GEC 5E CONTEMPORARY WORLD Class ID: 1860484 Professor/Instructor: Edmundo A. Tobes Chapter 2 Activities Justine Jane B. Vibar BS Nursing 1E I. Student ID: 205062 Process Questions | Page 24 1. Do you think that the Philippines is harmed as other countries transfer their activities to us through outsourcing? In some ways, our country have benefitted from outsourcing. It has provided jobs, created new industries3 and allowed a new convenient way to grow our economy albeit unconventional. However, we cannot deny that it also had harmed us during it. Labor outsourcing has caused workers to be in and out of jobs because of “endo” contracts; it has exploited child labor with working environment that’s not ideal. These are just few among others. Our country still have a long way to go when it comes to achieving fair labor laws and reaching the ideal economic status. 2. In what ways do international organizations help our country’s economy? International organizations, albeit being frowned upon by the current growing ‘invest local’ movement, have helped shape our economy through monetary support. These international orgs go to countries like ours to make profits but they also have to share those profits to the country their outsourcing to, this allows our country to give the economy a little boost. 3. Does the position of rich countries as giants in the economic chain threaten the status of less developed countries in the global market? Rich countries does affect the economy of less developed ones, does it pose as a threat? Yes and no. Small countries benefit from rich countries in the sense that they’re saved from having to invest in risky development projects such as in technological advancements. Small countries benefit from giant ones through exporting goods and services towards a large population of consumers in these giant countries which in return helps grow these small countries’ economies. But small countries are also threatened for being exploited and experiencing. High demands for high skilled workers will bring higher wages for quality goods and high skilled workers, which may also mean that there will be less demand for low skilled workers which in return lowers their wages. This creates an inequality within both the national and global market level. And because low-cost workers exist in these small nations, there is also the chance for exploitation to occur. Activity: Follow the PRODUCT 1. Divide the class into seven groups. Each group will be assigned to any one of the following products being sold in the Philippines. The group shall choose a specific foreign brand of the product assigned to them. a. Coffee 2. List down the main ingredients or raw material in manufacturing the chosen product. Identify the corresponding country from which each ingredient or raw material came from. The main material used for manufacturing coffee is coffee bean which may come from countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Uganda, Philippines, Hawaii (US), and Indonesia. 3. Identify the countries involved in the manufacturing of the chosen product, Indicate the corresponding service the country does for the product. Countries Involved in Coffee Manufacturing procedures: - Harvesting and Cherry Processing – Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia, Ethiopia, Philippines, etc. - Coffee milling – same countries where coffee is being harvested - Coffee roasting and grinding – United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Sweden, etc. - Packaging – Switzerland, Spain, UT, China, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, etc 4. Aside from the Philippines, list other countries in which the product is being sold. Coffee consumer countries include mainly the US, UK, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Egypt, etc. 5. Cite the kinds of technology that made the creation of the product. Share your statement with your groupmates and indicate whether you agree or disagree with their statements. - II. Coffee Bean Sorting machines, coffee grinders (manual or electric), coffee pulping machines, coffee hulling machines, coffee roasting machines, instant coffee powder processing machines, and more machines that utilize electricity. Process Questions | page 35 1. What is the impact of global flows on the global South? The impact of global flows on the South is seen in the economies, wealth, and income of the respective nations. Countries belonging to the global South are those associated as impoverished and/or developing, the economies of these have not yet caught up to the fast-tracked global market. The wealth and income inequality had posed the South as those disadvantaged what with their low GDP and lack of assets. The impact of this inequality results for nations of the South are being left behind and more often than not exploited. 2. Examine the gap between rural and urban areas across the globe. How is that gap affected by globalization? The gap for the rural and urban areas is resonated with the fact that (1) the industrial development in urban areas overpowers the agricultural development in rural areas, (2) rural market products are priced low unlike in urban markets, and (3) there is a disparity in income and resources. This gap is becoming greater because of globalization in which it’s creating a migration movement from rural to urban. The different demands of the global market requires not only human resources but also materials. The rural areas are rich in material resources while the urban areas are rich in skilled labor workers. But because there is much more demand for human labor when it comes to global industries which commonly practices outsourcing, there is much more income in urban areas which results to people from rural areas mass migrating to cities with the hopes to apply for paid labor. 