Analyzing Culture Disasters in the Age of Globalization (Essay Sample)

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Analyzing Culture Disasters in the Age of Globalization
Globalization and multicultural practices intend to increase connectedness among diversified cultural settings. Besides, there is the need of coming up with techniques meant to maintain respect among the different cultures. Marcelo Gleiser, a theoretical physicist who teaches astronomy at Dartmouth College narrates how globalization is moving at a steady pace triggered by the speeds of travel trade and internet exchange. He further provides insights of how distrust exists between people of different ethnic groups, their cultural differences and other deeply entrenched human behaviors thus threatening effective globalization. Julie Traves on the other hand shows how the English culture is meant to disrespect other native cultures. She narrates about Michelle Szabo and a young businessman interested in the English language. Here, it is revealed that English test scores breaks job applications in the competitive markets of Japan. She states that the English language is now becoming the de factor tool that can guarantee success across the world as it holds the keys to wealth, safety and freedom. Lastly, an Asian native speaker Chang-rae Lee narrates about his American wife who worked as a speech therapist for children and who at the end frustrated him by her poem because of his Asian native. My analysis on these three texts reveals that globalization does not only create a multicultural environment, but also a dysfunctional society.
Globalization is creating a dysfunctional environment by seeking to evolve the world into a techno-driven state of oneness. An interview of more than 300 scientists by Mikio Kaku on visualizing the utopian world as defined by science show expectation that by the 22nd century intelligent computers will take over, internet will be accessed through contact lenses, colonization will resurface in planet mass, nanobots will provide the answer to the cure of cancer and the exploration of space will be empowered by laser-propelled rockets. The interview further explored how people will share the same culture, food values, goods, and that wars will be repossessed actions (Gleiser, 33). Even though, Gleiser poses a question if at all the scientific visions are real in a world that is enhanced and made peaceable through hi-tech advances. Pankaj Ghemawat’s book in his Skeptic column for August issue of Scientific American criticizes such visions and reveals how humans have evolved in tribes and are still tribal. Traves pose a question on the effect of the English culture on the students’ dialects. She gives an example of Ian Martin an English professor at York University Glendon College in Toronto who points us at the explosion of the EFL culture. “One of the big moments in the spread of English took place in India in 1835.Thomas Babington Macaulay, a British politician proposed that English be used to create a class of Indian middlemen who would be sympathetic to British citizens coming out and running the show. Instead of invading India a great economic and human cost, English allowed the British to transform the country from within. With English on the tip of their tongues, Indians could more easily swear allegiance to England” (Traves, 172).
Technological extrapolations described by Kaku and other scientists may not materialize by the delicate nature of culture and trade. We are all looking into a world that will be more open with less trade barriers and everyone around the globe will have easier access to goods. Hence, while globalization is a good phenomenon that brings nations together, differences that exist between different nationalities ought to be respected and appreciated. Values and beliefs of some groups of people may be pushed to extinction through increased forces of globalization and that the people may either resist or cautiously embrace it. Further, the book describes families and blood relations, social and cultural relations in allegiance to specific groups and how people are ready to die for defending their beliefs. Therefore, while globalization portrays capacity to create oneness among people, some elements that will still promote divisions.