Shopaholic Reform: Friday's Daily Damage (7/30)

Saturday, July 31

Friday's Daily Damage (7/30)

$300 - Cross Cultural Solutions
$19.65 - Whiskey Priest (I don't know why I keep giving this place a chance...loud, full of annoying meat-heads, and terrible service...such a shame b/c it has such great potential)
$10 - MBTA (adding $$ on my Charlie Card)
$50ish - Bank of America Pavilion and Bar at the Intercontinental Hotel (drinks)

TOLD you I was going to make a big purchase. Now let me explain...
Cross Cultural Solutions is a non-profit that organizes volunteer trips abroad. I will be spending 3 weeks in New Delhi, India this upcoming February, and will most likely be working with HIV/AIDS patiently, namely children and their families, but will find out for sure once I talk with my program director.

Image courtesy of Stuck in Customs.

As some of you may know, I will be turning the big 3-Oh this February (the day before my program starts in India...so I'll be spending my actual b-day in an airport, boo) and what says holy hell I'm getting old better than running away to a developing country? Conveniently enough a friend of mine, who is the one who sold me on this program will also be celebrating her birthday (the insignificant 2-9) in February so we shall celebrate together over a plate of naan in India...hmmm delicious.

I'm sure I'll be boring you with more details in the coming months, but for now suffice it to say I'm incredibly excited and also a bit nervous about this trip. It's going to be INTENSE, but amazing. Oh yes, and expensive too! BUT I plan on doing a little fundraising (a.k.a. panhandling/begging/bank robbing) to help defer the costs, think of this as a 3 week long marathon for HIV/AIDS awareness. Obviously a worthy cause, and one which you should contribute to. Oh yeah, and it's tax deductible! :)

Image courtesy of Stuck in Customs.

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Something to Chew On...

The downside to Globalization

1. “The general complaint about globalization is that it has made the rich richer while making the non-rich poorer. It is wonderful for managers and investors, but hell on workers and nature.”¹

2. Multinational corporations are accused of social injustice, unfair working conditions (including slave labor wages and poor living and working conditions), as well as a lack of concern for the environment, mismanagement of natural resources, and ecological damage.

3. Multinational corporations which were previously restricted to commercial activities are increasingly influencing political decisions. Many think there is a threat of corporations ruling the world because they are gaining power due to globalization.

4. Opponents say globalization makes it easier for rich companies to act with less accountability. They also claim that countries’ individual cultures are becoming overpowered by Americanization.

5. Anti-globalists also claim that globalization is not working for the majority of the world. During the most recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment, 1960 to 1998, inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. The UN Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's population consume 86 percent of the world's resources, while the poorest 80 percent consume just 14 percent.

6. Some experts think that globalization is also leading to the incursion of communicable diseases. Deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS are being spread by travelers to the remotest corners of the globe.

7. Globalization has led to exploitation of labor. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in inhumane conditions. Safety standards are ignored to produce cheap goods. There is also an increase in human trafficking.

8. Social welfare schemes or “safety nets” are under great pressure in developed countries because of deficits and other economic ramifications of globalization.

As manufacturing continues to decline, so does our ability to innovate. In the long term, this means fewer well-paid jobs, lower productivity, declining wages, declining living standards and low economic growth. Globalization is a big part of this decline and will affect all jobs and all sectors of the economy. From the point of view of multinational corporations and Wall Street investors, globalization is probably viewed as a wonderful phenomenon with many opportunities. But from the point of view of American manufacturers, manufacturing workers, the middle class, professional service workers and overall economic growth, I think the disadvantages far out weigh the advantages.

-Mike Collins, The Pros and Cons of Globalization (2010)