3. What do you think is the impact of urbanization and the rise of global city on the agricultural sector? . The agricultural sector in most countries are mostly based in rural areas whom are considered to be less developed than in urban counterparts. But with the rise of global cities, the agricultural sector of these rural areas are thriving through export of products that are not traditionally produced in urban areas. This has made it possible for them to develop their micro economy and be able to compete in their respective national market. Activity: The Global Free Trade on Trial This is a debate activity which intends to show the stance of the students regarding economic globalization. Argue based on this statement: “Global free trade has done more harm than good.” I agree on the presented statement above. While I do think that international free trade has been a helpful tool for nations to develop their own economies, I also know that it has more often caused harm and damage to the economic stability in developing countries. It is easy for foreign companies to invade the national market and decrease the competitiveness by causing low demands for local commodities and services. An example for that is the international influence of luxury brands whom immediately took over in our country as soon as celebrities started promoting the luxury lifestyle. Because free trade can become cheap, the demand now goes to foreign products. Free trade can really hurt domestic commerce. Another example to this is when foreign companies outsource from developing countries. Thus, national resources decreases. This also lowers the labor standards because most company only ever outsource because of the cheapness of labor. Additionally, cheap labor only lowers the income rate of lower class families. This does not help when your country is still alleviating from poverty. There is no progress in the economy and the market when there are no policies and standards for free trade. In summary, global free trade has done more harm than good in the sense that it can only hurt developing economies and nations. III. Process Questions | page 42 1. In the case of the Philippines, how much do you think are we involved in the modern world-system? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of being a part of such? The Philippines, considering it is a developing country but not yet developed enough to be called a middle-income country, can be as much involved in the modern world-system as part of the periphery. The advantage of being a periphery is that we’re still contributing to the system through cheaper resources such as labor and materials. The downside to this is that we are prone to exploitation which will hinder our development towards becoming economically independent. 2. How can we “upgrade” our economy given the strength of the global economy, especially the giant economies like the United States and Japan? We cannot compare our progress to that of big nations. What we can do is look at them as examples and learn from them. We can also start by focusing on our middle class and allowing their growth. For one, investing in tax breaks and tax reduction to citizens of low socioeconomic backgrounds can alleviate the disparity created by income and class gap. Another is to increase employment rates and giving healthcare incentives to citizens. Additionally, we could start opening our economy for foreign investors. Not necessarily remove regulations regarding the subject, but we can reform and let go of those policies that do not align to the new vision for our economy. But all of this would not be possible with our current government wherein corrupt, inadequate and inconsistent people are sitting. The state of our politics must be addressed as they are the ones creating policies, regulations, and projects all of which may encumber this economic growth plan. 3. How do we examine economic globalization considering our colonial history? Our colonial past had definitely tracked us into improving economically as Spaniards and Americans have helped us shape our national economic system. But the colonial past is far long gone, we cannot simply bring it up in every conversation. At least not when we’re talking about the modern globalization movement. While global was already being practiced by people of the past, the subject of globalization is rather a new one. There’ not much in our colonial past to connect to the new movement. GEC 5E CONTEMPORARY WORLD Class ID: 1860484 Professor/Instructor: Edmundo A. Tobes Chapter 3 Activities Justine Jane B. Vibar BS Nursing 1E I. Student ID: 205062 Process Questions | Page 44 1. What are the effects of the information revolution in today’s global market? Third-world impoverished societies are making new wave of economic advances that are resulting in a new generation of commercial, technological, and informational transformations. This is the impact of the information revolution. People who would never have met otherwise are interacting on a global scale. This has caused in the emergence of new sectors, markets and economies that would not have existed otherwise. Knowledge can now be distributed in real time as a result of developments in the information technology, ensuring that there are no gaps in global delivery. 2. What are the effects of multinational corporations in the Philippine’s economy? I think that the effects of the multinational foreign corporations have beneficial on the Philippine economy. The great thing was that they bring jobs which is very important to a developing country like us when the unemployment rate is relatively high. Secondly they train workers and bring expertise to our country. Developing companies and even new business can learn management skills from these foreign corporations. 3. Analyze socialism and capitalism in relation with the Philippine society. Which of these economic systems would work in our country? In a country so rooted in consumerism, it is a guarantee that socialism will not work in our country. Although I do not like the capitalism for its unfair system fuelling anti-poor and classist mentality, I really think that capitalism will work, only if regulated. We cannot ignore that our economy has been rooted to that same system since industrialization has been introduced to our country. People have grown to become materialists and have revel in the addicting highs of buying things. Activity: Weighing the Market 6. Listed below are the scenarios that have to do with the economy. In pairs, discuss the major impacts of these scenarios whether they are positive or negative (for you, for the country, or for the Filipinos). The “Case-by-case” column can be used. Justify your answers. Scenario Positive Negative Case-by-Case Scenario A These foreign investors can create new jobs and allow a change in the economy. Exploitation of farmlands and loss of the agricultural economy. These