Globalization: Is it a Good Thing?

A lot of people have benefited from globalization, but others are suffering because of it.  Globalization is sometimes blamed for speeding up some of the most serious problems humans face (the topics of your essays).  What do you know about globalization?  What are some pros and cons? 

If you don't know anything about it, read the Wikipedia entry about it.  After reading, tell us whether you are for or against it, and why, and give some examples.

Shopping

We all know that we can save electricity by turning off lights etc.  In your last posts, some of you also mentioned taking your own bags to supermarkets, and not wasting food, water etc.

One of the biggest things we can do as individuals to help the environment is think about our shopping habits.  As soon as you buy something, that creates space on the shop shelf for another of those goods to replace it.  If we don't buy so many things, companies will have to wait longer before producing more of them. That means they use less electricity. 

If enough people stop buying unnecssary products, companies will have to stop making that junk altogether.  You probably disagree with me, but in my opinion the tamagochi is one of the most stupid products ever made.  Why would anyone buy that?  I'll never understand. Tamagochi = huge waste of resources, but it's only one example.

Please write about your shopping habits.  What kind of shopper are you?

For example, do you only buy things you need?  Do you buy things "on the spur of the moment" (= you never saw it or thought about buying it before, but as soon as you see it, you buy it).  Have you ever bought something, and only used it once or twice? Do you ever buy clothes at "used" shops?  Do you wear clothes until they are very old, or throw them away after a year or two?  If you decide you don't want something, do you just throw it away, or do you try to ask a friend if they would like to use it?  Do you buy small amounts of groceries at a time (so you don't need to throw anything away)? etc

How Energy Conscious are You?

No one really doubts that, in the near future, the world is going to have a serious problem producing enough energy to meet the needs of a huge and fast-growing population.  The efforts of individuals to be careful about how they use energy will not solve the problem, but it will at least be helpful. We all need to be thoughtful about how we use electricity, try not to buy needless products, or throw away things that could be re-used etc.

How about you?  What do you do in your daily life that you think is a good habit (that anyone who cares about protecting the Earth should also do)?  Have you ever noticed anything in your neighborhood that you think is wasteful (e.g. too much bright lighting in supermarkets etc)?