Personal Effects of Globalization

Globalization has gently affected many aspects of my life. Globalization has been defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the development of increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets.” To me, globalization is the free flow of thought. Globalized companies want to share the themselves and their product with other potential consumers. Political leaders make global impacts. I am not immune to globalization.
The internet has increased the pace of globalization ten fold. My childhood best friend moved back to Australia after our freshman year of high school. Her moving across the globe has hardly been easy but the internet has made it bar able. We email almost weekly with the  happenings of our lives. Facebook allows for us to see the major events and lots and lots of pictures. I carry her around in my pocket. Although she is half a world away and sixteen hours away, technology has connected us. We share our thoughts, feelings and experiences. 

As the Merriam-Webster’s definition stated, part of globalization is the world economy. In this day and age we have the most interconnected economies. With the growth of previously isolated economies such as China, India and others, new products and production facilities have become common place. Our American made cars are manufactured overseas. Even our American brands of clothing are made in sweatshops in places most people have never been. These practices are not new, however. The Americans were the China of colonial times. Great Britain utilized the colonies as their personal production lands for tobacco and other crops. We in the United States import a majority of our goods. With globalization has come great international conflicts and politics that affect all aspects of our life. Following the world wars, politics were made globalized. For example, unrest in the Middle East has greatly affected oil prices and I have payed the cost at the pump. The actions of one man have repercussions spreading across the Globe. Globalization is the process of connecting all the far reaching corners of the world. Globalization has created connections that are impacting our lives in more ways then we even realize.