newly developed real estate and subdivisions may help in growing the local economy by attracting foreign investors and potential new homeowners. This will create more new jobs and may actually help grow the market in that locality. However, once people realize the benefits of the new changes, there will be a possibility that they will go on to exploit more farmlands to turn into new land for infrastructures. This can hurt the agricultural economy by decreasing their land ownership which will also decrease crop production and agricultural income. Scenario B You got a new shirt. Your money will help with local and international delivery services. It’s a tedious work. You’re going to wait for weeks before that shirt is delivered. It’s also not sustainable because of the long transportation journey. The negative outweighs the positive. It’s so tedious. Plus, you’re not supporting a local business. It’s easier to just purchase something that’s near you. The rice is imported from foreign countries. This is a scenario wherein it’s going to benefit the other party more. Our agricultural revenue instead of being invested into our local rice farmers, is being funneled into foreign rice exporters. This is only going to worsen the crisis. Sure, for the Scenario C We’ll have a lot more rice supply. Scenario D If my dad would accept the relocation, it would be a risky decision. Scenario E This is a definite negative situation. It will not help anyone. mean time we could import rice, but this should not be the only solution. For one, we don’t know which country he will be relocated. If he’s relocated somewhere like the US, sure we’d push to have him leave us. There will be more opportunity for him in first world countries. But what if he’s relocated in India? The working conditions in developing countries is not good. My mom lost her money because of the global financial crisis. Money she’s earned will be lost in just seconds. I don’t know how that money will benefit the economy. 7. How did you decide for each scenario? What are the pros and cons that you list down before you came up with the final judgment? In deciding for each scenario, whatever came to my mind I’d write it down immediately. I was mostly guided by my intuition. You would know a situation is not good if it’s not benefitting the primary benefactors. Let’s have scenario E in example. When you save up money for retirement, who’s supposed to be the primary benefactor of the money? Of course, you who saved up the money. But when the global crisis hit your country, suddenly the money you’ve saved up is lost and used up to rebuild the economy in crisis which was not even your fault in the first place. So it really does not make any sense if you think that losing money to be spent in a global crisis will be beneficial to you. II. Process Questions | Page 55 1. Analyze the “global” nature of multinational corporations. What makes multinational corporations global is the fact that they operate and have established facilities in multiple countries. A multinational company generally only goes global when they plan to extend their business or office to other countries and more often these MNC goes outside their home country to outsource production materials and labor. They do this to save up costs in production by purchasing cheap materials and labor. Usually it is the developing countries that offer outsourcing services. This practice helps create jobs and allow advancements to these developing countries which will potentially not only boost the market and economy but also alleviate the development gap. However, this system of MNCs can really hurt the countries being outsourced especially when there are no fair regulations and policies put in for the workers and the companies. The intention by MNCs for outsourcing may be initially good but the impact it made on countries like ours have created conflict, inequality and exploitation and had only widen the socioeconomic gap. 2. Do you think the positive effects of multinational corporations outweigh the negative effects? Why or why not? No, it does not. For one the positive impacts of multinational corporations has only benefitted the upper class more, these refer to those who work in the corporation itself operating in high position. These corporations have one primary motive when they plan to cut production costs, and it is to make much more money. They could give workers their right to fair salaries, but mostly these corporations would ignore this and proceed to exploit the services of these workers for a low pay. The generated money that comes from these products and services are only compounded to the people who are sitting in high buildings unaware of the human rights violations they’ve actually committed. 3. What do you think are the ways to lessen, if not eliminate, the negative consequences of multinational corporations? The first initiative we can have is to limit the influence or participation of MNCs in our political scene. There have been instances that big MNCs bribe the government to give them exemption in policies or even to make policies to suit the needs of big MNCs. We can’t deny that MNCs have been great for our country in terms of economy and development. But we can’t turn blind when there have been instances that MNCs cut taxes, remove regulations, and ease restrictions which can potentially create monopolies and harbor an unfair system for workers and local business. So to eliminate these negative consequences, we must first remove these MNCs in our political process and allow ourselves to really scrutinize the system to permit establishment of fairer policies and regulations. GEC 5E CONTEMPORARY WORLD Class ID: 1860484 Professor/Instructor: Edmundo A. Tobes Chapter 4 Activities Justine Jane B. Vibar BS Nursing 1E I. II. Student ID: 205062 Process Questions | Page 63 1. Examine the interaction between the nation-state and international organizations. Which has the greatest impact on governments? It depends on the different areas, for example, in policy-making, while international organizations are seen as policy actors as opposed to just policy advisors or meditators, they are more linked to globalized policy discourse which are implemented to the majority of the governments worldwide. On the contrary, nation-state organizations are directly linked to the national government. Each state has its own right to self-determination and independence to which other countries cannot intervene on their affairs unless reasonable exemption or instances when international human rights standards are violated. Thus, international organizations are capable of intervening and handling global policies but only to an extent. Cases like global movements and crises where a single nation-state cannot hope to tackle and deal on their own is when the greatest impacts of international organizations are displayed as an aid for global governance to each government. Moreover, in the economy, the international organizations set the rules of free-market capitalism where governments of individual states are deemed to conform. 