Globalization and How It Affected My Daily Life

Ritzer (2010) defined globalization as the process of the rapid flow or movement
of people, objects, information, and products in different directions that are experienced
in different parts of the world. It reflects the advanced mechanism to further facilitate
human interaction with each other. Moreover, it is also considered as a process of
interaction and integration between individuals, companies, nations, or even
international organizations that are accelerated by foreign trade and investment with the
help of technology and information. At these times, globalization is not new. History is
full of people interacting through trade around the world. In fact, many of the
characteristics of globalization today have much in common with the globalization that
took place before the outbreak of the First World War of 1914. One of the events that
have completely changed people's lives today is due to globalization. From waking up,
going to school, watching television, and even at the dinner table, this manifestation is
reflected. But, when and how did this global phenomenon really begin? How does it
change our lifestyle?

The development of technology and policies implemented in recent years has

accelerated the exchange of goods and services, investment, and even migration. Since
the year 1950 for example, the volume of global trade has increased 20 times and from
1997 to 1999 foreign investment has doubled from $ 468 billion to $ 827 billion.
Compared to the past, globalization today, according to Thomas Friedman (2006), is
more ‘broad, fast, cheap, and deep’. In addition, he also added that “Any job- blue or
white-collar- that can be broken down into a routine and transformed into bits and bytes
can now be exported to other countries where there is a rapidly increasing number of
highly educated knowledge workers who will work for a small fraction of the salary of a
comparable American worker.” After World War II, specifically for the past two decades,
many countries used capitalism as an economic system that gave way to greater
international trade and investment. When countries exchange information and ideas that
involve now cooperation, it creates money or creates wealth for a specific country. It
interacts with the supply and demand chain therefore it happens already as what we call
economic globalization. Nevertheless, we could say that through economic globalization
we are now reducing or decreasing a few trade barriers, for example, the tariffs and
taxes we have. We are still decreasing the amount of taxes we imposed on our imports
and thus to our exports. The economy is the basic foundation in which we should give
primary importance in understanding the structure, thus globalization itself.

Aside from that, after the Philippines joined the World Trade Organization,
several opportunities have arrived for other countries to trade and create work for those
who are living in the Philippines. All of these foreign companies have helped boost the
economy. This an example of globalization because foreign trade countries have helped
boost each other’s economies. As I have compared my pre-COVID activities to the
during COVID activities, it could be seen that somehow, globalization has also affected
the way I live. The owners of the products I used are mostly Chinese and it shows that
Chinese business owners are leading on the Philippines. On the other hand, I noticed
that during this pandemic, globalization has also helped in the resurgence of local
culture. In this, we can observe the revival of traditional cultures and reforming of the
identity.

Globalization also influences the traditional food of a country, where the local
economy is also affected. The widespread on international restaurants impacted the
taste of choice of the locals. It is apparent that international cuisines are now being
patronized by locals but because of the pandemic, small and local businesses have
arisen. Most of the local brands are being noticed by local consumers. As the great
technological advancement has raised our standard living due to globalization, it
brought many effects in our daily life. Globalization, in a wide-ranging sense, is the
process that increases the movement of people, culture, ideas, and information across
the globe. There are so many things that are happening and personally, I could say that
everyone is influenced by globalization, especially today with the pandemic. As far as I
know, almost everything has become accessible online.
 Along with the advancement of technology, everything could be easily done with
one tap. You could purchase different things from different stores and by waiting for a
few days or weeks, it could be delivered at your doorstep. The worldwide
interconnection of goods, services, capital, people, data, and ideas has produced
undeniable benefits particularly right now when everyone is staying at home. It is very
accurate that globalization has its own positive and negative effects. The goal of
sustainable development was a priority in the Philippines. Therefore, the global forces
are often intended to achieve this. Globalization played a major role in the current
development in the world. It has contributed largely to inequalities in every developing
nation. There are so many researchers that are analyzing every impacts carefully so
that negative impacts are prevented. Despite the challenges and negative effects,
globalization has transformed the entire globe into a one market of its region, culture,
technology, and diversity differences. This made a rise on the demand for goods which
in return, calls for more production and industrialization. The society should embrace
the positive and alleviate the negative impacts.

Globalization is a dynamic process which involves change, so flexibility among

people is a necessity. Globalization isn’t all good and healthy as it can be argued that
globalization is just westernization as most cultures and beliefs are being influenced by
the western culture and belief and this harms cultural diversity. It is not possible for a
country to ignore the developments and globalization occurring in the rest of the world
and one need to keep the pace of growth at a steady rate or else the country may be
left far behind. Nevertheless, the good of globalization outweighs the bad so
globalization is actually a very good thing and has helped shape the world as we know
it. As long as the nation is able to handle the impacts of globalization then it would be
sustainable and effective for all.

References

Friedman, T. (2006). The World is Flat. United States: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Retrieved from https://canvas.harvard.edu/files/4971600/download?download_frd=1
Ritzer, G. (2010 ). Globalization: A Basic Text. United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.
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a4808804e22c.pdf