Globalization or inter-nationalization Essay Example for Free

Globalization or inter-nationalization Essay Whether we call it globalization or inter-nationalization, very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit To what extent do you agree with this statement? Globalization is without doubt it is a buzz word of the time it is a word that seems to be constantly mentioned in the news on the television or radio. But what does living in a globalized world really mean? As a starting point this essay will attempt to interpret its meaning by applying four main theories and using these theories to discuss the impact of globalization on individuals, organisations and states. It will go on to explore three different perspectives on global change and how each perspective might view its effects including identifying possible weaknesses in their arguments. This will enable a decision to be made as to what extent the question whether we call it globalization or inter-nationalization, very few people, organisations or states stand to benefit can be agreed with. Globalization can be characterized by four distinctive features. First it involves a stretching of social, political and economic activities across nation-state boundaries. What is happening on what might be geographically the other side of the world, affects the other and specific local developments can have considerable global consequences. Examples of this would be global climate change, environmental issues such as pollution into the atmosphere and oceans, poverty etc. We are all losers in terms of global problems such as pollution acid rain, toxic waste etc and it extremely daunting to think that we are totally limitless in our control of them. For example, in April 1986 an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the USSR. This caused a cloud carrying radioactive particles to hit Britain. Ten years on, as a result of the fall-out, 70,000 sheep in Cumbria remained contaminated (Cochrane, A. and Pain, K. (2004), p.18). Second, it is marked by the intensification of flows of trade. Technological developments have accelerated over the past 20 years the introduction of mobile phones, the internet, satellite television means that communication across the planet is virtually instantaneous. There are hundreds of satellites floating above the earth, each one carrying a huge amount of information. Physical distance is no longer an issue we are being brought much closer to news/issues/events from around the world this could be seen as good or bad although for the ones that have it, access to much more information has to be a good thing. Losers would undoubtedly be people without internet access and organisations with a less developed communication infrastructure. The way people work is changing working from home is now much more viable and this has to be a good thing for individuals and companies because it provides more flexibility all round. Third, it can be linked to increasing interpenetration or the bringing together distant cultures and societies face to face with each other at local level, good examples of this would be Microsoft, Coca Cola, McDonalds and Starbucks. This could be seen as good or bad, many people dont like the fact that these huge companies put smaller privately owned companies out of business and that everything is becoming so uniformed local places with character are being lost. Global trade on the whole is increasing which may mean more jobs, better employment prospects for some but on the down sound it may also mean many home communities are devastated when local companies are bought out by multinational ones that cut wages and benefits and/or moves production overseas. This could lead to the inequality gap widening further which will ultimately cause conflict and potentially from this point of view we are all losers here too. And forth, the development of a global infrastructure the authority of nations is territorially bound therefore international organisations such as The United Nationals, The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation all play a part in regulating and governing the global system and are new forms of agency brought about because of globalization. It could be argued that in this borderless economy, nation states have no option but to accommodate global market forces due to their power, limiting their options. Furthermore, a growth in international trade (often due to lower trade barriers) will encourage more competition. This could be seen as having winners and losers but reducing trade barriers in particular may reduce the role of governments which, in turn, could encourage corruption. There is no doubt that many developing countries have increased their share of world trade as a result of globalization although this may be at the detriment of the poorer countries. There are three positions which all have a different perspective on the term globalization; these are the globalist, inter-nationalist and transformationalist and all three have strengths and weaknesses to their arguments. Globalists on the whole see Globalisation as something that is real and is happening that changes are happening socially and economically and that it is an inevitable, irreversible development that should not be resisted. But globalists themselves fall into two categories optimistic/positive globalists and pessimistic globalists. Optimistic/positive Globalists view it as a process that