The globalization discussion

This is a response to Safiry's comment that was getting a little too long for a comment, so I decided to transform it into a post.

I think globalization is not only good to those that globalize... Take China, for my first example: less than 20 years ago, many Chinese living in big cities didn't have bathrooms in their own houses, they lived in the place where the government thought that they could live (people from the "party" had better living conditions, people that were land owners before the revolution lived in worse places). They had restrictions on what to eat, on heating, on even water! Didn't globalization help by forcing them to change? I couldn't find a Chinese that claims it didn't.

Second example: Brazil! Without the globalization "pressure" we would still be "enjoying" our really low-tech industry that we had in the 70s and 80s during the time that almost no high-tech product was allowed to be imported. I remember how amazed I was when my father would go back home after a trip to the US with gifts... How much better their toys were!

I'm not saying here that there are no problems with globalization. Companies have gone bankrupt, people are unemployed. The amount of pressure that it creates on developing economies to keep up with the level of investment and experience that exists in the developed countries is extremely unfair. It is indeed making life more difficult to the "ones that are globalized".

My conclusion is that globalization is a need, we cannot deny it. But it is a change. A drastic change sometimes. Changes are scary and dangerous. They cause pain, they may break a country. One solution would be to slow down the process. Give time to the local industries to adapt and then move forward. However, with the amazing speed that technical, industrial and technological innovation is being created, it is just impossible to slow down. So the only thing I can think of is for the government to stock on food, let the globalization come, take care of feeding the population while the transition is going, make sure that the education sector is being able to follow the transition, and when the shockwaves are gone, see what you can do.

I know it is not a very good idea. Hey, I'm an engineer, not an economist! I am just putting down some ideas, even silly ones, with the hope that someone would get enlightened by my ignorance and post something better.