The problems with Globalization

While walking the roads of Medellín, I Stumbled upon a Dunkin’ Donuts, a donut series from my own hometown of Boston. (It is the very best). Locals are very connected to Dunkin. Since I looked in the shop, a pit formed in my gut and I got silent and depression kicked in. Medellín was overwhelmed from the chains. Another area destroyed by globalization! Another location at which the neighborhood character was expiring. Or…wasn’t it? Was that Dunkin’ Donuts actually a terrible thing? Or Starbucks I saw before? I mean that the stores and stalls nearby were full of life and brimming with clients purchasing coffee and snacks. What has been really bothering me? Then it struck me. I understood that perhaps why I got gloomy was since what Dunkin’ Donuts had ruined wasn’t Medellin but that which I believed Medellin was. As travelers, I Believe we are inclined to despise “globalization”. Since we envision places for a particular way in novels, films, and also our collective cultural awareness. We often have this picture — according to no firsthand experience — of that which a destination needs to be like and the way the individuals should behave.

We envision deserted beaches, or even quaint cafés, or rustic old cities, or even gritty, worn-down cities since we noticed that at a film or read a novel ten decades back. I mean, many Americans still believe Colombia is teeming with narcos or Eastern Europe is still as though it had been that the day after the Iron Curtain fell. This isn’t a new phenomenon. We Would like the areas we see to fit to the box we’ve emotionally developed for them. We would like our picture of them confirmed. I am we in part traveling to get a sense of experience and exoticness. In order explorers and locate stains devoid of any external influence. My buddy Seth Kugel stated in his novel a city in England became famous with Chinese tour groups in 2016 since it was quintessentially British. Chinese tour groups needed to find a spot that matched their eyesight. Globalization stops everything from occurring. Unexpectedly, we are walking down the road — and we visit a component of home. Our illusion the fantasy we generated concerning the destination we all are in — has been crushed. “Well, there is a Starbucks. The tourists are all here. This Place is destroyed today.”

However, is that a bad thing? When we envision how somewhere should be — such as Thai islands with small huts and vacant shores, or aquatic villages stuffed with just local food and pushcart vendors — we all attempt to suspend the planet (and frequently with a feeling of remaining colonialism). We overlook that places are not Disneyland and it is not 100 Years ago. Things change. Places grow, old, and proceed. The world around us has not stood suspended in time to behave like our park. (And that does not actually get the tip of this iceberg across the colonialism / Western stereotypes connected with these thoughts). Can I rather see the entire world filled with mom-and-pop shops and no Dunkin’ Donuts at Medellín? On the outside, yes. However, if I Truly Consider it, that is because I wish to escape my house, be reminded of this. It is because I would prefer the world to coincide with the one that I see in novels and films. It is because nobody is totally resistant to the viewpoints I only talked about. I have established a castle in the sky I do not need to see ruined. But a part of this craft of discovery is getting your preconceptions shattered. By Way of Example, many Americans (and perhaps even most individuals in the planet ) see Colombia because this distant jungle filled with java, offense, fruit, along with narcos drifting the road. It is dangerous and gritty. However, Colombia isn’t anything like folks think that it is.

Medellín has among the very best transport systems I have ever seen out Scandinavia, and Wi-Fi really is anywhere. There is also some unbelievable Michelin celebrity – worthy gastronomy occurring here. Digital nomads flock out there. The streets are leading. Many young men and women speak English, they’re educated, and they’re quite informed of world events. Thus, as Colombia sheds its narco ago and embraces the entire world just as the world adopts it, if we — I’m amazed that the man riding in just a tiny jeep is enjoying Taylor Swift, or burgers and pizzas and gin and tonics are popular? If we are amazed that Colombians need a flavor of earth too? We often consider globalization as a one time road, where that the Western chains “invade” different nations.

Our dialogue from the West is about how we are destroying different areas. Nevertheless, these areas do not endure on tourist dollars independently. Locals do eat. Who can we tell them? And I often think about the opposite: when individuals from other Non-Western civilizations traveling, do they possess the exact same response? Put here? This location is destroyed.” Can Italians loathe the sight of pizza vacation? Can the Japanese lament be viewing ice hockey overseas? I really don’t need to watch the golden arches near the Pyramids. However, is it really bad there are a few businesses in Egypt? Who can we say, “Hey, you can not have this? I would like to envision your nation like this Arabian Nights dream! Knock out this pizza place! Where are the men on camels?” When It’s a series or Only a Sort of cuisine, then I do not believe that the sin of cultures isn’t such really poor.

Globalization isn’t perfect. balanced. Folks have written volumes about this topic. Let us leave that aside. I am not here to explore that. I am here to contemplate our perceptions of this as travelers. This Dunkin’ Donuts educated me the world that enables me to maintain Medellín also enables Colombians to get not my civilization but also other cultures too. I Believe We Must stop seeing globalization throughout the myopic one time lens of becoming a European traveler. I really don’t believe we ought to consider globalization as inducing a set to be “ruined” cultures are constantly in flux. The Identical procedure that has attracted unknown civilizations to us has brought portions of the civilization (among other people) there. Get to realize that everybody is a human being and stocks the exact same wants and requirements. And I believe this is something we ought to celebrate.