Global Consumerism: The Pros And Cons Of Globalization

Since the ending of the second World War in 1945, political and technological advancements have allowed a global trade and economic system on a wider scale than the time of the Industrial revolution with its steamships and telegraphs. (Reilly 1089-190) It has been stated that globalization since the Cold War in 1989, is largely a product of the capitalism which begin dates back to the middle 19th century. An aspect of this global capitalism is global integration that has prominently been driven by the global market for the last twenty to forty years. But, with all movement some aspects have enhanced the world population standard of living while others had negative consequences. Consumerism is the heart and driving force with capitalist societies. 50% of the multinational corporations are based within four global nations; the United States of America, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. 500 multinational corporation make up roughly 80% of the world’s goods trade and almost the same amount of investing power. (Hetata Dollarization) The spread of these corporate giants can be attributed to the modern …show more content…
Due to the new world uniformity, we are seeing cultures merging together to share their practices. An example of this can be found in many of this countries own metropolitan areas. It is common occurrence to see Thai Food sitting next to a steak house in many major cities. As Philippe Legrain stated “The beauty of globalization is that it can free people from tyranny of geography” (1096) Allowing people from other countries to freely visit each other’s borders, to experience their food, their drink, and their customs. This makes the global landscape one of fluidly where each generation challenges the one before and expands on our technology and science and may change the way we view the world and ourselves.