Globalize or Die

            Globalize or Die: Affects Everyone and Everything.
            
             In his book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman wrote: "Globalization is not a phenomenon. It is not some passing trend. Today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it as such." ("Lexus").
             Globalization, whether one is opposed to it or not, affects everyone and everything. There are many definitions of globalization and its meaning is disputed widely by scholars, economists, and other educated people throughout the world. To observe the effects of globalization, one must know the general context of such an international mechanism. Globalization broadly refers to the expansion of global linkages, the organization of social life on a global scale, and the overall growth of a global consciousness. Thomas Freidman, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his writings on foreign policy, sums up globalization a little more clearer than I, when he states, "The inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world" (Friedman p. 7-8). There is not a set definition of globalization and its very meaning is subject to hot debate and disputed around the world. People don't know whether or not globalization is effective and is the future for all societies on the planet, or is the downfall of countries because it is ultimately a money hungry machine, who's sole purpose is to soak the economy for all its worth. What people do know however, and what there is evidence to prove is it's effectiveness to be everywhere and has the ability touched everyone. In this paper, we are going to analyze both the positive and negative effects of globalization from a variety of different angles, specifically: cultural diversity, employment, human rights, poverty, and national sovereignty.