Globalization and Technology

Globalization and Connectivity

  • Globalization is enhanced by technology, allowing instant communication worldwide.

International Corporations

  • Multinational corporations adapt to local cultures with different menus and offerings (e.g., McDonald's in Asia).

  • Cultural awareness is crucial to avoid issues (e.g., McDonald's in India).

  • Globalization defined: Interconnectedness facilitated by technology.

Technology Development

  • News sources evolved from radio in the 1920s to cell phones in the 1980s-90s and the internet in the late 1990s.

  • Social media's impact: The Arab Spring used social media to broadcast revolutions.

Impact of Technology

  • Reduces geographic distance.

  • Developed vs. developing countries: Africa and Southeast Asia lag due to colonialism and imperialism.

Green Revolution

  • Objective: Mass food production to eliminate starvation.

  • Techniques: Cross-breeding, genetic engineering, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides.

  • Example: China's grain production increased from 110 million tons in 1945 to 500 million tons by 2010.

  • Cons include potential chemical safety concerns, fewer farmers needed, and high equipment costs.

Power Sources

  • Shift from coal and oil to nuclear power in the 1930s-40s.

  • Rise of wind and solar power.

  • Risks associated with nuclear power: Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Fukushima.

Impact on Medicine

  • Birth rates declining due to birth control (since the 1960s).

  • Antibiotics (Penicillin in the 1920s) and vaccines (since 1950s-60s) have increased.

  • Vaccines prevent diseases like polio, measles, and smallpox.

Global Health Issues

  • 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.

  • HIV/AIDS: Highest rates in the United States, East Africa, and India.

  • Ebola: Deadly disease in Africa.

  • Alzheimer's: Highest rates in developed countries.

  • Diabetes: Increasing in the United States and Europe due to diet.

  • Malaria and tuberculosis: prevalent in poverty-stricken areas.

Causes of Death

  • Industrialized countries: Heart disease, stroke, COPD, Alzheimer's, diabetes.

  • Underdeveloped countries: Lung infections, dysentery (due to unclean water), HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis.

Environmental Impact

  • Deforestation: Reduces oxygen and increases carbon dioxide.

  • Urbanization: Leads to water pollution.

  • Industrialization: Causes pollution and climate change.

  • Example: Dubai's transformation from desert to a major city.

Economic Shifts

  • Free market economies: Based on supply and demand.

  • Advocates: Ronald Reagan (Reaganomics) and Margaret Thatcher.

  • China: Implemented free economic policies but without free speech (Tiananmen Square).

  • Shift to knowledge economies: Google, Oracle, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

  • Manufacturing economies: Moved to Mexico, Honduras, Asia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Trade Agreements

  • NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association): Removed tariffs between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

  • Pros: Stimulate the economy.

  • Cons: Countries lose jobs due to factory relocation.

Multinational Corporations

  • Headquarters in multiple countries (e.g., Michelin).

  • Offer cheaper goods by manufacturing locally.

Human Rights

  • United Nations: Includes UNICEF (Children's Emergency Fund) and the Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

  • Focus: Protecting the rights of all people, including women and children.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1965, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and desegregation of schools in the United States.

  • End of apartheid and increased rights in India and Africa.