Globalization within the United States
Globalized society in the modern-day United States offers a complex web of forces and factors, bringing people, cultures, markets, beliefs, and practices into increasingly greater proximity to one another. In the United States, this has had a range of both positive and negative effects.
Free Trade
Free trade, which is a component of globalization, is a policy followed by many international markets in which countries' governments do not restrict imports from, or exports to, other countries. The relative costs, benefits, and beneficiaries of free trade are debated by academics, governments, and interest groups.
Economic liberals and neoliberals generally argue that higher degrees of political and economic freedom in the form of free trade in the developed world are ends in themselves, producing higher levels of overall material wealth. Globalization is seen by these proponents as the beneficial spread of liberty and capitalism. However, many in the United States oppose free trade for a variety of reasons.
Free trade is often opposed by domestic industries that would have their profits and market share reduced by lower prices for imported goods. For example, if U.S. tariffs on imported sugar were reduced, U.S. sugar producers would receive lower prices and profits, while U.S. sugar consumers would spend less for the same amount of sugar because of those same lower prices. Proponents of socialism frequently oppose free trade on the ground that it allows maximum exploitation of workers by capital: the process of free trade is seen as an end-run around workers' rights and laws that protect individual liberty. The idea of free trade is opposed by many anti-globalization groups, based on the assertion that free trade agreements generally do not increase the economic freedom of the poor or the working class, and frequently make the poor even poorer.
Outsourcing
In business, outsourcing involves the contracting out of a business process to another party. The term "outsourcing" came from the words "outside resourcing," and it can include both foreign and domestic contracting. Globalization allows many American corporations to outsource manufacturing and service jobs from the United States to lower-cost locations (such as developing or Third World countries). The financial savings from lower international labor rates can provide a major motivation for companies to outsource, and many corporations take advantage of the lower wages and lack of benefits they can provide workers in lower-income countries. Some critics of globalization say that this harms poorer countries, while others argue it decreases the jobs available for American citizens at home.
Exporting American Culture
A 2005 report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) showed that, while cultural exchange is becoming more frequent from Eastern Asia in recent years, Western countries are still the main exporters of cultural goods. The term "Americanization" is used to describe the exportation of American culture across the globe, a process related to a period of high political American clout and of significant growth of America's shops, markets, and objects being brought into other countries. Through the process of globalization, American culture has expanded around the globe by spreading pop culture, particularly via the Internet and satellite television. The diffusion of certain cuisines such as American fast food chains is a visible aspect of cultural globalization: the two most successful global food and beverage outlets, McDonald's and Starbucks, are American companies often cited as examples of globalization, with over 32,000 and 18,000 locations operating worldwide, respectively, as of 2008. Of the top ten global brands, seven are based in the United States; Coca-Cola, which holds the top spot, is often viewed as a symbol of Americanization.
Some critics of globalization argue that it harms the diversity of cultures. As a dominating country’s culture (such as that of the United States) is introduced into a receiving country through globalization, it can become a threat to the diversity of local culture. Some argue that globalization may ultimately lead to Westernization or Americanization of culture, where the dominating cultural concepts of economically and politically powerful Western countries spread and cause harm on local cultures. In this way, globalization can contribute to the alienation of individuals from their traditions. Cultural practices including traditional music can be lost or turned into a fusion of traditions. While scholarly opinion typically states that globalization and Americanization are different phenomena, they are inherently linked.
After World War II, American investment in Europe soared, generating much talk of the Americanization of Europe. Public opinion began to resent American advertising and business methods, personnel policies, and the use of the English language by American companies. Criticism was also directed toward the international currency system, which was blamed for inflationary tendencies as a result of the dominant position of the U.S. dollar. By the 1970s, European investment in the United States increased even more rapidly than vice-versa. The basic reason for the U.S. investments is no longer only lower production costs, faster economic growth, or higher profits in Europe, but rather the desire to maintain a competitive position based largely on American technological superiority.
Immigration and Population Changes
One of the ways in which internationalization has become apparent in the United States is through immigration and the resulting demographic changes occurring in the U.S. population. Through the continued process of immigration, the United States is becoming an increasingly ethnically diverse (and, hence, internationalized) country.
The American population more than tripled during the 20th century—at a growth rate of about 1.3% a year—from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. According to the Census Bureau's estimation for 2012, 50.4% of American children under the age of one belonged to so-called "minority" groups. Hispanic and Latinx Americans accounted for almost half (1.4 million) of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006. Immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants are expected to provide most of the U.S. population gains in the decades ahead. The top twelve emigrant countries in 2006 were Mexico (173,753), People's Republic of China (87,345), Philippines (74,607), India (61,369), Cuba (45,614), Colombia (43,151), Dominican Republic (38,069), El Salvador (31,783), Vietnam (30,695), Jamaica (24,976), South Korea (24,386), Guatemala (24,146). Other countries comprise an additional 606,370.
McDonaldization
A kosher McDonald's in Ashkelon, Israel, symbolizes the internationalization of American businesses around the world.