is beneficial. They would probably disagree with the statement that very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit because they welcome the changes that it brings such as improvement on the quality of life, raising living standards and the bringing together of societies and cultures promoting a better understanding of each other. They acknowledge that globalisation is not all good news, that with it issues such as global environmental pollution, for example, but want citizens to take responsibility for their actions, to look for ways of minimising the damage through their own actions and through the use of new technologies. They may have overlooked however, that local Governments/authorities may be limited in their actions in relation to worldwide/global issues and that globalization is certainly not developing in an even handed way. In Tony Giddens Reith Lecture he quotes Globalisation some argue creates a world of winners and losers, a few on the fast track to prosperity, the majority condemned to a life of misery and despair and indeed the statistics are daunting. The share of the poorest 5th of the worlds population in global income has dropped from 2.3% to 1.4% over the past 10 years. The proportion taken by the richest 5th on the other hand has risen (Tony Gidden Reith Lecture Runaway World 1999). Pessimistic globalists regard it with hostility, believing that it increases inequality between nations, threatens employment and hinders social progress. Moreover they believe that globalization is making the world become more homogeneous with the demise of sovereignty and national identities as well as the demise of politicians capabilities to influence events. A pessimistic view would probably be that only the giant multi-national companies (usually American) stand to benefit since the US has a dominant economic, cultural and military position in the global scheme of things. They would probably view globalization as nothing more than corporate hegemony and would definitely agree with the statement about very few people, organizations or states benefiting. A weakness of the pessimistic globalist view is that they dont seem to have a clear solution to the problem, its like they want to reverse time and go back to how it was. They undermine the existing structure but have no idea abo ut any clear alternatives. According to the inter-nationalists all the talk about globalization is exactly that just talk. They believe that the world carries on much the same as it ever did that it isnt especially different from that which existed in previous periods and that increases in global trade across the world is just progression based on world trading links that have been established for many years a continuation of the past. They argue that a good deal of economic exchange is between regions rather than being truly worldwide, for example countries of the European Union mostly trade among themselves. This whole view seems unrealistic. World financial flows have grown exponentially since the 1970s and advances in technology have undoubtedly helped with transactions becoming instantaneous with 24 hour global financial markets. International trade has also grown to unprecedented levels and involves a much wider range of goods and services. As a result a weakness of theirs would be that underestimate the power of nation states and possibly put too much faith in the capabilities of national governments. The third transformationslists is somewhere in between the two. They believe that something is happening, that changes are taking place and that the effects of globalisation should not be underestimated. Unlike the globalists they believe that nothing is pre-determined or inevitable and that national, local and other agencies still have room for manoeuvre and that maybe new solutions may have to be found. A strength of the transformationalist is that they see sovereignty as having to be shared among other private and public agencies. They would probably sit on the fence as to whether people, organizations or states stand to benefit from globalization. Some people do benefit, some dont. Some organisations benefit, some dont, and so on. It might depend on who you are, what you are, where you live etc. A weakness of the transformationalist would be that they are somewhat blinded by the scale of global inequalities that are developing as a result of rationalisation as they tend to have more of a regional focus. The word globalization seems to have come from no where to be almost everywhere. Globalisation is political, technological, cultural and economic, it affects everyone and its effects can be seen everywhere. There are winners and losers but with reference to the original question in the introductory paragraph personally it would have to be a disagreement with this statement. Globalization is not something that should be shirked but the challenges it presents need to be controlled because it is now part of the way we live and its not going to go away. Metaphorically speaking it may mean a shrinking world but it is creating something that has never existed before and it is without doubt changing our world, for better or worse, no matter where or whom we happen to be. References Cochrane, A. and Pain, K, A globalizing society in Held, D. (ed) (2004) Gidden Reith, A. Lecture Runaway World (1999) Held, D. A globalizing world? Culture, economics, politics, London, Routledge/The Open University

