by edith bruce

Created on: July 19, 2007

The reality is, the question whether globalization is good or bad is not black and white. But it can be inferred that the process of connecting various economies and spreading technology, ideas, and culture has done more good than harm. Globalization has posed the more overt economic, social and also political benefits worldwide. But it also comes with a small price compared to the big picture.

On the economic side of things, globalization is responsible for all the various consumer products that are stacked on shelves in local supermarkets or large chain ones. It's made international trade possible by facilitating the transport of products between various countries. So in short, there are a greater choice of products that will guarantee consumer satisfaction. Moreover, it poses mutual economic benefits on both sides of the countries in trade. A multinational corporation from the U.S. makes a direct foreign investment in India by building branches in that country and setting factories for production. The corporation receives cheap labor which generates greater profit and in turn, India will benefit from more jobs from factories and financial capital entering the country.

Socially, there is the spread of technology, knowledge and culture. People through one of the most important and revolutionary invention ever developed by mankind, the Internet, allows people to in touch with international news and insurpassable amount of information regarding all sort of things. The proliferation of information generally increases people's social, political and economics awareness of the world around them, therefore increasing intellect.

And politically (a tricker aspect), globalization is responsible for spreading differing political ideals ranging from democracy to communism. This increased awareness (assuming there is no censorship) allows people to weight pros and cons about differing beliefs and be able to make informed decisions or opinions in the political arena that shapes their government. And the undisputed major role of the media in assisting globalization, can expose corrupt governments to the public and therefore, pressure the removal of oppressive dictators.

Critics argue the dark side of globalization stems from multinational corporation's violation of human rights in factories at their host country (mostly developing nations) and use their economic importance to their host country as a political leverage. And more recently, it's widens the gap between rich and poor nations. Well, quite frankly, globalization is not meant to level the playing field and remove poor nations out of poverty. Globalization is the beacon of spreading knowledge, technology, cultures, religion in a world that's ever becoming much smaller to live in.

Learn more about this author, edith bruce.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.