Globalization is a never ending goal for humanity. It is the expansion of people, ideas, trade, and almost anything that can be communicated or exchanged. Globalization has always existed in world history. It was used by Christopher Columbus when he set sail for the New World in 1492, "inaugurating an age of European seaborne empires [1]". When the American Revolution took place in 1776 globalization carried over the Atlantic ocean to France and other European nations, where they were motivated by the idea of freedom and democracy. During the Civil War, President Lincoln used to telegraph to globalize his tactics for his union army. In a historical outlook, Globalization allowed people to come together and exchange beliefs in a world without the modern technology we use today.
"Modern" globalization could have likely started with the launch of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. This new type of globalization enables people to exchange ideas instantly. In the 15th century with Columbus, it took months of traveling across sea, instead of logging on to the internet to inform society about his new discovery. Did people in the 1400s use their iPhones and laptops to log onto Facebook or check Yahoo News to see how Columbus' journey went? Well, those who could have afforded those technologies hypothetically back then were definitely not simple countrymen - they were at least the middle class. This parallels to today. Norris explains, "Worldwide, the disparities are even greater; there are almost as many hosts in France as in all of Latin America and the Caribbean, and there are more hosts in New York than in all of Africa" [2]. Is it so wrong to say that perhaps people in Africa and the Caribbean still do not know that we have landed on the moon? Or about recent events, like the Egyptian protests? It is safe to say that literally everybody in New York or France has easy access to knowledge about these events, or any events for that matter.
Globalization has always existed in human history, is as powerful as it ever has been today, and will forever continue to expand and strengthen.
[1] "Globalization Since the Fourteenth Century." Upenn.edu. February 5, 2011.
[2] Norris, Pippa. “Information Poverty and the Wired World”. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics. 5 (2000): Print. p. 3-4
Your witty examples about modern technology and Columbus’ times were very entertaining; they also demonstrated the idea of how technology increases and facilitates globalization.
ReplyDeleteI am curious about your remark about globalization as a “never ending goal”. Do you think there might be a thing as “too much globalization”, or some possible negative effects as the result of the current globalization process?
When referring to globalization as a never ending goal, I believe that humanity will always continue to globalize. For example, NASA is currently working on colonizing the moon.
ReplyDeleteWith every action comes a consequence, and I believe that there is a possibility of too much globalization. In China, for instance, there is a national overpopulation crisis.