A Look at the Maps: Is Globalization Hurting our World?
As we've seen, globalization does leave some unfortunate effects. It is easy to see why globalization sometimes has a bad rep:
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The World at Night: Who has all the energy? (geology.com) |
There is a correlation between these two images that is in no way accidental. But for those of us who have access to advanced technology and energy (and water), it is not contradictory to speak out against the practices that multiply the wealth of the rich North while excluding poorer countries, if we distinguish between practices which are intrinsically detrimental and the neutral advances which can benefit everyone.
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| Ironic, but totally legit. |
In fact, those who oppose globalization as a monolithic terror to be quashed so we can all share the worlds resources equally are off the mark. That is the goal (the sharing part), but such a black and white picture leaves out the great advantages of closer communication and trade that come with a more connected first world. Although it may seem contradictory at first, we can use the benefit of our prosperous first world's technology to reach out in solidarity with those less fortunate. Do not accept the status quo, but do not throw the baby out with the bathwater, either!
Fair point: we should be using our advantages and resources to help out the poorer, less developed countries, and that’s exactly what Gaudium et Spes tells us. The real question is how to achieve that goal. Globalization, on the whole, is driven by profits and the bottom line. Companies react competitively on a global scale, and make policy decisions that mean maximum dividends for shareholders. “Sharing” is not part of the vocabulary of CEOs and trustee boards. And these are the people making decisions at the top of the food chain, which ultimately drive multinationals. Therefore, the Church has different options in addressing this societal mechanic:
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2) Investing in educating young Catholic leaders to make business decisions and promote economic models that are advantageous to poorer and developing countries.
3) Lobbying and encouraging political involvement at the government level for trade agreements that level the playing field for developing countries.
That’s a lot of legwork for the Catholic Church to accomplish in a given area of social justice. But if we are to accept the present situation, then these are some more active steps the Church could take in this area in addressing this matter.
Grace, I really appreciate your comments as a common-sense response to a lot of objections people have to globalization. A globalized economy is something that I think has overall helped our world- it helps us encourage more technology on a global scale and can economically advance poorer countries, to name a couple benefits. Yes, there is exploitation in this globalized economy, but in the long run, I think having a globalized economy is a good thing. If you think about it, there were things like child labor that were happening in our country and other first-world countries during the Industrial Revolution. Eventually, that practice was ended through legislation. Perhaps one way our country could encourage others to end practices such as child labor would be to stop trading with countries or companies that employ such tactics. I realize that this would be a stretch, but it’s something we can do to encourage more humane practices in other countries.
ReplyDeleteEvan, I like all of your suggestions, especially the one about educating young business leaders. CUA’s new business school is committed to doing just that. In fact, Dr. Abela, the dean of the school of business, and Dr. Capizzi, another professor here at CUA, are coming out with a book entitled A Catechism for Business. I’d be interested to hear what they have to say about globalization.
One issue with globalization that I think we should address is how impersonal it is. One of the most commonly neglected aspects of Catholic Social Teaching is the notion of subsidiarity, which can be summed up as the idea that everything should be done on as small and local a level as possible. One of the reasons why subsidiarity is so important is the simple fact that human beings can only do so much and only have so much time. The head of a company with 100 employees can be aware of each of his employees as a human person in the way the head of a company with 100,000 employees simply cannot, no matter how well connected he is. This is, I think, the biggest problem with globalization. Since these markets are so large spatially and financially, the people at the top can only be aware of the people at the bottom in a very abstract sense. The easiest way for them to do this is numerically and hence impersonally. Because the workers are not seen as individuals, it is easy to forget that they are human. This is why globalized markets so often lead to exploitation of workers, not to mention the fact that companies often globalize for the express purpose of taking advantage of cheap labor in poorer countries.
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