Environmental Change

Examine the role of one international civil society organization in fostering improved environmental management.

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is founded to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. To be specific, their main works are Protecting species, Conserving places, Tackling threats, Influencing policy, Transforming business and Empowering communities. 

<Picture 1>

For example, <Picture 1> below shows the tissue container which has a hole at the front. The hole seems like a map of Amazon in Brazil and the color of tissue is green, which represents that trees in Amazon are natural raw sources for paper. As people use the tissue, the green part disappears. It implies that we destroy the nature, especially the trees in Amazon, when we waste the paper tissue. 

<Picture 2>

<Picture 2> is the poster created by WWF. It is also connected with "Save the Paper". Amazon is known as the lung of the world since Amazon produces the largest amount of oxygen we breathe. However, the waste of paper by human leads to the deforestation and it causes the lack of natural sources for paper. WWF usually creates stimulating or thrilling posters in order to attract people's attention and interests. 

With such examples, WWF plays a significant part in fostering improved environmental management. The site of WWF provides more specific details about their works and they even suggest the tasks that we can do for the environment. In addition, WWF is closely connected with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, therefore, more people can easily access to the campaigns and posters. 

Economic interactions and flows

Bangalore: The outsourcing capital of the world

Bangalore is located in South India and home to 8.5 million people. Bangalore is now known as one of the most important IT centers as well as "Silicon Valley of India". A new international airport (Bengaluru International Airport) has opened in 2008 and it rapidly has become India's fourth busiest airport. Bangalore is connected to the Indian national railways systems and has extensive bus network, road network and 42 km transit system, therefore, Bangalore is now India's most important center for high technology industries. However, Bangalore faces some problems. There will be a competition with cheaper countries such as the Philippines. Also, the possibility of terrorism risks increases and skilled workers will find jobs in other countries or companies with higher income. Lastly, Bangalore has a difficulty in paying increased costs in terms of rent and electricity. 

I found the rapid economic change after building a new airport interesting. Bangalore was known as the city with poor condition of infrastructures and buildings. However, Bangalore becomes one of the outsourcing capitals in the world. This is because, unlike the most developed countries, less developed countries possess low wages and unlimited work hours. 

Aside from the fact that Bangalore becomes the outsourcing capital of the world, what are some limitations that Bangalore encounters?

Multi-governmental organizations -North American Free Trade Agreement

Korea-US Free Trade Agreement Two Years Out: Promise vs. Reality

Posted: 03/18/2014 10:13 am EDT Updated: 03/18/2014 10:13 am EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-cohen/koreaus-free-trade-agreem_b_4965492.html

Main Point: There was a second anniversary of free trade deal between South Korea and the United States. However, many Americans object this deal because the United States trade with South Korea deficit was around 20 billion dollars. Also, the promises made before Free Trade Agreement were not practiced. 

Socio-cultural exchange - cultural diffusion

Explain how transnational corporations either intentionally or unintentionally spread consumerism through cultural diffusion.

Transnational corporations intentionally or unintentionally spread consumerism through cultural diffusion. Consumerism refers to a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts, while cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural ideas from their place of origin to other regions, groups or nations. 

As the world is increasingly becoming globalized, cultures have been mixed, changed and disappeared due to new influences. Specifically, the language contributes on cultural diffusion. In the world, there is over six thousand languages while Mandarin, English and Spanish are most wisely spoken. Especially English becomes international language since it is used in media, business and transport. Moreover, as an international school student, I have met a lot of people from all different countries, which means that we all have different nationalities. When we discuss or have conversation together, we naturally speak in English without any doubt. In addition, as a Korean, I find some Korean words that have the same pronunciation and meaning with English words, which are also known as loanwords. (ex. nuance, coffee) We do not realize that those words are loanwords, and naturally use them. Due to a characteristic of naturalness of language, when it comes to consumerism, people  feel more comfortable with English named brands such as McDonald, KFC and Pizza Hut. 

Aside from the language, the sport is also influenced by cultural diffusion. For example, many people regard that the first country that recognizes the soccer as a professional game is England. However, today everyone plays a soccer at least once. Additionally, soccer is now international game in Olympic. It implies that cultural diffusion makes the soccer to be widely distributed all over the world. 

Pros and cons of globalization

Globalization refers to the tendency of investment funds and businesses to move beyond domestic and national markets to other markets around the globe, thereby increasing the interconnectedness of different markets. 

Advantages of globalization 

- There is a better access to products from many different countries. 

- Demand of products increases and more people have opportunities to get jobs. 

- Trade between countries allows people to access items 

   that were not available before. 

- People have greater access to skills training and educational opportunities 

- Many countries can work together to overcome natural disasters 

   and global challenges

- Cultural barriers between countries can be broken down

- More developed countries can support less developed countries

- Countries can continue their peaceful relationship

Disadvantages of globalization

- The loss of cultural identity of some less developed countries

- Local markets would suffer because people will go shop 

   at transnational corporations

- Countries become too interdependent with each other

- There will be exploitation of labor

- Some countries go through the lack of security

- More developed countries use their power and influence 

   to take advantage of other countries' system

- The level of unemployment in countries as jobs are outsourced 

   to other countries that pay lower wages

- Dominant cultures are impacting the cultural develop of other countries

Why is it that the rich get richer and the poor stay poor?

According to what I learned in Geography class, just 1% rich people owns more than 33% of wealth in US. It means that the gap between the rich and the poor is already too large to overcome in short time. Therefore, the rich gets richer while the poor stays poor. For example, an owner of a company is going to hire foreign workers due to their lower salary. At the same time, local people do not have enough job opportunities and look for the jobs with lower income. It implies that local and foreign workers will have lower income while the company owner can make more profits by spending less money on workforce. 

Globalization