bailing out the world

by ASV

GM is not an American company.  It's global and transnational.  AIG is not an American company. They invested money in banks throughout the world.  Citigroup cannot claim the red, white and blue as its home, because its home is the world.  However, when it comes to media coverage of the bailout, globalization never enters the picture.  

The reality is that all the companies we are bailing out are transnational corporations.  Sure, GM has plants in Michigan and workers have their pensions tied up.  But GM has plants all over the world.  The forces of globalization now mean a GM car has parts made in Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Still, they implore us on propaganda to buy American.  It's some kind of act of patriotism.

News flash: It's not my fault that GM made crappy cars.  It's not my fault that AIG screwed over the financial community.  Why are my parents paying taxes to bail them out?  Why will my generation be the ones who bail out the world? 

Photo Credit

Minnesota Public Radio

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2009/03/17/20090317_aig_33.jpg

Travel Journal: Globalization

by Brenda

While going to Mexico, I noticed many aspects of how globalization has changed the landscape, the people and the culture. The following are just a few examples:

Transportation:
The Lozoya Shuttle seems at first to be a Mexican transportation company. However, it shuttles people to places like New Mexico, Mexico, Salt Lake City and the entire North American region. The company itself has shuttles all over the world and most likely has investors from the world as well. Even if it is not transnational yet, it is an example of how our methods of movement have become globalized.


Food:
Every place I go in Mexico seems to have a McDonalds. I wouldn't be surprised to see one under the sea someday (perhaps a Krusty Krab styled similar to a globalized cartoon sponge) No matter where the location is, the structure of the restaraunt is the same, even when the food isn't. So whenever you are craving a Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets or McFlurry just wander around your town, wherever that might be in the world and there's sure to be one.

Music:
As I spent some time at my tia's (aunt's) store in Mexico, you would think all the music would be Mexican. Well that's incorrect. My tia's workers had songs like "bartender" and "shadow of the day" and "disturbia" on their cell phones. The radio station played songs with global appeal, from regeton to rap to rock. Who am I to judge, but do they even know what the songs mean? Or is it that they like the rhythm? Is the feel of music the same globally? Or have we lost the national flavor? I find it strange that I am a Mexican-American who listens to more Mexican music than many of the Mexicans I met in Mexico.

Survey Results: Outsourcing Survey

People might mock Metro Tech and the idea of "just" being a hair stylist, but it's a job that won't go to China.

by ML 

We posed the question, "What job would have the least chance of being outsourced or tech-sourced?"  Not surprisingly, the number one choice was hair-stylist.  Go figure.  It's a pretty personal job.  But we want to explore it a little deeper.  

What is it about hairstyling that makes it free of outsourcing and tech-sourcing?  First, it's a job where the person is doing an art.  Technology can enhance art and change art, but it can never create art.  It's part of what makes us human.  Second, hairstylists work as counselors. They listen.  They talk.  They give advice.  Many jobs that "could" have been tech-sourced won't, because people need the human interaction.  A machine could pour drinks, but people want a human bartender.  A psychologist could sit there and offer advice from a call center in India.  But we want the person to be here in person.  

The second highest on the list was construction.  It's a job that is being tech-sourced, but we'll always need physical people to actually operate the machines.  Unless you're Bob the Builder, you have a chance of keeping your job.  Again, what construction workers locally know is how to be creative, how to know the land, how to interact with one another.  

A few of us were surprised that only two people chose chef.  It is doubtful that machines will ever perfect the art of cooking.  We've had machine-created food for years and we're now seeing why a human in the kitchen is always better.  In fact, many of us will take a home-made dish over machine-made any day.  

So, are there overall lessons from this survey?  It confirms what we already know.  The world is changing.  Outsourcing and tech-sourcing are a reality.  However, creativity and the ability to handle relationships will be our greatest assets.  

Here were the results:

construction	4 (22%)
doctor	1 (5%)
lawyer	1 (5%)
hair-stylist	10 (55%)
cashier	0 (0%)
chef	2 (11%)

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phex/3176861684/

Globalization Collage #22

We chose mostly images from World War II.  The reason is that the main ideas that led the world into war are the same that continue in globalization.  It's just that the definition of a nation changed a little.  So we started with an alliance system.  Now the alliance is between one transnational company and another.  We used to have imperialism.  Now we have imperialism in the name of Wal-Mart.  We used to have global conflict and now we still do, but globalization has made the enemy harder to detect.

Globalization Collage #20

Globalization Collage #21

Globalization Collage #19

Globalization Collage #18

Our collage has symbolism of the world today and how everything is connected.  About how globalization has changed us in a good and bad way.  The United States culture is being spread all over the world by Internet and things like that.  For this reason we have Peter Griffin the in the middle of the world and American ideas coming out around him. We say that its good since its connecting people all over the world.  Its also bad since some people don't want to be connected because they say its ruining their culture. It symbolizes how globalization is made and how it effects others.The mood is colorful and full of different emotions. Globalization is mainly just a thrill ride where it fun and scary, it has it's ups and down and in the end, we can't go back to where we were before. 

Globalization Collage #17

Globalization Collage #15

Globalization Collage #16

Globalization Collage #14

Globalization Collage #13

Globalization Collage #12

Globalization Collage #11

Globalization Collage #10

Globalization Collage #9

Globalization Collage #8

Globalization Collage #7

Globalization Collage #6

On the left, you see black and white.  You see how the world was back during the era of the Cold War.  The colors depict the black and white ideas, include how they defined their world, what they believed about truth and the notion of good and evil that once dominated all dialog.  Now you have globalization with the technology, the colors, the humanity together but confused and losing our sense of wrong and right.