Governance and Development

Christian:
  Globalization has an image problem.  It gets blamed for just about everything that ails our societies: Not just job losses but also human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and so forth.  Globalization perpetuates misery and the exploitation of human beings around the world.  But does it really?  In both absolute and relative terms, never in the history of the world has a greater proportion of the world's population been better off than it is today.  Never has a smaller proportion of the world's population gone hungry.  And never have we had a smaller proportion of the world's population die from war, starvation, and natural disasters.  To be sure, as the world's population approaches 7 billion, never has the world been so crowded.  Yet, never has the planet produced more food per capita, more energy per capita (but, I suppose, also more garbage and pollution per capita), and more wealth per capita.  I do not mean to detract from the billion people who go hungry and another billion who live below the poverty line.  In relative terms, these are genuine tragedies.  In absolute terms, however, not long ago most of the world went hungry and lived below the poverty line.  Over less than 200 years longevity has more than doubled, largely due to innovations in public health and food supply.  There has always been a lot of misery on this planet: "The poor will always be with you".  But rather than exacerbating it, globalization is actually at the core an unprecedented improvement in living standards among an ever-growing proportion of the world's population.  There is a dark side to globalization, no doubt; but it is neither as dark nor as big as commonly perceived.  

Meghan:

Globalization, for me, emphasizes the fact that capitalism is without morality or ethics.  Certainly wealth has grown in the world, but the gap between rich and poor countries, and rich and poor individuals within these countries widens every decade.  Certainly, some disparity is to be expected between nations and between individuals.  However, this disparity is created by a global economy that does not consider wider issues including: child labour, a lack of a living minimum wage, and human rights abuses.

Moreover, globalization has put our entire way of life at risk.  By sourcing manufacturers based on economies of scale, without consideration for the wider implications, a lack of safety standards, for workers and for consumers has been created.  The recent rash of toy recalls for excessive lead examples this. By not demanding or enforcing safety standards, manufacturers have put children at risk. Parents, by not questioning the tactics of toy companies, have put their children at risk.  But don't think it ends here. Our food supply is in jeopardy as well. A significant portion of our food supply is sourced in China, who in 2006 admitted that 20% of the goods made in China are substandard. The removal of our involvement in what we bring into our homes is a direct result of globalization. Our unwillingness to question manufacturers and hold them to a higher standard than the "bottom line" has compromised our own safety and the well being of millions of others around the globe.