Final Paper Introduction

Thomas Kang
History and Globalization
Final Paper Sample: Introduction

As globalization affects every corner of the modern world, those who fail to adopt the free market, liberalized, and interconnected system simply cannot compete on the global market. The war against communism lead by the United States allowed for the spread of capitalist ideas that would allow this global market to flourish. In simple economic terms, a global capitalist system allows for countries to use their comparative advantage in order to most efficiently allocate their resources in the form of imports and exports. This proves to be such an economic catalyst that the world has witnessed its necessity in cases such as the utter failure that is the isolationist Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. While Adam Smith’s famous “invisible hand” of the free market would simply be too restricted under any normal communist rule, China has become the center of much debate. Whether it is a vegetarian steakhouse, a littering environmentalist, or an Argentinian Pele fanatic, such obvious contradictions seem so abstract that, “it strips the original thing of all meaning”5. Capitalism within a Communist party seems hypocritical enough. However, since President Jiang Zemin allowed a capitalist economy to join the Chinese Communist party in the 1990s, China as a nation has experienced nothing but immense progress. Do not expect an influx in communist capitalism however. The timing of China’s development as a nation coincided perfectly with the development of the utmost and paramount device of modern day globalization: the Internet.
First invented in the 1950s by the United State Military during the Cold War, the dynamics of the Internet have gone through a complete transformation. The World Wide Web combined with modern day technology including smart phones, tablet, and laptops, every corner in the globe is open for instant communication. Moreover, combine the ease of use with the popularization social media and the result is the rapid spread of ideas, cultures, and beliefs most notably among young adults. The Internet has become a powerful tool for the spread young social activism around the globe.
In this way, the Internet has become a double-edged sword wielded by the Chinese government. On one hand, the Internet caused a flood of technological advancements and many Multinational corporations that produce this technology turn to China’s immense and inexpensive work force for manufacturing. Industry has been a major part of china’s economy, so much so that it is valued at 46.74 % of the Chinese gross domestic product as of 20112. Furthermore, by incorporating the most up to date technologies from the West combined with luring foreign investors in with the booming Chinese economy, the Chinese Internet sector has seen staggering progress in the core areas of technology media and telecommunications11. However, on the other side of the blade lies the fact that the Internet has, “provided a brand-new platform for public campaigns among Chinese intellectuals and independent thinkers” 11. This combined with the largest Internet user population in the world at over 500 billion results in the increasing strength in China’s young civil society10. As of now China is able to reap the economic benefits of the Internet and is mostly successful in suppressing potential threats to the Communist government. However, while the Internet has played an essential role in China's rapid economic growth, it has also fostered the strength and development of a young anti-Communist civil society, a looming threat that could eventually prove to be the Party's downfall.