Do the benefits of globalization outweigh the drawbacks?

Question

Do the benefits of globalization outweigh the drawbacks?

Answer 1

No, look at what the dollar is doing against the global market,. The euro is kicking our butt big time.

Answer 2

Depends what you count as benefits and how you measure them; what you count as drawbacks and how you measure them.

Wherever you are, you and the people you know are probably enjoying a higher material standard of living than you would if it were not for globalization (far many more people are than aren't)

Most people would call that a benefit. If you are one of those that isn't better off, you may not see it that way. If you believe that society is too materialistic; that all these cars (video games, home air conditioning, what have you) should be abolished because they destroy social cohesion; etc. you may also not see it as a benefit.

Many people believe that globalization has allowed the export of jobs from the industrialized countries to the underdeveloped countries. The facts say otherwise - that very few jobs actually get exported. But even if it were true, would that be a benefit or a drawback?

Clearly, the people who have new jobs, paying more than they could have earned before, feel much better off. Equally clearly, those who have lost there jobs (however few there may be) see the export of jobs as a drawback. How do you decide which it is?

One of the side effects of greater material wealth due to globalization is that we are using up non-renewable resources (not just coal and oil) faster than ever before. Is that good or bad? Some would say that it is good because it makes the problem of non-sustainable growth ever more obvious - we can't kid ourselves into believing that we will not run out. Others would say that the crash coming sooner rather than later is a definite drawback even the it will come either way.

And the list of possible alternate views goes on and on.