last blog

Neoliberalism and Globalization:
In this article Neoliberalism is discussed and questioned. A neoliberalist supports things like free trade, and the world bank, also they believe it is imperative that all countries trade with each other. The Mercosur trade agreement in South America is explained as it an example of this.
Neoliberalism is similar to cosmopolitan Democracy yet it is more binding. One of the characteristics of neoliberalism is that every person in a group has their own ability to achieve goals. However, this is not always successful because if one person does not, there is a glitch. The cosmopolitan democracy comes from many different networks that are connected and make up one nation-state. The purpose of the Mercosur trade agreement to make these different networks work together. Mercursur also works to protect the political structure, production, exploitation of materials, and the need for a democratic process. Most importantly, the union between the different networks must remain strong and their collaboration not weakened by lack of self-determination.
In opposition to the Neoliberalist view, one would say that capitalism helps developed countries and poses a disadvantage to third world countries. If there were global free trade, developed countries would continue to abuse underdeveloped countries. As developed countries outsource, the underdeveloped countries would not even have a fair chance to develop. With the restrictions placed now companies are not allowed to outsource all of their jobs to low-wage countries. There are limited restrictions that companies have to follow, such as building in their own countries and abiding by the outsourcing restrictions. It seems most likely that free trade means more wealth for developed countries and the exact opposite for underdeveloped countries.
In class we talked about the effects of global trade. Any thoughts on the concept of a single global culture?