Pros & Cons of Globalization

Globalization

Pros o    contains seeds of a better future for all the world's people o    economic prosperity and work for developing countrieso    business opportunities for industrial countries

Cons o    wealth creation has become the essential requirement of globalization – is this a goal in itself? o    social goals are being ignored, stand second to financial interests o    Westernization: gap between rich and poor is widening o    “survival of the fittest”

Globalization

Pros o    major improvements in productivity, innovation, creativity o    general economic prosperity o    ecological stability o    spread of democracy o    freedom and human rights

Cons o    danger to the environment, massive pollution in third-world countries (China, India) o    “outsourcing” of CO2 emissions o    regional and ethnic tensions about natural resources e.g. clean water o    biological diversity is destroyed o    erosion of democracy and fair play through increasing power of multinational companies o    they can no longer be controlled by elected governments o    corruption

Globalization

Proso    shared universal humanity and shared profitso    cross-cultural understanding -> less hostility -> fewer wars o    borderless, peaceful world of shared universal values o    the world is getting smaller o    world-wide web makes communication easier, cheaper o    traveling becomes easiero    free trade or rather fair trade? (so developing countries can benefit, too)

Conso    trade barriers still exist: e.g. subsidies in agriculture of rich countries keep developing countries away from the world market

Globalization

Proso    homogenous and largely commercial culture o    music, fashion, food, world-wide style culture homogenous continents 

Conso    erosion of national cultures, massive immigration, migration o    McDonald’s, Starbucks, Hollywood, Disneyland, Levi’s, Coca Cola, Pepsi, pop music… o    Americanization o    the introduction of new species on new land masses/continents leads to the extinction of domestic species o    evolution has proceeded independently o    moving plants and animals around the earth (via ships and planes) leads to a reduction of the number of species over time o    invasive species: e.g. cats, rabbits, Himalayan Balsam (Indisches /Japanisches Springkraut, touch-me-not) homogenizer of continents