Comparison Italian And German Fascism

Comparison Italian And German Fascism In the 20th century there were a lot of rises and falls of many types of government. In some cases, two world wars influenced these events and multiple changes arose in power. The First World War gave way to such styles of rule as Fascism and Nazism. Very often these two ideologies are conflated as the same thing. However, while there are similarities between these concepts, a lot of differences also exist, that need to be mentioned. In order to understand these two movements, one should get to know the meaning of these terms. Such political ideology as Fascism is used in reference to the style of ruling that arose in Italy after The First World War and was represented by Benito Mussolini. And Nazism is embodied by the man who might be a true Nazist itself, Adam Hitler. Fascism could be considered as militant political movement that emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience to the leader. It based on the principles of Authoritarianism: government tried to organize and control with strong discipline as much as possible in peoples lives. The first obvious difference between these two political systems is about the intention: Hitlers Nazi wanted to avenge what the world done to them after the World War I, he wished Germany to gain the hegemony all over Europe. While Mussolinis fascism just wanted to reconstruct Roman Empire, build up the southern part from agriculture to industrial as the northern part of Italy. Other areas of differences between Germany and Italy involve their people. Hitler had peoples support till the end, while Mussolini gradually lost peoples faith. After the World War I, Germany and Italy were in the same period of difficulty. Germany was considered to be the nation that made the war breaks out. Because of this reason, they had to pay massive reparations to some countries. It harmed their economy so much, and embarrassed the German people. This pushed up Hitler to start his ideas of new political policies called Nazism. Main points of this policy was to demanded more land, expand anti-semitism, and to make Germany become a super nation. Hitler used political propaganda to fuel their cause against the enemy. One of propagandas methods was the radio. That is kind of demagogism, the people knew nothing about the truth, but lies. Hitlers Nazi were also against the Jews, use them as scapegoat. Jews were cheated extremely rude. About economic, Hitlers Nazi could help their people out of the crisis, all economic activities devoted to the nation and the enlargement of the army. Role of women was not be respected, under Nazism, women ha ve only role to take care of children and support their husband to serve the state. No place for women in any important field like political or economic. About Italy, Mussolinis fascism was the only policy which have freedom, all others were extinguished. All people who against the new policy was killed or exiled. Though parliament still met, all the important decisions were done by Fascism party, all followed what the dictator Mussolini told. Local power replaced by the mandarins appointed from Rome. Local fascists always had the same power as the government officials. No freedom of press in Italy that time, all the press, radio, movies, theatre were censorship strictly. All anti-fascism editors were replaced by fascist supporters. Schooling was tightly supervised, all books were rewritten to praise the fascist system. Teachers must wear uniform, students had the right to point out any teachers who did not have the fervency to the fascism. All the economic activities also under controlled by corporate state, they tried to harmonize the employers from all class. Lockouts and strikes were not allowed. About religion, especially here is Catholic, was forced. No other religions could exist. In spite of these differences, these two fascism states share many important experiences. Since Mussolini and Hitler are allies, the way they used fascism is very similar, they have almost the same political point of view. Both of them were dictator fascists, looked for the new form of government: totalitarianism. They love to use violent, followed the doctrine of anti-democratic and anti-socialist, despised to civil rights and individual liberties. Their political ideologies formed just after the World War I. Violent propaganda was the key tool in both nations to increase social conflict everywhere in their nations, enabled the fascism government to dominate the points of view of the public to what they want to. The education systems in Germany and Italy were also very similar. The main purpose in education was to create as much well-trained and loyal soldiers as possible, because of the physical training was a major part of education. The womens role in both states was not respecte d. France is considered as the common enemy for both Germany and Italy, because France invaded territories of both two countries. All characters above may be not enough, but they are somehow representative for the similarities between Italian Fascism and Nazis Germany. Although political systems of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany differ from each other in many areas, but they still share some common experiences. As James Brown quotes: Fascism and Nazism, although poles apart in their intellectual content, are similar in this, that both have emotional appeal to the type of personality that takes pleasure in being submerged in a mass movement and submitting to superior authority.

Americas Racial Freedom :: Free Essays Online

America's Racial Freedom THE ANTI-SLAVERY FAIR & THE LIBERTY BELL: The Beginnings of America’s Racial Freedom 1848 was not a year commonly associated with monumental advancements or changes in the anti-slavery cause in the United States of America. Most individuals today see slavery and the abolitionist movement as an issue that had its beginnings and endings in the 1860s. That particular decade was a complete turning point in the history of our country; however, the long hard road that finally led to the emancipation of slaves tends to be overlooked. From the moment that the first slave stepped foot upon American soil, there were individuals who believed in a greater cause – humanity. Considered radicals at the time because of their comparatively reprehensible ideals, abolitionists traveled across the United States spreading a message of freedom and equality for all mankind. Unfortunately, most of the following generations did not have the opportunity to see these movers and shakers in action. With initial appearances around 1820, one of the only strong remaining links we have to tea ch us about this cause are the manuscripts, stories, poems, and other literary works written by those that were unafraid to bear their souls in hopes of forming a new way of life in American society (â€Å"Mosaic†). The United States of America was undoubtedly a late bloomer when it came to accepting new ideas regarding the validity of slavery. British radicals had formed a group called the Anti-Slavery Society in the late eighteenth century to put an end to slavery within British colonies, a task the organization accomplished. Nearly fifty years later, the Americans adapted their own version of this group, ingeniously calling themselves the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) (â€Å"American Anti-Slavery Society†). The lack of ingenuity in naming this organization did not at all reflect upon the enthusiasm and hard work these individuals put into their cause. This newly established abolitionist group came into the public’s eye without any hesitation and they projected a harsh reality to sympathizers and slave owners alike. Their goal was to let their message be heard by as many Americans as possible, which led to the publication of numerous anti-slavery periodicals. These periodi cals were sold at the abolitionist fairs being held regularly all over the country. With these anti-slavery crusades in full swing, controversy also developed regarding the idea of women in leadership positions. In an era where women had just about as many rights as the black folk, many stubborn white men called their expertise into question.

