The Ill Effects of Globalization

Essay by crenCollege, UndergraduateA+, November 2009

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

Downloaded 20 times

While globalization allows us many good things, such as international travel and exotic products, it also has a very dark side. If the global market is not handled justly, the result is negative for many, but most of all, the third world. Globalization mainly benefits countries with the most economic power (money). It allows developed nations to control the finances and cultures of the third world through tactics such as colonization, World Bank and IMF debt, and corporate investment.

Colonization laid the groundwork for Globalization as we see it today and is seen as early as Colon’s voyage to the Caribbean. The discovery of the Americas showed Europeans the natural resources and essentially wealth that was to be made from taking advantage of less developed lands, thus giving way to over 450 years of European colonialism (13). In the very definition of colonization we see the obvious intent for stronger nations to control weaker ones.

It is when a developed nation establishes rule over a weaker (usually third world) nation in order to gain resources. It is meant to benefit the mother nation, often leaving little to no profit for the colonized land.

Another way in which developed nations control developing nations is through loans from the World Bank and IMF. By indebting third world nations to these organizations, controlling western countries gain access into the policies of the borrowing nation. It has been seen in past years that many IMF loans hurt more than help third world countries when interest is also charged. Africa is a prime example of this. Zambia, where HIV/AIDS infection is estimated to be more rampant than any other place in the world, pays three times as much on IMF debts than on healthcare. In the nation of Angola 15% of all babies die...