Example Of The Impact Of Globalization Critical Thinking

Globalization has had a huge impact on the world in many ways, from political to cultural to economic. Basically, as things become more globalized, and as more and more foreign goods become available to buy, people will go for the more exotic, desirable option. This leaves local farmers and businesses without appropriate business to maintain their companies. Because everything is becoming more globalized, it allows corporations and international forces to have a lot more power than they used to - instead of only being restricted to local goods, people have a wide variety of products to choose from, shipped and created from around the world. Furthermore, this allows American political and economic interests to start wielding their considerable power in less developed countries in exchange for their resources (as is the case with Nigerian oil reserves) (O’Neill, 2007). The question remains, then, whether or not this is the responsibility of developed nations to promote democratic capitalism in developing nations; that responsibility, however, is limited, and can often border on imperialism.
Globalization has the potential to bring democratic capitalism to undeveloped countries; this is, ostensibly, a good thing, as it would allow nations to join the global community and use their resources to bring economic prosperity to their home nations. This also dramatically affects their cultural identity; instead of investing in their unique culture, they take from other things from other cultures that are different. This creates a melting pot of cultures that continues to the point where, for example, many cultures are "Americanized." Because America and other industrialized nations have a greater ability to bring their products and culture to other countries, those countries will start adopting American culture through the things they buy. Furthermore, there are instances in which countries may not be ready for such an imperialistic push toward stabilization – Nigeria, for example, is still in the throes of armed conflict and an unstable government, with some of the poorest quality of life statistics in the world. While democratic capitalism might help them, it is also possible it would simply result in taking advantage of an unstable country for the benefit of more developed nations.
Globalization is an ongoing process; every day brings us closer to an interconnected and interdependent economic footing. As we continue to lean on each other more and more for economic and financial security, questions are raised as to whether or not this is a good idea. This also extends to the idea of the government’s role in the world economy – whether or not a private business should adhere to governmental regulations and oversight in order to be allowed to operate. The most important factor, though, is whether globalization is good for local economies and cultures - by melding together in unity, we may lose what it is that makes us unique. To that end, it is difficult to endorse the idea of bringing democratic capitalism to less advantaged nations, as it may not work and further homogenize world cultures to the point where it strips away what makes these nations unique. While the American model has been successful, this does not necessarily mean it should be replicated by all countries. There are those who believe that they can expand their influence worldwide; while that is true, the ethics of it remain somewhat dubious.