The impact of globalization on our daily lives

The impact of globalization on our daily lives

Did you ever think about how much we interact with international products and services on a daily basis?

As Americans we may drive to work in a car designed in Europe, assembled in South America, manufactured in Asia, and shipped by a Middle Eastern company. We may wear clothes and shoes made in China, and sometimes depending on your dining preferences eat Italian, Mexican, Caribbean, Chinese, or Greek food. And as for entertainment flat screen televisions manufactured in China, the Sony PlayStation, the Wii, the Apple iPod and iPhones have become some of the most popular gadgets in the U.S.

Our world has become so quickly global and is not slowing down. The impact of international business is invading each part of our daily lives in the home, workplace, school, and society as a whole. Technology such as, the Internet, telecommunications, and travel has played a major role in impacting American culture. We can text someone instantly and get a response back from Russia immediately. We can call someone over Skype in India and talk for free on our computer for as long as we want. Not to mention Facebook and Twitter which have become the most popular social networking tools on the planet. Communication has become a major tool to connect us to the world. If we want to travel to Africa or learn about Australia information is at our fingertips.

I remember watching the History Channel a few years ago and the theme was “Globalize Yourself”. Hmmm, “Globalize Yourself”, what is that all about? I thought it was very interesting a history television show could have a major influence on the way we think. Many of the history shows were focused on the history of gold, the booming industry of Dubai, the green innovations in energy alternatives, and of course a few apocalyptic series of natural disasters and end time predictions. History has an interesting way of repeating itself. In the beginning didn’t world cultures trade with one another for gold, spices, clothes, and food? Didn’t mankind live off the natural resources of the earth and didn’t major trade take place between Western and Eastern civilizations. Technology was not that advanced as today, but a trading system was in place and cultures interacted with buying and selling goods. Did we ever think that international business would be a vehicle for mankind to interact once again on the planet?

So I wonder what happened. Did mankind get along and survive in a global village years ago? Is history repeating itself as we interact with our current world economy? Were people upset because of the loss of jobs due to outsourcing and reduction of wages? Or did people just produce new products and services and specialize in creating new opportunities of productivity.

Isn’t it amazing how globalization is impacting our daily lives in the 21st century?

Did you ever think about how much we interact with international products and services on a daily basis?