Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Maybe Globalization Should Wait

When you look at the present situation of many of the first world countries that are expected to take the helm on globalization and helping promote the state of developing countries, does it hit you that maybe they should take care of themselves first?

Im not saying that we should completely ignore other countries, obviously that doesn't work, but maybe we should deal with the problems, particularly economic, in our own country before we throw money at other countries.

There are many economic problems in our country today. Obviously the economy is struggling overall, but there are many Americans that don't have the basic luxuries most of us at Rhodes consider a part of being American. Some don't have clean water, or consistent electricity, or jobs for that matter. I think that these problems are now in the spotlight because of the failing economy. However, when most people think of humanitarian work or helping impoverished people they immediately think outside of our borders. There are many places, especially border towns, where, if the average American just saw pictures or video of the town, would never believe it was in the US.

The reality is there is a need for globalization within the country. We should focus on our fellow Americans and our economy, then we can better deal with problems in other countries.

2 comments:

EJ said...

If globalization is needed here, and it very well is likely, what would a strategy be for this though. We can't just say we need something and not have a plan. What would some helpful steps that could be taken be?

Andrew Campbell said...

When you examine the economic faucets of globalization, you'll find out how much America benefits from it. Trade promotes economic progress; therefore, when you strive to achieve more and more trade, you strive at maximizing economic profits.

Limiting "globalization" altogether will not necessarily fix America's economic condition; however, specific methods of outsourcing, such as foreign oil, needs to be reconstituted. The outrageous price of oil for the past two years has had a major short-run, harmful effect on the economy. Everything is affected by oil - it fuels our world. Eliminating our foreign dependence on oil, however, doesn't mean that we need to eliminate globalization altogether. Does this make a little more sense?