This is life in the global village.
Or not.
Intense Propaganda About the Necessity of the Global Village
My point is that most of us are not even close to living in a global village. When last did you leave the country to go and pay a visit to some of your friends on the other side of the world? No, me, neither. Most of us shop and eat and sleep right where we are.
Yes, sure we speak to each other every day on the web, but honestly? The term, the global village, came about a long, long time before the web, and it was, initially, coined by educators. These days, it is used extensively by the rich for the rich, and I’m not in the least convinced that it is a good thing.
"On the face of it, some of these advantages look very good, but look again. Is it really such a great idea to be dependent on another country that is far, far away, for resources that could become vital to one's survival? Or is the better idea to develop technology that uses what is available in one's own country?"
Technology has made our world more available
Yes, it’s true. Definitely, in terms of transport and electronics, we can reach most places in our world today. And, most definitely, those that are out for personal profit and who have the dollars behind them, are using (and abusing) those systems to enrich themselves even further. What’s more, they keep on pushing this ‘global village’ concept and as I’ve never seen any value in it for myself, I’m beginning to wonder what, exactly, is behind this great desire to push more and more laws through congress to enable there to be ‘no borders.’
Benefits of the Global Village
Well, I think there are very definitely some immense advantages to the global village.
- For a start, if one part of the world is in trouble, then another part of the world can help them through. And we’re doing that all the time. If a tsunami or an earthquake interrupts the sweet sojourn of others on this earth, we all rush to help. And that’s just as it should be. We are, after all, a social species, and our nature is to help and support each other. Believe that. It’s the exception not the rule that we don’t help each other.
- Next, we could learn from each other. Note that we don’t have to compete from each other, but can, instead, use our combined knowledge to make this a better world. We could understand the eco-system of each environment and design ways for every community to be self sustaining where they were. Where necessary, and only where it’s necessary and no substitutes could be found, we could import or export, depending on the situation. That way we would save the seas and the air from the negative impact of pollution by ships and planes.
- Lastly, we could visit each other and have fun on great vacations. We might even grow to like each other a bit more now that each country is looking after itself with no interference from another...
Capitalism and Globalization is short sighted... "To illustrate this further, take into account the remote area called Benguet Province in the Philippines. In the 1970’s, the indigenous people here were living a simple but great life. At that time, the mining industry had recently moved in to extract the gold deposits in the area. This gold did provide a great deal of income for indigenous people for few decades but not forever. Now, the mining areas are abandoned with problems of water pollution, and unstable soil structure."
Disadvantages of the Global Village.
Don’t kid yourself that the global village is necessary for your well being and survival. It’s not. And, in fact, the way it is currently being corrupted, it is not at all to your benefit. Quite the opposite. Here’s how the global village is currently being used.
- Right now, we’re abusing labor internationally. When Africans get paid $2 per day for working in mines at the risk of their own lives, you know that the concept of slavery by the rich of the poor is alive and well and living on planet earth. Companies like Apple, in their inhumane effort to be richer than God, destroy the lives of workers in China. And, day by day, Americans waste infinite numbers of hours speaking to people in the Philippines and India trying to get support for their electronic gizmos. It would be so much easier to talk to someone locally. Of course, if one thinks that only the rich are entitled to be protected from abuse, then that’s another matter completely. However, I was rather under the impression that 300 or 400 years ago, when the great migration started to the new world, that the goal was to get away from the abuse of those who held themselves superior, and as a consequence of that superiority, subject the rest of us to abject lives.
- We are polluting our world. The greatest damage to our skies comes from the American military - the air force. Another great source of damage is the incredible amount of plastic and denim being manufactured. Do we honestly need all this stuff to be made cheaply in other countries, have the bulk of the price we pay grabbed by a few individuals, and then we wear/use them for a day or six? Them we chuck them out because the advertisers (paid for by the same companies that commission the endless flow of products) tell us we need them to make us happy. I don’t think so. Do you?
- Cultures and nations are being destroyed because the intrusion of a new culture undermines the structures of the old. Regardless of whether you think that one structure is superior to the other, here’s something you need to think about. Whenever a one culture superimposes itself on an another one. For instance, coke is probably the first foreign thing that an African culture saw. It wasn’t education. And coke rots the teeth, contributes to obesity, and is nothing but a pile of liquid junk. It should be banned from the planet.
- Conflict has been created over and over again as the desire for resources (e.g. oil, gold) by one company makes it interfere in the affairs of another country.
- And this is the big one! Instead of each country adjusting its economy and needs to its own natural resources, countries are developing and using technologies that need to be fueled by commodities and resources in other countries. This is not good. It is a breeding ground for many ills, and I’m going to list them here.
- It means that if one country is wrecked through a meteorite shower, is nuked by a third party, etc. then any other country dependent on it is in deep shit.
- It leads to wars. If one country refuses to supply another country anymore, and that country faces devastation without those goods, it could be construed as an act of war.
- It leads to inequality of people, particularly workers, as trade between nations is generally only pursued by a small minority. This enriches them at the expense of everybody else. Shall we say they are playing the sides against the middle?
Laws increasing the Reach of the Rich to Rape the Global Village.
Yes, you read that right. That’s exactly what it is. Next time you read something about laws needed because it is impossible for us to survive and move forward without creating more laws that will enable some to interact in profitable ways with the rest of the globe, reread what you’ve just read. Start asking questions. Does it honestly benefit you personally? Does it really benefit your immediate community? Does it even remotely do something for you and yours that you can’t do better yourself?
No, I didn’t think so.
Time to see the global village for what it is? A poetic name and an opportunity by some to enrich themselves even further at the expense of everybody else in this world.
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