by Linda Burleson

Created on: June 19, 2008   Last Updated: June 28, 2008

What is globalization? It is certainly not a new concept. The main reason the Vikings wanted to conquer England was for profit. This was just as true of Marco Polo's venture to China. It was strictly business, and dangerous business at that. Remember Colombus' plea to Queen Isabella? His ultimate goal was to secure land and treasures for the throne. Had she not sniffed newfound wealth she would have never granted him three grand ships for the excursion. Most wars through the ages, if the truth be known, have been fought for the very same reason, the almighty dollar. Colonization has always been to increase the wealth and land holdings of colonizing countries.

There is no record of when man learned to think in terms of cause and effect, but one can be assured that it was a slow, tedious process. Early on, the working process was based on experience rather than theory, which is basically empirical observation passed down from one generation to the next - from father to son or from craftsman to apprentice. Knowledge derived from sense impressions provided man with more food and better shelter, but achievements were limited. Even the search for new territory was essentially to provide better food and shelter. Acting on nature and being acted upon in turn, thus developing intellect, man came to a point where he was able to harness natural forces outside his body for productive purposes - water, electricity, wind, etc.

Progressively freeing himself from dependency on nature, man sought economic relationships with his fellow man, and then cultural and political ones, thus society divided, then subdivided leading to classes - artisans, businessmen, peasants. Craft and merchant guilds sprang up, and along came regulations in wages, prices, conditions of sales, hours worked and labor conditions and the supervision of workmanship and quality of materials.

The Crusades of the eleventh century increased the power of the Church but also contributed to economic progress of Western Europe. They led to surge of interest in travel and exploration. Merchants joined the Crusaders to seek new markets. In effect, a movement motivated by spiritual considerations brought about an intensified interest in world affairs and oriented the human mind toward practical existence.

The Age of Reason elevated man's mind to primary stature. Towns sprang into being as trades and crafts developed further all leading to a new social stratum, the Borugeoisie. For the first time man began to ask what

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