2. Do civil society and INGOs strengthen or undermine the role of the governments in international relations? Why or why not? Rather than pulling down the government, civil societies and INGOs do strengthen the role of the government through filling the loopholes and gaps that may not be covered by government organizations. In fact, they support global governance through many different ways, such as voluntary organizations, local associations, movements and so on to attempt to shape and influence forms of governance. These organizations tend to hold the governments accountable, thus, adding pressure to adhere progressive policies or better the government as a whole. A progressive government means that more states would trust your upbringing and will then create a chain of international links and relations. 3. Are the civil society and other organizations truly separated from the governments’ actions and policies? In what ways can the state maintain its sovereignty and globalization? No, they are all linked together but may also have a degree of separation, in other states. Whatever the policies created by the government are implemented are rendered to be followed by civil societies and other organizations. The actions taken by the government will determine the steps to be taken by organizations. A way to maintain the sovereignty of the state other than instilling patriotism to its citizens is maintaining or developing the economic status of your country. The key to supreme power is the economic one held by the states. As such, most politicians are mainly puppets of corporate interest. If economic security is done, rest assured that a state will maintain its sovereignty and global influence. Process Questions | Page 72 1. Compare and contrast globalism and informationalism. Globalism is the idea of interconnectedness between countries that transcends distances and it considers the operation of national decisions in a global scale. It is focused on the interactions between individuals and collectives. Meanwhile, Informationalism is the replacement of industrialism with modern technological advancements wherein international cross-border information exchange, made possible by media and internet, give more importance on individual interactions. Their difference is on the interactions that takes place in these two concepts. But the similarities of these two is that not only do they revel in the idea of interconnectedness but both also are aspects of globalization. 2. What are the barriers to our collective learning in the age of information? While globalization allowed the expansion of information, access to learning is not a universal matter that is available to every person around the world. The internet and other technologies are still limited by certain barriers which include lack of electricity, poverty, illiteracy, weak financial systems, and government regulations. Today there are still millions of people around the world who are not fortunate enough to experience the benefits of today’s age of information. Because there are people who cannot afford the internet or even schooling, collective learning becomes impossible. 3. Will geopolitical boundaries and physical barriers still be relevant in the future given the nature of information and information revolution? Yes if we are going to let these boundaries to persist. The information revolution kick started because there were people who saw the barriers to learning and decided to take charge and allow people to access knowledge within their hands. And if we are going to do the same to these current impossibilities, if we address these and find ways to go over them, then these geopolitical and physical barriers will be irrelevant in the future. Activity: Collecting Posts, Connecting the World We live in a world where we are surrounded by vast amount of information. It is all around us. We can get information from books, television, newspaper, and online websites. The World Wide Web has made us familiar with digital technology and allows us to communicate with other people around the world. Moreover, our collective learning could also be sided by modern technology. Social media is one of the ways in which information is exchanged today. In this activity, we will realize how connected we are in terms of the posts that we see in the Web. Although we do not have face-to-face interaction, we could somehow relate with others in this virtual space – the internet – which largely shaped the flow of information in the contemporary world. 1. Using your social media account (e.g. Facebook or Twitter accounts), browse you home page and observe the posts of your friends. 2. Choose and list down at least 30 randomly selected posts. The names of your friends can be excluded. 3. Group the post according to theme. Some of the themes may be about a product, an educational post, a movie, an opinion, a religious verse, or a status about one’s personal life. Feel free to construct your own title for the posts that you are going to group together. 4. Share the themes you have created by answering the following questions: a. Which theme has the most number of posts? - Art themed posts have the most posts. b. Which post has the most number of shares? - Pets themed posts have more shares than other themes. c. What are the common themes that you and your classmate have identified? - The most common theme is art. d. Have you posted anything in the past that is similar with the posts you listed? Describe it. - Yes, I have had an art account on Instagram but I eventually abandoned it because I couldn’t keep up with making art just to post something.
