Economic Globalization
Uploaded by spootyhead on Mar 04, 2007
Economic Globalization
In a world of perfection there would be no hunger, no poverty, and no crime, but no such world can truly exist. There will always be suffering, hurt, anguish, and despair. Yet, shouldn’t we strive to provide a good future for all? This concept of the most amount of good for the most amount of people is called Utilitarianism. Contrary to popular belief, the United States doesn’t believe in such a state of being. Instead, through capitalism and economic globalization the United States has proven to believe in the exact opposite of utilitarianism.
The United States has always been based on the principles of capitalism; however, the present economy is far from being the free enterprise system it was once envisioned as. The major change the United States made was directing the system away from competition. The result is a society dominated by mega corporations that control demand rather then respond to the demands of the market. To break down the previous statement the corporations are so in control of their products price that they can charge whatever they see fit. (Eitzen and Zinn 27) The reason for this is lack of competition in a capitalistic society.
Karl Marx a social theorist of the 1800’s believed that the basis of social order in every society is the production of economic goods. The concepts of what is produced, how it’s produced, and how it’s exchanged determines the differences in people’s wealth, power, and social status. (Eitzen and Zinn 28) Marx argued that because human beings must organize their activities, in order to clothe, feed, and house themselves, every society is based upon an economic base. The form that people chose to solve their basic economic problems would, according to Marx, eventually determine virtually everything in a social structure. A social structure can include such ideas as family structure, education, and religion. In Marx’s view these social structures depend on a base economy. To apply Marx idea, keep in mind the United States is a capitalist society. Moving on Marx argued that every economic system except socialism produces a force that eventually leads to a new economic form. For example, in a feudal system the market and factory emerged but were not capable of a feudal way...