Globalization has had a major impact on the world at large, both in terms of business and culture. As technology improves, the world metaphorically gets smaller. When that happens, cultures collide and changes begin to occur. Along with all of the positives, there are several pitfalls that can accompany globalization.

First, big business can get even bigger. Large national companies rapidly become so powerful that they hold large portions of the market throughout the world—and they end up pushing out local businesses and putting people out of work while undercutting prices.

Second, threats like terrorism and radicalism can spread rapidly. With technology to aid communication, militant groups can spread their message farther and faster.

Finally, a type of cultural disappointment can occur. Interacting tangentially with other cultures causes people to only experience the good in them. This causes disappointment and disdain towards one’s native culture and engenders bitterness.

There are many other negatives that can accompany globalization, these are just a few important ones.

Globalization has many aspects that can be used for good or for harm. Obviously, the distribution of cheaper options both for manufacturing and purchasing has certainly helped people around the world gain access to goods and products they would otherwise not have. It also has allowed the world to become more connected and unified and to understand disparate cultures better.

On the downside, however, it has led to a dispersion in the vices of each country. The evils of some societies have spilled over into others, such as rampant consumerism and greed that has started to transform more communal, traditional nations. Additionally, it has led to a global audience for terrorism and violence, spreading messages of hate throughout the world and making it easier for radical groups to recruit and grow.

There are so many different aspects to globalization that there is no simple answer to this. Different elements of globalization, like other large scale phenomena, have many positive and negative effects on different regions, groups, cultures, and businesses.

A typical example of this would be environmental impact. On the one hand, globalization means that goods are transported over long distances. In fact, a given product such as a car, may consist of thousands of parts transported back and forth across the world before being assembled into a finished product. This obviously contributes to carbon production and global warming and thus is a negative.

On the other hand, distributed manufacturing can be done in efficient factories that use clean energy, which reduces the amount of carbon involved in manufacturing. When factories are moved to places with less environmental regulation, that can harm the overall global environment, but multinational companies can also bring more efficient and environmentally safe practices and technologies to developing nations, thereby replacing older and dirtier technologies, which is a positive.

To argue that globalization does more harm than good, you might focus on the impacts of globalization on the poorest countries in the world.  You can argue that such countries only end up getting exploited when big multinational corporations come in and use their resources.  The companies simply exploit resources without helping the countries to develop their economies.

In some ways, globalization has been very helpful.  Businesses have a chance to reach larger markets than before.  Enotes is a good example.  This web site is international.  We can talk to people all over the world, at any time.