Essay on Globalisation

Globalisation. Globalisation. Globalisation. A buzzword. It’s what everyone is talking about. Some understand it. Some are ignorant. Some are for it. Some are against it. Why make a fuss about some old thirteen-lettered, five syllable word? I think I better start with the definition.

Well, according to our revered social studies textbook, globalisation is defined “as the process by which people, their ideas and their activities in different parts of the world become interconnected or integrated.” As anyone could have guessed through common intuition, none of you grasped anything from that sentence. This demands a careful and detailed explanation. I know you readers are not entirely stupid, so I humbly request you to reread the definition of globalisation, but this time more carefully. Consider the keyword ‘interconnected’. From it, we can already decipher that there are two or more locales that are linked in some way. They could be linked through transport, communication or transnational corporations (TNCs).

Transport and communication are the oldest of the three links. Ever since the ancient and medieval adventurers and conquerors set out from their native countries or kingdoms to explore, discover and conquer lands that were not their own, globalisation had begun. These people introduced their religions, habits and cultures to the local people. This is the ‘integration’ of foreign culture in local societies. This fact contradicts the conventional idea that the invention of the steamboat was what sparked the ‘flame of globalisation’.

Communication is the transfer of ideas or information from one point or place to another. This can take the form of speech, letters, telephone, fax, SMS, MMS, video calls, video conferences, the internet, online instant messaging, services, e-mails, online portals and forums and so on and so forth. Also not forgetting the mega social networks like ‘Friendster’, Facebook’, Orkut’ and ‘blogger.com’. These are the factors that are spearheading the accelerated growth of globalisation in this day. At the rate at which they are going, it is totally unsure how far the entwining creeper of globalisation will reach.

Then, there are those new chaps down the street. The TNCs. And they make a huge splash. They are companies or organizations that operate globally. For all their operations or projects, they set up bases in a number of regions worldwide. Their motives in doing so may vary. Large quantities of skilled labour, abundance of necessary resources, exploration of new markets that could potentially reap profits, low production costs, special economic benefits, etc., are but a few of the many factors that influence their actions. In the process of these developments, the economies of various countries may become integrated as a result of transactions conducted between those countries.

I had earlier mentioned about the ‘flame of globalisation’. Much can be gathered from this phrase. Fire, at a distance, provides warmth and light. Go too near and you will get burnt. This signifies the fact that globalisation has its pros and cons. Many countries, mostly developed or the upper quartile of the developing ones, greatly enjoy the plus points of globalisation. Their economies prosper. Their trade and foreign investments flourish. This in turn generates large amounts of revenue that is used to improve the already high-class life of people living in these nations. Not content with their success, these countries try to attract TNCs in the hope of further growth. Thus, increased competition is formed as a result of unnecessary competitiveness.

While the more competitive ones may advance in leaps and bounds, this competitiveness literally forces the less competitive ones to degenerate in leaps and bounds. So, naturally, these unfortunate persons or countries will be left worse off than when they originally began. The rich become richer. The poor become poorer.

A shift in attitude towards culture is also part and parcel of the phenomenon known as globalisation. A growing number of people know more about external culture than their own. So focused are they on mordernisation that they forget their own identities.

To start talking about the environmental impacts of globalisation would mean not stopping. Deforestation; pollution; extinction of species; accelerated global warming; in general, environmental degradation. All of these are by-products of globalisation. While all of them can be linked to each other, they also have their own different causes. How do you undo this unfixed, mutating threat? By using globalisation itself. No one person, organization or country can singlehandedly stop this disaster. Only a combined effort by humanity as a whole can put a halt to this. Only with globalisation can this happen. The world is smaller than that it has ever been. Its six billion citizens are closer than ever before in history. Only if this advantage is utilized fully, can an attempt to set right what has been done, is successful.

If and only if the solution is implemented can the problem be solved? At present, this is not the case. The ‘crème de la crème’ of the world’s nations, prefer to work towards what they think is the ‘greater good’. Who cares if millions of people die of starvation? Who cares if countries collapse? Who cares if traditions are lost?

The metropolitan become futuristic.
The rural become prehistoric.
This is the height of ‘survival of the fittest’.

I have nothing to complain about. I do my homework using a Japanese pen; bathe with water from Malaysia; carry American bags; wear French perfume; study on Swedish tables and chairs; upload this essay onto my blog using an American site. I live in Singapore. It is the epitome of globalisation.

There is nothing that I can complain about.