What is Globalization? The word Globalization sends an image of a globe in our minds displaying the world continents that spins around contrasting the colors of blue and green together by a swipe of a finger, diverts us to a nostalgic memory of a typical geography session where we are obliged to remember every country’s capital city, the language they speak and it’s currency. Globalization is an interdependence of how messages and levels of communication are spread world-wide where we see the well-known clothing brands and electrical manufacturers distributed and used in a space of our living rooms, bedrooms to offices and shops to the slums and compounds of economically unhealthy countries. Technology and mass media communication are to credited for the mastermind of globalization especially through advertisements. Although Globalization is something that bring us together, however there could conflicts in race, culture and even in social hierarchies where the filthy rich could be given first class tickets to have access to the latest technologies and gadgets whereas those are way below the poverty are restricted.
The internet is a great tool for sending emails, browsing social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to keep in touch with friends we haven’t seen for a long time, the opportunity to meet people rather than waste time finding them or meet people in places we are not known to. We could also go onto encyclopedic websites such as Wikipedia and search engines such as Google and Ask Jeeves to search for topics that spark our interest and expand our knowledge, which are implemented into political debates and group discussions. Alternatively, provide writers and creative artist inspiration to produce future projects or we purchase, sell and exchange products on websites such as eBay and Amazon, where products are traditionally held at auctions at affordable prices compared to prices in high street stores or already purchased products which existed prior to our first entry into the world or something we remember growing up. We could also use the internet to buy, download or watch media materials, such as music, films, radio and television shows in our spare time or catch up with well-known soap operas and TV sitcoms especially story lines that relate to personal experiences and current problems which creates a form of social bond.
Even though the internet is a crucial aid for improving our lifestyles, especially in the development of today’s children, as they can play games and get in touch with their friends and research relevant topics to help with their homework assignments. The downfall is that the internet could put us at risk for developing obsessions and addictions. Customers who use the internet for buying stuff online and for online banking purposes, could put themselves as targets for deception, identity theft and fraud where people can hack into websites to gain customers personal details such as credit cards and bank statements that contain their account numbers. Since the satellite system now behaves as a “Big Brother” surveillance in storing records of our details such as postcodes and address in a national database. Despite this approach, it provides positive benefits, such as how CCTV is embedded in street lights and retail outlets and other areas of social control to aid company’s security and performance and aids our personal welfare so we could easily walk home alone in high confidence without the fear of criminal victimization.
Some people can use the internet for criminal activity, such as downloading, producing and distributing disturbing materials like images of child abuse and go onto chat – rooms in a way to create relationships with vulnerable victims in a process known as online grooming. Some can use the internet for cyber-bullying to harass their victims by making death threats through text messaging, writing emails and produce websites containing fabricating information and disturbing materials to promote hate campaigns. Physical activities include happy slapping, where people film physical violence and pranks on their mobiles and distribute on internet websites particularly You Tube in order to degrade, humiliate vulnerable victims or sometimes use it as a form of emotional blackmail with intent to dominate their victims. Now since cyber crime has gone out of proportion because of film footages reveal an increase of anti social behavior and minor crimes ranging from hitting, harassing people, vandalism to serious crimes where people are being set on fire, sexually assaulted and even murdered. This can cause victims to develop mental and emotional distress, leading them to suffer from low self-esteem issues to psychiatric disorders particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Migration is not new to Globalization as it derives back to various historical events of migration, such as the Great Migration to the United States in the Early 1600s, The Great Famine, The Barbarian Invasion in the Roman Empire, The Holocaust, The World Wars, which saw an increase of migration globally in the aftermath and The Great Depression, which saw a shortage of industrial workers. However, migration is forced through the example of the Trans Atlantic Triangle which saw the slaves abducted and transported from Africa to western societies to work on plantation farms. Migrants come in as a family unit, sub-cultural groups or as a single person in hope to seek economical opportunities with the hope to improve their life chances. Common reasons for migration includes receiving medical treatment, better education opportunities, to belong in a community and as part of exchange student programmes and career packages. The advantage of migration is to learn a new language and assimilate into the cultural norms and values the host country has to offer particularly, to take advantage of the healthcare and medical treatments available, whereas it’s not offered in their home countries. Their accent patterns especially in young children are influenced by the different cultures and their adopted environmental setting, giving a sense of identity and belonging. They will be overwhelmed by the opportunity to be educated in an economically healthy country as education is seen as the key to obtaining basic and materialistic wealth in western societies, whereas in other economically deprived societies, education is seen as a lottery ticket to escape the heavy burdens of living in poor conditions where they are at risk for common illnesses caused by poor sanitation.
The negative side of migration is that people who live in foreign countries for a long time are likely to be experience “culture shock”. This may cause them to endure feelings of anxiety,alienation, bewilderment and struggle to adapt to the norms and value of their adopted countries. People who emigrate especially on their own could experience social and cultural isolation, homesickness and experience vulnerability, especially those who speak little or no adopted languages especially English as this language is predominately spoken and is seen as a ticket to ameliorate job prospects and patterns of communication. Human trafficking is a common globalized crime where people especially young girls and women are lured or kidnapped from Non -English speaking countries to be sexually exploited and coerced into prostitution through false promises of education and guaranteed permanent stay in economically healthy countries. As a result, they could be victims of rape and thus have their emotional and physical needs denied especially testings for pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases which could be passed onto potential clients. In the terms of the labour market, migrants could be seen as targets for resentment by members of their host country for the causes of unemployment and poverty. Simultaneously, become victims of maltreatment, bullying by their work colleagues due to little understanding of the English culture and underpay their wages which may not cover basic need for survival due to subconcious levels of racism. Those who come from predominately Islamic countries are prone will be targeted for racial profiling, exacerbated by the September 11th terrorist attacks and the 7th July bombings in London.
Clothes are produced from economically developed countries but now the production lines are created in poverty-stricken countries. Clothes are were always imported from countries to countries especially Britain to stores such as Primark, which sell sophisticated clothing at cheap affordable prices. The downfall is that the majority of clothes are produced from garment factories and the majority of the workers are women. They are paid depending on the numbers of clothes they produced based, patterns of motivation and fast they can work towards deadlines rather than get paid per hour. Basically, it is commission orientated. Even in some cases, the wages are not enough meet the basics needs for survival where western societies take for granted. The working conditions are sometimes poor and dangerous which could increase the workers chances of being involved fatal accidents and suffer injuries which could impact their physical and mental health in the short and long-term and could affect the company’s overall performance and their personal lives and chances for future employment.
Globalization is a phenomenon which continues to grow and is inevitable and could benefit us in the long run and simultaneously, intensify our current circumstances. The world is becoming more globalised in many ways particularly, in the area of modern technology and communication developed with the ambition to improve our lives nevertheless, went on to be exploited for criminal and illegal purposes. We need globalization in order to experience, explore and experiment with different cultures, norms and values, to educate and create a social bond.
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