"Money makes the world go around;" this common phrase rings true today. Globalization is the culmination of money and information. Overall, globalization leads to the integration of various cultures and the diminishing the differences and boundaries between them.
The effects of globalization are influenced directly by money. Money ties the different countries of the world through commercial exchanges. The various imports and exports of each country lead to the spread of goods and merchandise which in turn give rise to the exchange of cultures. For example, due to trade with North Africa, the American rap culture has spread and is now looked up to and mimicked by Moroccan youngsters.[1]
On the other hand, information allows the flow of money and ideas. Due to the different types of mass communication available today such as the internet, there is no need for an individual to be "shouting into the wind or the specter of town-hall meetings."[2] In fact, there are now around 2 billion people with internet access worldwide.[3] A free internet gives users the ability to communicate globally as they wish and bypass the information poverty that may be caused by other media such as television. However, in some countries such as China, the internet is policed and therefore may not be considered a true source of non-biased information.
[1]Levine, Mark. Heavy Metal Islam. New York: Crown Publishing, 2008.
[2]Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 5.
[3]Internet Usage Statistics. Miniwatts Marketing Group. 2010. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Accessed February 6, 2011. Internet.
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