Moral Challenges To Globalization

Chapter 5
Moral Challenges of Globalization
Globalization and Ethical Challenges

According to Sarah Oelberg who delivered a sermon on January 11, 2002, globalization
is the name given the reality that the world is becoming more and more closely linked by
international trade, monetary policy, investments, and high-speed communication. In a world of
limited resource, we are faced with the competing values of politics, corporate power, religion
and simply humanity.
Globalization per se is not evil; in fact, it is both inevitable and desirable. The world is
not the same as it was in the past; we are necessarily part of a world community, and that
community needs to work together to make life better for everyone. That is the promise of
globalization, and that is why many people support it. In the eyes of its proponents, it is the result
of forces driving a powerful engine of technological innovation and economic growth that is
strengthening human freedom, spreading democracy, and creating the wealth needed to end
poverty and save the environment throughout the globe- the interdependent web made manifest.
It certainly sounds good; it even appears to fit right into our UU principles. We should all be for
globalization, right? So, when "Economic Globalization “was put forth as one of the proposed
study-action issues to be voted upon at the General Assembly last June, we did not vote for it.
For one thing, we had swallowed the claim that this was a humanitarian movement, design to
bring a higher standard of living and more equality to people all over the world. Oh, I knew there
were some problems with it, problems that had concerned many people to the point that they had
protested meetings were Globalization was discussed, but we thought most of these protesters
were single-issue demagogues who were using globalization to raise their issues. Economic
Globalization is the ultimate threat to humanity.
In the same vein, Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 discussed
about the moral challenges of globalization. He said that there is economic crisis now with nearly
a billion and a half people who have no access to clean water, and a billion lives is miserably
substandard housing, it is a leadership crisis when we allow wealth to be concentrated in fewer
and fewer hands, so that the world's three richest individuals have assets that exceed the
combined gross domestic product of the poorest 48 countries. There is spiritual crisis when
Gandhi said that many people are so poor that they can only see God in the form of break, and
when other individuals seen only to have faith in a capricious God whose “invisible hand” guide
the free market. It is a democratic crisis when 1.3 billion people live an income of less than one
dollar a day, and in their unrelenting poverty are totally excluded from public decision-making.
In times of crisis many falters, they think only in terms individual and fail to accept their
human obligations. But this cowardice is a choice. It is our choice, and we have another option.
Instead of permitting the dominant values of selfishness, military built-up, and a love of money
to prevail, we can choose to reclaim our most noble aspirations. This means affirming some of
the ethical maxims that guide virtuous communities, but that have been too quickly overlooked
in recent times, that all people have a right to work for a living wage. That all have a
responsibility to think sustainably, to live in harmony with the natural environment. And that all
people should have equal opportunity to access educational, cultural, and financial resources
while we look back to these established principles, we must seek to broaden the scope of our
moral concern more than ever before. In recent years as the world has emerged from the painful
experience of colonialism genocide, and superpower tensions, the nascent structures of an
international humanism have appeared. The challenge of the current generation is to embrace this
global citizenship S to think about security, democracy, and justice on a worldwide scale.
Human Services
The first step toward global thinking requires that we adopt a definition of peace that
goes beyond the short-sighted demands of national security. To this end, United Nations Human
Development Program stresses the need for us instead to think of peace in terms of human
security. This distinction bears frequent repetition. Human security is not just a concern with
weapons S it is a concern with human life and dignity. The Marytyred Salvadoran Archbishop,
Oscar Romero, eloquently expressed this idea. He told his people that “the only peace that God
wants is a peace based on justice.”
Indeed, how can we say that there is peace when thousands are made to work in
dehumanizing conditions? How can we say that there is peace when the United States builds
more prisons and fewer schools? How can we say that there is peace when the millions go
hungry? In the age of globalization, those who make peaceful changes in our economy, politics,
and morality will make inevitable the future conflicts arising from the unacceptable inequalities
that we describe earlier.
Democratic Values
The second step in Global thinking is to expand our understanding of democracy. Too
often, democracy is discussed only in its formal mode, People are satisfied that democracy has a
place in the constitution of the state but make no room for democracy in the constitution of their
own soul. They do not let it affect their daily interactions, their personal relationships, or their
professional ambitions.
For this reason, some of our greatest leaders have called for profound change in our
values. But a democratic revolution is not merely sentimental and individualistic. Yes, it
demands changes in the way we live and the way we understand ourselves, but it also promises
to change the structures that govern our society. For, at its core, democracy is a radical
philosophy of civic participation. It is the faith that through public dialogue and inclusive
deliberation, ordinary individuals can build ever better systems for living together. Democracy
rests on the need for all citizens, not only the most powerful people, to be able to influence
meaningfully the political and economic institutions that affect their lives.
As people begin to renew their faith in democracy, each of them must reconsider the
priviliges they enjoy as citizen in a prosperous country such as the Philippines and as
beneficiaries of this fine college/university. As students you must embrace the responsibility that
comes with this privilege. In this democratic country there is no room for guilt, but only for
compassion; the point is not to feel guilty about the privileges you have received, but to feel
always committed to the struggle to guarantee that all people may live such dignified lives. There
is no place for resignation, but only determination; although world problems may seem
overwhelming, you must be determined to make your mark against poverty, terrorism,
corruption, inequalities. There is no stopping now, instead you must expand your solidarity, your
concern for the health and well-being of others and of course don't forget yourselves; remember
the saying in Tagalog:" Sipag,Tiyaga at Determinasyon" (STD) to finish your career so as to
reach your goal.

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Chapter 5

Moral Challenges of Globalization

Globalization and Ethical Challenges

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