Pessia Goldberg
IDC 4001H – Prof. Maciuika
02/02/14
Going Global to Make Money
One of the key unifying concepts from the three assigned readings is the increasing loss of community values in favor of selfish personal advancement. I happened to read The Economist article first, followed by Beck and then Berman, and found that each subsequent article proved that our increasing reliance on technology has led to a loss of cultural connectivity and a greater concern with enriching one’s personal experiences. An example of this was recently reported in The Economist. Rocket Internet is a company that exists solely to copy proven business models and then to sell their profit-stealing clone companies to the highest bidder. They are not concerned with creativity or innovation, both of which are necessary for a country’ long-term development. Rather, they look only at the monetary bottom-line of copying others’ successful ideas.
Ulrich Beck writes about the increasing globalization of society and how instead of being loyal to their homelands, companies will pick and choose whichever places’ tax laws will save them the most money. But instead of focusing on making a global political framework to go along with these social and economic decisions, large companies would rather keep making the profits that they are currently able to wangle by outsourcing. For example, instead of a rich New York-based company paying taxes in New York in order to help sustain its less successful neighbors, it would rather be incorporated in another state, hire workers from another country, and so on and so forth.
Marshall Berman also points out that the modern era is all about growing socially and economically while breaking away from culture and tradition. This is best summarized by Marx’s line that, “all that is solid melts into air.” And where better to see this than in New York – a city that prides itself on being fast-paced and individualistic and successfully ignores the rampant poverty and homelessness of those needing community support. The world as a whole is becoming more culturally unified through technology, but this globalization is mostly exploited for economic gain. And New York provides a neat little microcosm showing how increased diversity does not ensure the advent of a collaboration to end social ills.