Personal Narrative- Staying Young Forever :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Staying Young Forever It all begins with the famous phrase, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As children, we think the words "growing up" mean becoming like mom and dad. It means having a job, being able to cook dinner, and knowing how to pay bills. We are too young to understand the real concept behind those two dreadful words. If only someone had told me the truth, I could have prepared for the shock. I hate growing up, and getting older really stinks! The phases of growing up are like a date gone wrong. They start off real nice and eventually smack you in the face. I remember back in kindergarten when there used to be nap time. Oh how I took it for granted! I'm not even sure if I know what the word "sleep" means now. And if school couldn't get more difficult over the years, someone came along and decided we needed to learn languages other than English. As if my English wasn't bad enough, now I have to learn how to speak in gibberish. Growing up causes the "unthinkable" to happen. When I was little, I really should have taken advantage of pure skin, no wrinkles, and the phrase "eat your vegetables." Now, I have to use Clearasil, undereye cream, and drink Slim-Fast! What could possibly be good about becoming old, fat, ugly, and bald? I used to have energy, but now I have to drink caffeine to wake myself up. It used to be that when I went to get my hair cut, my stylist would say, "Look how shiny and thick your hair is." Now I hear, "Okay, what should we try today to give your hair some volume?" Not to mention that we women have the privilege of losing our figures, becoming less attractive, and receiving lumps of cellulite in our backside. That's when we must say, "Goodbye bikinis!" Growing up brings more responsibilities. It used to be that my mom would come in my room every morning and say, "Time to get up!" Now I wake up to the annoying sound of my alarm clock going "beep, beep," and my mom in the next room sawing logs. Just when I thought this was bad, it never occurred to me that at the age of twelve I would eventually have to get something called a "job".

The Power of Light in The Scarlet Letter Essay -- Scarlet Letter essay

The Power of Light in The Scarlet Letter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the conception of humanity, man has been fascinated with that presence which illuminates, yet cannot be touched.   Mankind has brought it into his religions, giving it a great deal of importance in his creed.   Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light as a tool of God that illuminates the darkness of human iniquity and exposes its permanence.   He studies the psychological theme of the impossibility of eradicating sin from the human heart in his novel The Scarlet Letter.   The use of light in order to fortify this psychological theme confirms its significance in the novel.   As though he were weaving an elaborate tapestry, Hawthorne meshes light's intense symbolism into his characters' natures until a chef d'oeuvre manifests itself upon the loom of the reader's intellect.   This tapestry serves as a subtle background upon which the characters' sinful hearts are bared.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As Hawthorne navigates the reader through th...

