Juan Gallegos(Edison College)Global Modernization

          At least once in your lifetime you would hear your parents say “son, in my time before we had all these electronics we would..” and that’s when we would roll our eyes and say “dad, things have changed.” Whether for the good or the bad, we must admit that discoveries have surfaced that we would have never imagined to until hundreds of years from now. Even though, not all countries are as developed as the United States, China, and Russia the influence these countries have on the world is enough to change cultures all together.          

          A couple of months ago I went back to my country Ecuador for vacation. Seven years had passed since I left Ecuador and it was not surprising that many changes had occurred during my absence.  Kids were no longer playing the traditional games my generation was used to. No more yo yos, kites, hide and seek. There was about 50% less kids playing in the street, those other 50% were inside stuck to their television screens playing video games. Ecuador is still considered a developing country but that doesn’t prevent it from receiving all the goods and benefits of the new innovations. Not only have we modernized in technological aspects like video games and computers but we have also boosted the popularity of other sports. Baseball for example is becoming more and more popular throughout the years.          

          While on my visit, I watched my father pay the electric bill of that month. Back when I was a kid we would ride together on the bus to the company in which we would pay the bill personally to a teller. The records were kept in a book and everything was handwritten. I doubt anyone would have imagined that anytime soon that method would change. Now to our amazement you don’t have to leave the house to pay bills. You turn on your computer and pay bills online. Along with bill paying, almost everything can be done online. In a way it’s terrific because it demonstrates how capable man is of advancing in life but at the same time it can be referred to as an economic term “creative destruction.” As we invent and create new items we destroy old ones to make space. For example we created the computer, therefore destroying the demand for typewriters. Ambition and the ever growing population are the major factors that attribute to Global modernization that’s growing at an increasing rate. These are just some examples. It’s a fact; global modernization plays a big role in our everyday life.          

          The critics of global modernization will argue that it’s the major cause of the loss of cultures, lack of family unity, and destruction of some moral values. Either way, it’s something that can’t be stopped. A perfect example of how global modernization can affect cultures is the U.S.A and the Native Americans. When we just began establishing colonies in America in the 1600s we also began the end of the Native American life style. Our ambitions led to expansion even though it meant wiping out another culture. We forced them to blend into western culture and many rituals and traditions were lost through modernization of North America. Nowadays the same is occurring in developing countries that stop their traditional rituals to make room for new and exciting state of mind.          

        When the United States was going through the industrial period, the western farmers moved into the urban cities and filled the factories. The opportunity to make money for every member of the family and to move up on the social ladder abolished most family unity. The importance of going to church, eating with family, and arranged marriages vanished. Children where working and spending their leisure time in new entertainment that was quickly growing. It seems as wealth and fame has become the center of our goals because we all are given the chance to excel.

          On the other hand modernization has many good sides as well. In the science field, medicine has advanced and the cures for plenty of diseases have been discovered. Someday we will find the cure for cancer and other diseases like AIDS. Not only scientifically but technologically have we grown. These days we have a communication so great, that to send a message from opposite sides of the world takes a matter of seconds. Mass media has revolutionized our lives because now we have the opportunity to be aware of all the foreign conflicts and all that goes on in our world. Of course, the internet is the major link that allows us to basically do anything from meeting the love of our life to building a space craft.       

          Therefore, global modernization can take a good or bad role, but for sure it is something that’s inevitable. Personally, I believe that everything is good as long as you have a balance and control on what you do. The world is changing every day as technology advances and our population grows, but we must adapt to these changes without letting them take away our moral values, and beliefs.   

This entry was posted on 24. April 2009 at 22:23 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.