Globalization

      Globalization is the relationship and increasing dependence between different countries and cultures. Gone are the days where the effects from the actions of one country, no matte the size, are limited to their own nation. Now our actions are having a greater affect on other countries in the world. Craig Kielburger put it well when he said, "the kid next door has become the kid in Latin America or Asia." 

      Take the economic downturn in Greece for example. When it comes to helping Greece get out of the hole they have dug for themselves the first solution that comes to mind is another bailout. This means that other, more economically stable, countries in the EU would have to put money together to help Greece get back on their feet and running. That sounds all well and good but this means that Greece will have more debt that they will have to pay off. If history serves are a good predictor of the future, which it usually is, that means Greece will be right back to square one in a few years. This leaves the second option: kick Greece out of the EU. Easier said than done. This is where globalization takes a role. If Greece were to default it would cause other "in trouble" countries like Portugal and Spain to lose confidence in their own economies. On top of this foreign investors would have seen the unraveling of Greece and assume, rightly so, that this could happen to other countries. This would mean that they would no longer invest money into these countries causing less money to be pumping their economy and just like  that we have another Greece on our hands. Other EU countries would feel like they need to throw more money at the problem putting those countries who received money even more in debt and the countries who gave the money would be down a few billion. 

      See how quickly things can spiral out of control because of globalization. The actions of one country, in this example it was Greece, effect many other countries. However, globalization isn't always bad. Globalization has upsides as well. It allows people to travel all over the world and stay in contact with loved ones when they are on other sides of the planet. Globalization means that we can have foreign investors! Foreign investors means more money going into everybody's economies. As long everybody keeps their economies in check then everything should be fine. 

       Globalization is something that needs to be balanced. Connecting with other countries is not a bad thing. Globalization is not the reason for Greece going under, globalization is the reason that Greece going under sent a scare through the world. But globalization is also the reason that we, here in Canada, can connect with people in Greece, or Italy, or Spain, or England, so easily. Globalization allows countries to help one another in times of hardship. Globalization is the reason that the EU and, most likely, other countries will help Greece pick them selves up.