Jenna Hosier – IDC 4001H – Prof. Maciuika – February 2^nd, 2014

Risky Business in the Mad Rush to the Top

The three readings seem to be connected by mankind’s perpetual need to move forward, and loss of control in the process, and the concept of globality.

The very essence of Berman’s title All That is Solid Melts Into Air is that all things in modern life are fleeting. Everyone is in such a rush, and what is in one day is out the next. As for Beck’s critique of globalization in “What Is Globalization?” he questions the very structure of the global economy and its effects on nations/states. Those who support globalization are threatening their own security by trying to keep up in the race to the top. This is the same idea of modernism – always embracing and moving forward meanwhile destroying the very infrastructure you are surviving and thriving on. Now that economy is essentially separate from government, states, especially in Europe, fear the control they have over their fate in an ever-increasing globalized world. Last but not least, the Economist article “Rocket Machine: How To Build Companies From a Kit” presents the unpredictable future of e-commerce conglomerate, Rocket Internet.

As for the concept of globality, presented in Beck’s article, it is the intertwinement rather than integration of the global community. This transcends to Berman and the Economist piece as well. Mankind as a whole strives to move forward, yet each person tries to maintain individuality. And the Rocket firm standing out among its broad network worldwide, meanwhile is sharing its resources. Basically, each reading presents a unified group, but a balancing act, as components within the group struggle to preserve their own identities.

However, in the process of moving ahead, mankind often leaves a path of destruction, and pretty soon we may find that we have run so far ahead and erased where we have come from, that we end up in free fall. When we only look to maximize production rather than look at the long-term efficacy of the plan that is where eventual failure will incur.

Berman reminds us near the end of the Introduction that it is important to keep in mind the past and renew our perspective on modernity. Beck calls his readers to action, encouraging them to question the entire structure of globalization. Ultimately, the thread between the three readings is the instability/irreversibility of it all.