The Global Market and its Impact on Society and the Environment
My breakfast is always diverse, but it mainly consists of eggs, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and coffee or tea. When I skip breakfast for some reason, I still eat an apple or two in the morning. My typical lunch consists of meat and a side dish. The meat is mainly chicken, but I enjoy a steak occasionally. The side dishes used in a typical lunch are rice, carrots, potatoes, and lettuce for the salad. Desserts or snacks are occasional, and my main consumption consists of chocolate. I buy all of my groceries in local supermarkets. The apples come from New Zealand; the tomatoes come from Mexico; the onions are grown locally; the lettuce is imported from China; the eggs are from the United States; tea is imported from China or other oriental countries, and the coffee is imported from South America, mainly Columbia. However, I am not familiar with the origins of the ingredients required for the bread. Although it is made locally, it is possible that the manufacturing process requires delivery from other countries. The meat is mainly from the US, but steaks occasionally come from Argentina or other South American countries. The rice comes from Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries suitable for growing rice. Potatoes are grown locally, and the carrots are imported from China. I prefer chocolate that is imported from European countries, such as Belgium or Switzerland.
The global market gives the society many possibilities, and it is not possible to deny its benefits over its shortcomings. For example, sharing knowledge and technology on a global scale allows faster progress of our society. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (2006), knowledge can be found everywhere, but it is unequally distributed. Knowledge cannot be used where it does not have any value, but the global market allows individuals who posses skills and knowledge to change their environment, so they can improve their well-being and contribute to society with their knowledge. From both short-term and long-term perspectives, those individuals will create positive impact for themselves and the society.
Another benefit of the global market is that it allows greater specialization in academic fields worldwide. For example, schooling used to be geographically oriented, and people would have to spend a lot of resources to obtain education if their desired field of specialization was not available locally. However, because of new technologies, people from all over the world can participate in online classes. That is a cost-effective way of gaining education because people do not need to pay more money for travelling and lodging expenses. Furthermore, it decreases the necessity for travelling to the education destination and creates positive long-term impacts on the environment.
Although the global market allows the society more trade opportunities and promotes a colorful lifestyle, the main downside is obviously its impact on the environment. Ironically, that same concern with the variety of diet plans and food sources promotes the destruction of those same sources. For example, seafood is promoted as a healthy product, but there are two main implications for the accuracy of that statement. Seafood has an extremely low expiration date, and using transportation to deliver it to distant locations undermines its positive effects on health. Furthermore, the amount of transportation used because of the global market is damaging the environment. Negative impacts on the environment consequentially impact the organisms which inhabit that environment. In the United States, most food consumed travels an average of 1,300 miles before reaching its destination (Kloppenburg, Hendrickson, & Stevenson, 1996). The damages to the environment and living beings are already visible, but the human society will suffer if we observe long-term consequences. Polluting the environment pollutes our food, and the food worldwide will eventually start having a negative impact on our health.
One of the most destructive aspects of the global market is outsourcing labor to other countries while failing to promote the local economy. That approach is hazardous both to the social and environmental safety and stability. The global market is focused on the idea of a borderless society and that the world has no center, so each country worldwide is included in the competition. The international competition for goods and services often gives some countries a competitive edge. For example, the low-cost workers in China will offer more competitive market prices than workers from the United States (Lee & Carter, 2009). Unfortunately, many corporations and leaders in the global market forget that the market is focused on consumers and not on goods (Lee & Carter, 2009). Without proper monitoring and regulation, the global market will eventual destroy the society because there will be more downsizing and less job opportunities.
The phrase “Think globally, act locally,” applies to all areas of life. It points out that our power is limited, and we can only act locally if we want to change anything. However, our actions will always reflect on a larger scale, so it is important to consider the effects of our decisions on others and our environment. Each personal action inevitably leads to external consequences. However, attempting to act globally is stressful and non-productive, and that is why when all people act together locally, we observe positive impacts on our environment and society.
When it comes to food consumption, and example of thinking globally, but acting locally, is when people decide that they will not eat anything that originates more than 100 miles away from their homes (Local-food movement, 2006). The reasoning behind the movement is logical because pollution for importing apples from New Zealand is unnecessary if it is possible to grow them in the United States. Rather than supporting low-cost import from other countries and environmental pollution, growing food locally is beneficial for both the economy and the environment. However, it is questionable if such limitations are really necessary. If we already have the global market, we should not be afraid of its downsides, but we should know how to emphasize its positive aspects and use its full advantage.
Personally, I consider moderation and thoughtfulness the key traits that will allow our society to take the full advantage of the global market. Thoughtfulness will allow us to consider the consequences of our actions on a larger scale and allow us to think globally. On the other hand, moderation will prevent us from buying unnecessary products. I believe if people bought only what they needed, that would already have a significant impact on environmental pollution.
My research on the global market did not change my opinions or behavioral patterns because they were already established. I believe nothing good can come out of denying the positive aspects of the global market and the concepts of a borderless society. Rather than obstructing the growth of the global market, greater control over the global market is a better option. Furthermore, each individual has the responsibility to control psychological urges to control unnecessary purchases. The consumer society is well-established, and each individual is responsible to develop self-control and common sense in decision-making for purchases to preserve the integrity of our society and the environment in the age of the global market.
References
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (2006). 2006 annual report – Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Retrieved from http://dallasfed.org/fed/annual/2006/ar06d.cfm
Kloppenburg, J., Hendrickson, J., & Stevenson, G. W. (1996). Coming in to the foodshed. Agriculture and Human Values, 13(3), 33-42. Retrieved from http://www.cias.wisc.edu/
wp-content/uploads/2008/07/comingin.pdf
Lee, K., & Carter, S. (2009). Global marketing management (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Local-food movement: The lure of the 100-mile diet. (2006, June 11). Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200783,00.html
