Personal Views on Globalization and Cultural Identity Essay

The concept of the world as one community has, in recent years, turned into a growing trend not only in business but in practically all facets of activity. Globalization has, in fact, fast-tracked the integration of cultural minorities or migrants into the mainstream society of so many countries, including the United States of America. For instance, the United States today is on the verge of installing a new breed of leader. This will be made possible by the winning of South African-American candidate Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th President. This means the country has truly gone a long way. While before only â€Å"white† citizens are elected President, the U. S. now has reached a very liberal sense of nationhood. Perhaps, this is a result of decades of continuously allowing Americans to inter-marry with other nationals and its open admission into the country of migrant businessmen, workers and students. These so-called cross-boarder alternatives are attributed to globalization which is a strategy that paved the way for both weak and strong governments to open up their respective countries worldwide. In order to have a level playing field, opening up of economies resulted into privatization of main sectors of the economy such as public services and deregulation of vital businesses. But while globalization has become a norm of life, there is still a conscious effort to preserve the American culture in the same way as what the other countries are doing. Preserving the cultural heritage or identity of a nation should be taken as a continuing process and should not be left obliterated by globalization. Due to globalization, world trade has become more competitive unlike in the past where only a few countries controlled it. Today, even the previously â€Å"closed economy† of China has gained great in-roads into the world market, including the American market for that matter. Nonetheless, as emphasized by the global financial crisis, globalization has apparently just put more limit on the worldwide market and deteriorated the financial surplus. With the U. S. being a melting pot of the various cultures of the world, the impact of globalization appears more beneficial than a threat to the economy and the nation itself. These various cultures brought into the country by migrants have been successfully assimilated into the American way of life. Concrete examples are the various Asian cultures and business activities that truly helped in the growth of U. S. as a showcase for globalization. Professionals from other countries helped Americans in the delivery of modern health care while Japanese investors have awakened local manufacturers into redesigning products to fit into present needs and standards. The entry of a lot of migrants into the country, in fact, enriched American culture. It has developed the once â€Å"purist† nation into a global leader with a greatly tempered concept of supremacy. Whereas before Americans dictate the terms and conditionality in business transactions, today it has accepted and embraced fair trade practices. Maybe because in hundreds of years in dealing with other cultures, the U. S. has accepted the reality that it must co-exist with other nations and cultures. Otherwise, its very own existence could be in serious jeopardy. Its humiliating experience with the invasion of Iraq, for instance, made America learned that despite its modern technology and warfare faculties it can’t easily subdue a developing country without the cooperation of other countries and cultures. This makes globalization a positive option to prevent future tendencies of adventurism by nations like the U. S. With its failure in Iraq and the meltdown of its economy in recent months should make its leaders rethink its foreign policy, view on globalization and the need to respect the cultural identities of other civilizations. Globalization, therefore, should not be taken as an instrument to wipe out cultural identities of nations but rather it can be availed as a common bridge towards better understanding and in the process advance the cause of world peace.