if people in another country get jobs there will be fewer jobs for us? That’s kind of what your post sounds like.”

I read that, and knew it was a real thought provoker, but I wasn’t really in the mood for all that thought. Now, however, I am ready to tackle that question. So, I’m going to blog this out and see what happens. 

So yeah, I do feel like jobs are a zero sum game. I mean..if you think about it, there are only so many jobs in the world and there are a crap ton of people. I know there are always new jobs being created, but there are also tons of jobs that are no longer necessary because of machines.  Especially when it comes to unskilled labor. When you shut down a factory in the United States and move it to India, that eliminates a whole bunch of job opportunities for Americans. So what are all those Americans supposed to do?

But I guess that is exactly what Dr. G was asking me in the first place. 

This is the way I see it, America is continually outsourcing factory work to other countries, and so Americans are realizing that they need to specialize. But the thing is, there are far fewer specialized jobs…that’s why they are special. And I know they say that competition is healthy, but I don’t want to have to compete. I want my slightly above average Bachelor’s Degree to be special enough. 

I guess that’s really selfish, and totally American of me. I mean, why shouldn’t everyone in the world have the same access to education as I do? There really is no reason. There are some serious changes that we need worldwide, and I think the human rights implications that can come from globalization would be phenomenal. I’m really not trying to say we should deny other countries the opportunity to be the best that they can be, but I just get a little worried that if everything operates on a worldwide scale, I’ll just become one in 6 billion. And as a student amassing a huge debt, I’d like to feel like I’m doing enough to get a decent job.

So I guess I’m just going to stick to my guns on this one, until I do some legit reading to find out how completely wrong I am or what have you.

1 comment.

Globalization Visualization

Posted on September 26th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

As a class, we came up with this definition for globalization: the rapidly accelerating process, which enables, encourages and advances connections between both individuals and groups worldwide, allowing for the exchange and influence of cultural, technological and political ideas and their applications.

We then had to find a picture that we think illustrated it. So here’s mine:

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well open up your mind and see like me

Posted on September 13th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

So, after reading The World Is Flat, I have to admit that I got kind of freaked out. 

When you’re used to being so far ahead, it’s hard to look around and realize that everyone else is catching up. As a middle class American, I always felt that the general direction of my life would lead to a college education, and from there a comfortable job. Now, it takes a lot more than just having a college degree to secure an easy living. College used to be one of the options, but today it’s practically the only option. As more and more people are entering the workforce with degrees, the competition is increased. And that’s just in America. Adding in all the highly driven and highly educated Indians, Chinese, and Japanese, and I have to wonder if I’m doing enough to ensure success.

On a completely separate note, I’m kind of interested in Friedman’s newest book, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded”. It came out earlier this month, and it’s about global warming, and worldwide competition for energy, especially given how many people are in the world today.

In reading the summary of the book, I’m hopeful that America can keep ourselves ahead with the new green revolution. I’m also kind of hesitant that the book will be drawn out and repetitive, like The World Is Flat. But the overall concept is really interesting. I’d like to hear his thoughts on the subject, and just to become more knowledgeable about.

3 comments.

But what does it mean..?

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by kmirales.
Categories: FSem100J.

So…what is globalization? 

Globalization is a word that sums up this really huge concept. It’s the way that our world is shrinking. Not physically, but in terms of the connections between societies. 

It used to be that every culture was vastly different, and the ties between them were fairly limited. With globalization, an open exchange has been created. It is rapidly expanding and is encompassing cultural and economical aspects of many of the world’s societies.

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