Sun Mar 22 2:02 PM 2015 (entry 1/2)
I feel that globalization has undergone a dramatic transformation. The idea has always been to bring us all together, but practical limitations made the brute force granted by large scale agencies and homogenization a necessary factor. For culturally localized goods and ideas to be made available in all parts of the world, you needed a massive, far reaching, all powerful mega infrastructure, otherwise these niche commodities would be unheard of in the far reaches of the world.
But times have changed. The level of individual interconnectivity has reached a point of singularity. We can now experience a dynamically decentralized form of globalization.
Today an individual in India can create hand crafted chairs and launch a website promoting these wares. Another individual in Brazil can do a web search for chairs, find the Indian’s website, contact the Indian individually and commission a custom made chair. Another web search will find a shipping company capable of delivering the product. Payment can be handled by yet another specialized agency.
Certainly, the level of infrastructural organization differs between the chair maker and the shipping company, yet the information age allows these seemingly disparate parties to easily and dynamically interact without the need of an all-encompassing, static system.
Furthermore, this new form of globalization removes the limitations of localized markets and entry barriers on the individual level. The market for chairs in India may be saturated, but the indian may still benefit from a chosen profession by having unrestricted access to the entire population of the world. The possibility of cultural cross-pollination could be extolled as well.
This new world allows freedom the likes of which the world has never known. Everyone can reach and freely interact with everyone else. It is imperative that this access remains un-gated by enabling agencies such as internet access providers and managers, or governmental and legislative bodies.
Given time, we will adapt and adjust to this new reality. We will truly be one world consisting of endlessly diverse individuals.