Blood Oil, Pandemics and the Helping Developing Nations

It is oil is that makes globalization possible. It powers all the forces of globalization: transportation, trade, communication technologies and media. Without it we wouldn’t be where we are today. Blood oil is not caused by the transnational companies that buy the oil. It’s caused by the governments of where the oil is extracted from. It was the Nigerian government who executed the nine activists so that they could sell oil to the transnationals. The transnationals goal was to buy the oil for refineries at the most economical price possible. It was not to buy oil from Nigeria. It then became an ethical issue and many companies likely went elsewhere to buy there oil. Thus the government would be left with few companies to sell to. In the end the Nigerian government suffered.

Pandemics can kill a lot of people and medical experts are right to be concerned. As the world is so interconnected today diseases can travel farther more quickly and infect more people. The World Health Organization has a lot of work to do with separating mild diseases from the more dangerous ones. National health organizations should also be credited with this. When you look at the number deaths from the Spanish flu to SARS you see that they are definitely making a difference.

When you compare what Canadians have-technology, clean water, electricity, health care and rights and freedoms-you see that developing nations don’t have widespread access to everything that we do. The extent that a person should try to lend assistance to developing countries depends on the person. There are some people who devote their entire lives to helping these people because they have a vision that they’re trying to make see the light of day. But not everyone is like that. The minimum that a person should do is donate money to organizations with people who have these visions. There is a lot of area between these two points though. People can boycott companies and products that harm developing countries, buy free trade products to encourage companies to sell more of them and they can participate in civil society groups. 

Gender Gap, Labour Standards & Free Trade

How aware are you?  How aware should you be? 

The gender gap is a serious problem. However not as many people are as aware of it there were in the 20^th century when women were fighting simply for the rights to vote and run for office. It’s believed that because women can now vote, run for office, get jobs that are closer to the level men operate at that we are equal. But that is not true and Laurie Milton is correct in the fact that there are many capable women out there who could reside on boards yet aren’t given the chance to do so. Women are also expected to have a larger role in child rearing which means that when they have children they likely take jobs that take less time or stay with the job they have then and don’t move up the corporate ladder so that they can spend more time with their kids. Men don’t have to do this and their hours of unpaid work are much lower. This shows inequality between men and women still exists.

In some ways unions are a good thing. They stand up for their members rights when no one else will. By promoting their members interests over the interests of all others they are able to lower their demands to make everyone happy. Labour standards are important for the safety of workers. Countries shouldn’t have to wait until economic growth arrives before working in safe, non-health threatening conditions.

Free trade is a movement that has been building over decades and is now widely known. Producers deserve a larger part of the profits as they are the ones who grow the food or create the product. The rest of the companies are simply go betweens, connecting the producers to the consumers. When you buy a product with a free trade label you don’t have to feel guilty that someone was harmed in the making of it. You know that the people who deserve the money are getting it and that other people are making the money based on services rendered. Free trade is something that balances economic, social and environmental concerns.

Chapter Conclusions

To what extent should I, as a citizen, respond to globalization?

When responding to globalization you must look at many factors. Not all are simple and straight forward. There is, in fact, a lot of gray area. When you respond to globalization your principles and ethics are weighed and valued. What you decide to do is a reflection upon yourself.

Universal human rights are very important as it shows that everyone has rights. But it is very hard to come up with a list that agrees with everyone. A list must include food, water and shelter. The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines rights that many could agree with. However it’s not legally binding and it would be hard to make it so. There are other laws that protect us from human rights abuses, such as those made to prevent physical or emotional abuse or pleading the fifth in the United States.

Human trafficking and illegal immigrants suffer abuses when they come to a new country. This is extremely disappointing as they have come looking for a better life and all they get are just as many hardships as they did in their native country. The government should have more measures in place to help these people. The Conservatives party’s efforts in educating Canadians on detecting human trafficking are a step in the right direction.

Human Rights and Democracy connect to Globalization

To what extent should I, as a citizen, respond to globalization?

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms seems to be both a good thing and a nuisance. It’s good because it clearly outlines all the rights of every Canadian citizen and each is something that helps people. To the courts it is somewhat more of a nuisance because they have to deal with lawyers throwing rights and freedoms in the hopes that one will take hold. It’s also a nuisance to them because they have to define what each right and freedom means and will have to put them in a ranking order that not everyone will like.

It's easy to see how Daniel Griswold, a trade specialist with the Cato Institute, can say that human rights, democracy and globalization having been moving together as most transnational companies that are moving around the world come from democratic countries where human rights are highly valued. However each of the forces of globalization can be tools against or for human rights. For example, trade can promote human rights with trade boycotts but it can also put pressure on governments to reduce spending and lower taxes which increases inequality among the people.

Illegal immigrants and human trafficking are bad for the victims and needs to be stopped. If people are in a bad situation in their own countries then they shouldn't have to stay there or endure abuses.

Universal Human Rights and Democracy

To what extent should I, as a citizen, respond to globalization?

Human rights should be universal. Every human being should have his or her basic needs met, such as food and water. This responsibility would best go under the national government. Some people hold the view that traditions come over human rights but if a tradition abuses human rights then someone is getting hurt. If you truly wanted to continue with one of these traditions then you would need the person, whose rights are abused, permission.

Simply because a country is a democracy doesn’t mean that it will protect human rights. That is true of any kind of government but a government that is majority rules has a better odds of protecting them then in hierarchy or in communist societies where one person has absolute power over the rest.