Globalization and Social Movements

            The process of globalization is when ideas, cultures, politics and economies around the world increase in connectivity and interdependence.  Globalization has been occurring at least since the seventeenth century, but the process accelerated with the european industrial revolution as inovation allowed for faster travel and communication.  Over the past century the United States has spread what the country's citizens hold most valuable (materialism and individualism) to other countries.  This is visible through the fact that you can go to distant locations and here american music (rap and hip-hop) for example in clubs in Hong Kong and Dubai.  The world for the most part perceives citizens of the United States through the television, for example televised political events, television series(Leave it to Beaver, Pimp My Ride, Desperate Housewives, etc), and movies.  Many people in other countries see through this media that US citizens have many material things and are self centered with little worry or care about others' lives.  These people seem to see that having a television is a sign of stability and wealth.  Most of the media that reaches the masses outside of the United States portray this almost problem free society with little difficulty.  This view has been pushed onto other societies and cultures thus the people of those areas increasingly want what they see on television.
            On the reverse side of things when global media products that do not originate from the United States reach the citizens of the United States there is this huge transformation of the products.  My experience has been just this, the products have been made easy to understand and translated into English.  I feel as if I am at a loss on somethings and at an advantage at others.  What I mean is that through having most media products of non-US origin translated and formated for easy viewing I lose some of the little intricacies that come with hearing and seeing things in the original format.  An advantage to the formating is that I am able to view many varieties of products without spending the time and money learning the language of the original product.  Another advantage is that I am able to become aware of other cultures and societies that would otherwise be unavailable to me.  The global media products that I tend to use are international news websites (http://english.aljazeera.net/) and radio (http://www.bachataradio.com/bachataradioondemand.htm) to gain further perspective about current and past events, as well as learn about issues and events not covered my media in the United States.  Furthermore, I enjoy listening to a vast variety of music from around the world in the native languages and in traditional form to try to experience what other people experience through their language.  An example is . This leads to my next point of discussion on why I have mixed feelings on globalization.
            The final point of interest that I want to talk about is my mixed feelings on globalization.  I am passionate about learning about the world of which I live in and believe that everyone needs to try their best to keep up to date on what is happening around the world within their means.  The overall trend started out bad back when european were invading countries left and right.  Though over time countries have become more conscious, the countries that have been attacked have lost some of their history, their culture, social values and local religion.  There are many points to mention, but these are what I value most and see as paramount in the in discussion on globalization.