How Globalization Has Affected Quality of Life free essay sample

However, the negative impacts of globalization far outweigh the positives. NAFTA and WTO were originally created to increase the amount of global competition to give everyone in the world a chance to compete, but the greed of large corporations has ensured that money is not evenly distributed. In order to cut down costs, many developed companies are outsourcing their manufacturing to third-world companies like India and China, where the labor cost is low. The people in these developing nations are ready to work at one-fifth of what someone in the USA would call â€Å"low-pay†. This has caused resentment among Americans as they are losing their jobs. Outsourcing is a major problem for developing problems as well as workers in developed countries. Furthermore, the consumption of high-calorie foods high in fat and sweeteners is increasing throughout the developing world. This is a cause of fast food chains spreading rapidly. Not only is junk food a huge impact on the health of citizens, globalization has made it a norm for citizens, especially teens to spend hours on the internet. People are no longer getting the minimum 30 minutes of physical activity each day. This is also a due to the increased innovation for different forms of transportation such as cars, buses and motorcycles. Globalization has also been proved to be detrimental to the environment with the overuse of natural resources due to high consumer demands. With the loss of natural resources, animal habitats are getting destroyed as companies are searching for more resources to further expand their companies. Globalization has increased the quality of life of the world’s seven billion people, but has not benefited everyone as equally as it should have. It did not encompass the health and wellness of everyone in the world as well as the environment. With globalization being the driving force for economic development across the globe, large companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard, etc, are outsourcing to developing nations like India where wages of manufacturing goods are lower. For the past 30 years, American manufacturing has lost close to 6 million jobs. Outsourcing has created a culture of job insecurity. Prior to globalization, people had stable, permanent jobs, but now people live in constant fear of losing their jobs to foreign competition and outsourcing. It has led to an increase in job competition, but reduction in wages and lower standards of living. Also, confidential data is a concern to companies that outsource. This is especially true for companies that outsource to countries that may not have the same type of confidentiality laws or any at all. Another problem with outsourcing is that companies are putting all of their factories and manufacturers out in these foreign countries, but if there were to be some sort of pandemic or natural disaster to occur in these places, the company would no longer have any stock, and they would crumble. It is not only the developed nations that are complaining about outsourcing. People in developing nations where most of the industries are set up, are complaining about the large amounts of garbage dumps where all the industrial waste is accumulated and that pollution levels are sky-high. Overall, outsourcing is an effect due to globalization and it should not continue to be practiced as it harmful to citizens of developed countries as well as the developing countries. Over the past few years, it was believed that obesity only occurred to people that live in Western countries; but studies have proven that obesity has become a global problem mainly due to globalization. It has brought McDonalds, Coca-Cola, KFC, Nestle, and many other companies that produce these â€Å"junk† foods. Not only have transnational corporations expanded into these developing countries, but also the type of food available affects the health of citizens. Globalization has encouraged developing countries to trade crops across borders by reducing tariffs. This causes changes in food prices, which decide what people eat and how much they eat. In turn, this increases the risk of obesity. People in developing countries now have enough money to purchase processed foods at supermarkets and are eating more fast food, but they don’t yet have the knowledge to physical activity and healthier foods. The introduction of the internet has completely revitalised the way we live our life today. For example, 15 years ago, if you wanted to do your Christmas shopping you would have to go out to the malls and cram with everyone else. But technology has become so innovative; we no longer need to be crowded with everyone else. We can sit at home in our comfy chair and order everything we need online. This isn’t just with local clothing stores. It happens all around the world on a major scale, car pieces are getting shipped from all around the world to one central location where all the pieces are put together to build the car. Nike is building factories in China where they just press a button and the factory will deliver them a thousand pairs of shoes in the next week. The internet has increased the speed at which people communicate with each other and interact, but it has also made society a lot lazier. This is a large contribution to the high number of obese people in the world. The TV is another form of technology that has seemingly helped advance society in a better way, but has it really? It has allowed for better communication, and ways to inform society about major things that are going on, and as a form of entertainment. But many children in America today are sitting at home watching TV, or playing video games on their TV when they could be outside enjoying the sunlight, fresh air and getting some physical activity. In addition, transportation technology has advanced a lot throughout the years. Walking and bicycling have now been blown out by cars and motorcycles. It is not very often to see someone biking or walking to school anymore unless they live in the general vicinity. The new norm, led by globalization is to hold an iPhone while driving a car or taking a taxi. No longer will anyone ride their bike or walk to school. Globalization has skewed the way society should live as they no longer appreciate the Earth they live on. Globalization has had a large negative impact on the environment today. The large amount of non-renewable resources like fossil fuels and lumber that is being consumed today is not sustainable for the future. If we continue to live like we do today, it will take more than 4 earths to sustain us. With the increased consumer demand for more products, companies are forced to take away the habitats of animals and pollute the atmosphere in order to meet the demands. Extensive deforestation has occurred all around the world with the lumber industry being supplied and fuelled by consumer needs for more disposable products. Over 11 million acres are cut each year for commercial and property industries. This has led to the decrease of biological diversity in the environment. Animals such as tigers, mountain gorillas, giant pandas, and the golden lion tamarin are all animals that have lost their homes due to deforestation. The tiger was once one of the most popular species on earth, it is now on World Wildlife Fund’s list of top ten endangered animals. The population of Javan rhinoceros is now less than 60 due to conversion of habitat forests to farmlands. About one half of the forests that once covered earth are now gone, and each year, another 16 million hectares disappear. Along with foresting, over-fishing is also a large problem. Overfishing occurs around the globe with 9 out of 17 major fishing grounds in decline and 4 of them have been completely fished out. Global warming and climate change are also a negative impact that has risen due to globalisation. Factories around the world are constantly polluting the environment with greenhouse gas emissions because of the high demands. In turn, this has increased sea levels as glaciers and ice sheets are melting. This has a large impact on biodiversity and weather systems. Due to high consumer demands, transportation gases have become a large contributor to global warming. Almost 95% of goods traded across the world are moved by boats and ships. These forms of transportation contribute to 5% of the world’s sulphur dioxide as well as 14% of the world’s nitrogen oxide emissions. As shown above, globalization has brought upon many problems for the environment today. Globalization should not be embraced as it is harming the Earth and decreasing biodiversity. Globalization is the main driving force of the economy today. This has led to outsourcing from large organizations that want to save money. In turn, this has caused a lot of lost jobs for people in developed countries. In addition to transnational companies growing, the recent advances in technology and liking of fast food have led to consumers not knowing how to take care of their bodies. Globalization has also negatively impacted the environment in a massive way. The negative impacts of globalization to the environment are mainly based around the decrease of non-renewable resources, loss of biodiversity, and an increase of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Globalization has been beneficial to a certain extent but the consequences of globalization are far greater. The detrimental effects of globalization have been determined by the negative influences of outsourcing, health and well being of citizens as well as the environment.