Burn After Reading

Not to start making anyone reading this think that my life revolves around movies, but I went to see Burn After Reading this weekend, and beyond being a hilariously bizarre film, there was a moment that stuck out and made me think of this blog.

Brad Pitt played an enthusiastic, optimistic gym employee that thought he had his hands on a sensitive piece of information accidentally dropped by a CIA agent. In an attempt to get some kind of reward out of the find, he brought it to the Russian embassy. When passing it off to a man there, he was asked something along the lines of "Are you trying to use this for an ideology?" With a look that portrayed complete ignorance and suspicion of a trick question, he replied. "I don't think so...?"

I laughed, along with much of the audience, but I had to stop and wonder. How many people in the world today don't actually know what an ideology is? I'll be honest, I didn't have a clear understanding before this course began. I had no idea that there had to be political motives involved. With ideologies being a surprisingly strong driving force in the world today, it's sad to think that there may very well be such ignorant forces in the world.

Outsourced

So, I watched a film yesterday called Outsourced. It was about a guy whose job is outsourced to India. He is then charged with training the people that are going to be replacing his fellow employers. In going to India to "teach America" to the new workers, he also learns a great deal about India. At the end of the movie, his boss tells him that the Indian workers' jobs are going to be outsourced again to China, and that he'll be heading there to train them in the same way that he trained the Indians. He quits his job and goes back to the US.

There were several things that were very obvious about the message of this movie. One point was that while economic globalization may seem very easy to orchestrate, cultural globalization is trailing behind, and also slowing down economic globalization at least a little bit. Another point was that economic globalization does not necessarily care about cultural globalization beyond how it effects the financial end of things. And the last bit I pulled out was that economic globalization is not benefiting everyone.

Clearly, this movie was not created by globalists. They portrayed outsourcing as semi-absurd, emphasizing how culture can get in the way by basing the movie on a company that sells patriotic American kitch. They showed further personal culture clashes for the main character through his hunt for a cheeseburger, his lack awareness of the celebration of Holi, and further ignorance of marriage and social customs. And they painted the face of globalism as a money-mad boss, looking to get 22 heads for the price of 1, no matter who they are and what hours they will have to work to cooperate with the USA.

Beyond the actual message of the movie, I found it interesting to think that globalization has grown into such a big issue as to become the theme of a comedy for the entertainment industry. I think this is probably due to the popularity of globalism in the past, which is ironic given the stand that the movie producers took.

Not much more to say on that, this was just a casual curiosity and commentary.

Notice of Intent

Welcome to my blog on globalization and globalism. I've created this space with the intention of recording and expressing my thoughts on the differences, relationships, and influences of globalization and globalism. I'm currently taking a course called Seminar in Contemporary World Issues that is focusing on these topics, but it is a prevalent part of society today regardless. While I cannot offer a professional perspective, I can provide a student voice on the matter. Whether it's theoretical discussion or simple observation, if it has to do with globalism or globalization, it'll show up here.

The three books that I'll be reading over the course of the semester are Globalism: Market Ideology Meets Terrorism by Manfred B. Steger, Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World Is Possible by John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander, and The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David C. Korten. I have yet to see whether or not these books are in line with my own viewpoints. I invite you to listen in as I find out!