The impacts of Elvis Presley

The impacts of Elvis Presley can be divided into several groups. Firstly is the impact in terms of the amount of sales that he made. He made 6 hit singles, at the time he had only been going for 10 months. This is more that any artist would hope to get in their whole career. His popularity among the younger generations also helps to see the impact the he has made, someone noticed that there was a market for music aimed towards younger generations, so they set out looking for someone; this meant that he had no competition when he was released onto the market. Because of this the impact seemed a lot greater, there had never been anything like it. Among adults there was also outrage because it went against everything that they believed to be right and good. The outrage meant that it must be cool to like him so his popularity grew. He also had a long term impact in that it wasn't just the music. You could get toys and films, records and books. All of this added to the impact of him on U. S society. The next thing to consider is whether it was down to his music. Whatever anyone says it was clear that he had amazing talent; this doesn't mean that everyone liked him but everyone acknowledged that it had its place. He was deemed â€Å"A white man that can sing like a black man†, he was something different and in this time there was no one else like him. The amount of sales from his records also helps to give evidence supporting this. He made it to number to in the company's charts in a very short time shows how effective his music was. His unique dancing style meant that people were attracted to him. If they didn't like him they still watched to see what all of the commotion was about. The fact that he appealed to the younger generations was the main reason for his success. The media, in particular the TV meant that he was always in the public eye. When he went onto the Milton Berle show for the first time they managed to knock Sergeant Bilko off of the top ratings. Everyone watched because the children liked him and the adults just had to see this controversy. The fact that he was followed all through his service in the army meant that he was given allot of credit. They saw his every move and everything he did. This built a lot of credit for him even amongst the adults. Then when he left the army he went straight into a TV special with Frank Sinatra. This meant that he had never really left the public eye, because he was still popular enough to do TV specials. There are other things that helped though; firstly there was a huge gap in the market where teenagers were concerned. This meant that there were many opportunities to offer something for the teenagers and because there was nothing else there would be no competition. They also had a greater chance of any bands released for the teenagers being liked. Marketing also played a big role in his impact on society. The amount of money that went into selling him was incredible. Everywhere that a teenager went there was something to remind you of the â€Å"King† Posters, billboards and TV's shop windows. A third thing that would have helped his impact is the wealth of the US. After World War 2 they were the only country to make it out with a profit. Teenagers as a result were able to spend à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½7billion a year on clothes and records. This meant that there was allot of money available to spend. If people have this much money to waste as a country, the normal thing to do is spend it on something fashionable. The final thing that helped him to become so popular is the films that he stared in. There were so many of them and so many people went to see them, even if he was the worst actor ever and the plots were all the same. This meant that for the first time ever there were films specifically directed at the younger generation, adults didn't approve so the most sensible thing to do was to go and see it, if only to annoy the adults. So all in all there are there are many reasons why his impact on society was so great. I think that it can best be described as a combination of things. His films and TV specials all help towards making him popular, but I think that the thing to remember is people ultimately know him for his music. This is why I believe that his impact on society was so great. If you think about all of the other things, they only came because of the music, he was only found because he could sing.

How does Fitzgerald tell the story in chapter 3? Essay

In chapter 3 Fitzgerald introduces us to the main character of his book, and we finally get an insight into what Gatsby is like (albeit through the eyes of Nick Carraway) during the party he throws. Even though we meet the character himself, Fitzgerald continues to entice us with rumours of Gatsby, which is significant because it shows just how artificial his entire life is – he couldn’t dispel the rumours even if he wanted to. Throughout the party in chapter three, we meet a variety of different characters, which almost seem to act as tour guides; however, as soon as they’ve said their part, they seem to almost evaporate into the night. Each person has their own snippet of seemingly useless information, ‘She had a fight with a man who says he’s her husband’ or ‘somebody told me they thought he killed a man once’, its almost as if they’re not actually characters- merely rumours that have been personified to make the night more exciting. Conversely, one character with no rumour to spread is ‘Owl Eyes’, a ‘somewhat drunk’ man with ‘enormous owl eyed spectacles’ – typically a sign of wisdom, which is completely disregarded in this particular personality, as he conclude the main ideas in this chapter, these being that instead of wanting to talk to people at a party to gain insight about that person, the aim of talking t o people at Gatsby’s party is to procure an understanding into Gatsby’s character alone. As well as using Owl Eyes’ spectacles to enforce this point, Fitzgerald also chooses to base him in a library, surrounded by knowledge yet still painfully drunk and clueless. The fact that Owl Eyes thought the books were a â€Å"nice durable cardboard’ and was suitably impressed that they were in fact ‘real books’ portrays just how artificial everything is at Gatsby’s parties, and just how surprising it is to find something solid and genuine. These tour guides like Jordan, Owl Eyes and Nick himself, give us a very jolted view of the night, but the structure throughout chapter 3 was still very consistent and definitively chronological, however this completely changed at the end, Nick seems to come out of his narrators view point and instead talks to the reader directly.