The Gospel of Globalization

Blog 10: Globalization

My favorite dessert ever, is tirimusù, from Italy. Right now, if I could choose any band to listen to, it would be “Of Monsters and Men”, who hail from Iceland. The computer sitting on my lap was conceived of in the US, produced in China, and named for a Frenchman from a French book (Porthos from The Three Musketeers). I am an American girl; born and raised in Washington State, who hasn’t been to New York let alone out of the Continental United State, yet somehow I consume products and ideas from all around the world. Thank you globalization. However, I should probably take that back when I think about how globalization has also helped exploit resources and peoples in less developed countries, and how it has helped to bring about large scale conflicts involving all parts of the world, like WWII, and the Cold War. Globalization has even taken the revolution in Syria, and made it a worldwide issue because everyone is allied with one side or the other—a local conflict as become global. Looking at both sides of this equation, I have to ask, are my favorite things worth such destruction?

            It is true that as the world continues to create new mechanisms for communication, and information sharing, that we will become more connected economically, politically, and culturally. That is what it means to be globalized; it does not mean that globalization is good. Because of this we can share ideas and technologies for bettering mankind; countries can produce to their comparative advantage and trade. The Golden Arches theory teaches us that countries that have McDonald’s don’t go to war with each other because they are too economically interconnected (Friedman). Yet at the same time as globalization has increased so has ethnic conflict. In the Middle East in particular, the Jihadist movements against westernization—the sensation that is sweeping the “internation”—has caused increased fighting and terrorist activities (Barber). Given, all there factor, how can one decide if globalization is a good thing?

            What if we take a look at the world from a different perspective: how does globalization affect the LDS church? Since its birth, the LDS church has swept through 162 of the 214 countries in the world. Currently, there are 14,441,346 members of the church. The church has demonstrated a pattern of exponential growth that correlates closely with the growing interconnectedness of the World. It took 117 years for the church to reach the 1 million member mark, sixteen years later, in 1963, it had reached 2, million, and another eight years after that, 3,000,000 (“Growth of the Church”). Now there are over 14 million members. As members of this church we are taught that the Gospel will spread throughout the world. Globalization spurs the work of the Lord. It is my firm testimony that as the church continues to grow and proliferate, it will bring with it peace and prosperity to all nations. So, is globalization good thing or bad thing? I argue that it is one of the greatest phenomena to sweep us yet.  

Barber, Benjamin R. "Jihad vs. McWorld." The Atlantic. The Atlantic, Mar. 1992. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

Friedman, Thomas L. "Foreign Affairs Big Mac I." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Dec. 1996. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

"Growth of the Church." Www.mormonnewsroom.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topic/church-growth>.