I've just finished answering several study questions for my Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice module and the contents of the article I studied has rekindled the anti-neoliberal/anti-gloablisation fire in the depths of my heart. Since I realised how society in this country and others in Europe are being roped into American style profiteering I've argued against the enslavement that is Economic Globalisation.
Firstly, before you shout out about how I am using a globalised medium to rant at you all about big business and the rise in national populism - a few definitions. I am all for "Information Globalisation" which entails the use of unregulated information sharing such as the internet. I have proposed in the past that the internet could replace governments and maintain some form of peace as it is the ideal representation of our rights to free speech and to our freedoms of information access and self expression. What I don't do is "Economic Globalisation." You can probably guess what that entails. A Starbucks on every corner, a McDonalds at every service station around the globe and the whole freaking world babbling American style english. A world devoid of individualism. A world of mass confomity. A world where its leaders aim is to turn it into one endless shopping mall with unlimited retail outlets and ongoing manic investments from coast to coast.
I am no nationalist, though I am a historian, and through studying history I am aware of the characteristics of numerous communities and regional values. These, such as the Pagan festivals of Eastern Europe and the miniscule languages of regions such as Breton and Catalonia - are the most vulnerable. So many innocent people around the globe - particularly Europe, feel ashamed in the decline of their native tongues due to how heavily English has been imposed upon them by the prducts they have to buy or the technology they must now conform to.
Having to keep with the trends and be accepted into social circles by the clothes you wear, the car you drive or the way you speak is even part of globalisation. Festivities such as Christmas have even been hijacked by the companies to seek profit and promote religious obediance - packaged as a free gift - in a lifestyle which only few percentages of our planet's population can support. These are the reasons why I don't own a car, an IPod nor buy clothes from designers or high street brands because I do not wish to sacrifice my individuality and just see myself as another cog in the wheel.
Even education suffers from globalisation's venemous influence over our communities. Exam questions tend to be tailored to a medium which the average joe can get right just so they can do all the paperwork for the owners in exchange for a meagre bonus on the payroll each year. As profit is all that the owners seek in this globalised world, they'll soon be coming for your pensions and bonuses as well as your social security money. The unbelievable acts of leaders such as Thatcher and Reagan are to blame for the decline of the Welfare State and the fear of nationalised industries such as the NHS. Private Schools are now being tailoered to produce the social elite who handle the money and keep the plebs down via influence over the police forces so they can protect their investments and savings.
Though the worst thing about globalisation is this. As the Multinational Corporations now have the power to close the workplaces in certain nations and them move them to the developed world or the third world, a division of labour is created which must emigrate beyond their home borders to seek a living. It is because of this that immigration has increased to the Western Superpowers and to Europe and Asia for the last 50 years. Because of how some communities see this as a threat to their values and ways of life you see the increase in far right organisations who wish to restrict immigration and create xenophobia. It's no surprise to me if most leaders tend to encourage xenophobia to decrese the overpopulation of nation states such as the immigration policies of most US states.
I know that I am a product of the immigration system and will not stand to see a world where nationalism prevails and hatred arises. Xenophobia is not the alternative to globalisation - globalisation has encouraged such attitudes. In a world where conformity is rife for a human to feel safe, I certainly don't feel that my civil liberties are being preserved or defended by those whose duties it is to look after. Nowadays all anyone wants is to be the owner's bitch just so they can get a pay rise and strive to achieve the non existant honour that is the American Dream.
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