Blog Post#4_Will Scott
It has now been two long years since the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted our lives as we knew it. We were forced to adapt to the ever-changing mandates and lockdowns that were implemented to keep everyone safe. Recently in class, we talked about the idea of globalization and how some people believe that it can be beneficial or not. The more I think about the pandemic, the more it feels like it spread as fast as it did because of globalization. My belief is that being dependent on globalization is terrible for countries because if another pandemic arises in the future, the same kind of suffering will take place.
Prior to the pandemic, economies all over the world were dependent on globalization. Some were dependent on tourists visiting their countries, while others were reliant on foreign trade and investments. When the pandemic struck, it was clear that this kind of dependency was not healthy as economies all over the world suffered terribly. International travel declined by around 74% while international trade declined by five percent. Due to the interconnectedness that globalization creates, diseases such as COVID-19 and figurative diseases such as financial crises have the ability to spread rapidly and viciously.
Even though these trends are slowly fixing themselves, the world is now facing unprecedented supply chain disruptions. If countries choose to produce domestically, this issue would not be as big a problem as it is now. Domestic production is beginning to look more and more promising in avoiding issues such as these. Despite it being more expensive to produce domestically, it saves countries millions of dollars because they would not have to worry about global economic issues.
Globalization has its benefits when it comes to allowing people to experience different cultures, but economically, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits which have been excessively highlighted throughout the past two years. Economies are now starting to rebound, but countries need to consider domestic production if they want to avert another COVID-19 crisis that affected economies and the well-being of people.
I think your argument is very compelling regarding the shortfalls of globalization, specifically focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. You are absolutely right that supply chain issues have plagued manufacturers' ability to distribute necessary goods and lifesaving services to those who need them. However, playing devil's advocate, I wonder if globalization helped economically disadvantaged countries receive goods like masks, ventilators, etc. I'm not sure if those countries would have had the manpower, resources or capital to produce things domestically. Because of globalization and the interconnectedness of our world, perhaps those countries were better helped compared to if they were on their own. Also, I think globalization might have helped countries collaborate and share information about COVID, strategizing and making effective policy regarding how to prevent the spread. Perhaps the international networks and alliances we share allowed us access to a larger medical community with experts that could provide significant information to save lives.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have created a very strong argument. Addressing globalization in terms of COVID really shows how real globalization is, whether we like it or not. I think that Matthew brings up an interesting point about how COVID impacted disadvantaged countries. I believe that globalization actually made the divide between the economically privileged and disadvantaged countries worst at first, especially with the development and distribution of vaccines. Countries became "greedy" and saved all resources for themselves, and now we have found ourselves in a situation where, for instance, in Africa, we need to focus on both malaria and COVID because there are not enough resources there for either. However, I do very much agree with Matthew that we have now created a larger medical community and have collaborated better, especially since we have seen countries adopt different COVID policies.
ReplyDeleteThere are both positives and negatives to globalization and you did a really good job of pointing out its harms. There are positives that you didn't mention that include the quick spread of medical supplies and resources more quickly available. Also, you mentioned the value of tourism and how its loss negatively impacted the states that so heavily relied on it. So do you believe that tourism is a negative thing?
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