ChingaMzalendo
Senior Member
- Nov 9, 2008
- 192
- 3
Ndugu yetu Yohanna Mashaka kaanzisha mjadala huko kwa mithupu, ila kula vilaza wengi, napenda tu kujua kutoka kwa wachambuzi wa humu kama kweli kuna ukweli wowote humu ndani..
Source: Issa Michuzi
GLOBOLIZATION A CURSE OR A
BLESSING TO THE TANZANIAN POOR?
The past two decades, have been dubbed with optimism, in which the world wealth, were to be redistributed in the context of globalization, characterized by free movement of people, labor expertise- technological revolution and other economic resources, from the world richest to world poorest. This was an invention meant to tame the brute force of poverty across the world. Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred, with the developing nations submerging deeper into massive poverty and destitution while the richer getting the biggest pie.
Major players have won; United States, the Europeans, and Chinese are some of the biggest winners. A few Innovators from the Asian continent such as Indians, South Koreans have also experienced paradigm shift, seeing their exports swelling threefold, and their economic muscle-bicep bulging, while majority of the world poor, seeing their hopes fade away. Globalization debate is quite tricky; each side is blaming the other. Americans and the west for example, are blaming their political leaders for having created an environment that led to some of their jobs being exported at the expense of cheap labor in developing world
Human rights advocates have been decrying for many years, a modern day slavery and exploitation of the minors and world poor, in which underage children, and even professionals around the world, work longer hours at a meager pay. They work in perilous environments, to produce some of world most sought after gadgets and products. Liaoning for example is a Chinese industrial province, where human misery is evidence. Thousands of underage children lines up in the streets each morning to attend torturous and long hours of factory work, producing western bound products.
In Tanzania for example, Globalization has brought about multinationals. It has brought the emergence of social classes, the rich billionaires and the poor. It has also hastened the rapid depletion of natural resources, and made life more miserable to the citizens than previously thought. It has brought exploitation and bolstered corruption. Today as we speak; many corporate giants are operating in our country with impunity. They are importing very basic commodities easily found in the country from their overseas suppliers. This is because we have weak economic policies that do not favor or protect domestic farmers and manufacturers
Globalization has pushed us into dependence, and turned us into a beggar society. Tanzania has become a dumping ground for fake expatriates and dangerous goods from around the world. In the name of free market economy [globalization] our once vibrant, factories have been privatized or simply died. These factories which symbolized our independence, have been sold at throw away prices, and no one dared raising a finger, thank you to globalization and corruption for creating a time bomb of seismic proportion, which needs to be diffused before it is too late
One of the largest beer companies in the country is importing barley; a key ingredient in beer brewing from South Africa, yet the same commodity is available domestically. The same company is importing beer bottles that can be produced domestically, and the clueless consumer is busy feeding into the hype of social responsibility from these multinationals by buying their products without knowing the damage they are causing into our economic vitality. They are denying our farmers a chance to sell their commodities, and our leadership is quite comfortable as if nothing is happening, not knowing that barley farmers in Manyara and killimanjaro needs to sells their agricultural produce to send their children to school.
Policy makers in the countries that have historically benefitted from globalization, including United States, European union, and China, erected monocratic trade barriers benefitting farmers in their respective countries. These wealthy nations refused to end agricultural subsidies and other protectionist mechanisms, thus distorting world commodity prices which would have helped developing nations that depended on farming. They have tightened access to their markets, negating the entire concept of globalization. Why cant we protect our domestic factories and even agricultural farmers from this one sided exploitation?
I am not a proponent of protectionism, I support free trade. However, when policy makers turn a blind eye on very basic economic principals of trade denying local producers a chance to sell their commodities at the local market domestic companies- you wonder what is the gain, for having these companies in our country? Consumers are not going to be blind forever, keeping on drinking beer, without pondering the facts behind the scenes. Consumers are not going to continue supporting, and cheering phone and beer companies forever. They are going to realize the damage and erosion of our morals and values, hidden behind sponsorship of unnecessary entertainment, and beauty pageantry, as opposed to economic development
Many of these multinationals are enjoying massive tax breaks, while hard working Tanzanians both from within and outside the country, are forced to pay fortune for small items they ship from abroad, which in many cases ends up being abandoned anyway, because the shippers have no power to tussle with the TRA officials. Before Gold Company, globally known for serious human right violations stepped into North Mara, the strange diseases being experience never existed, and were unheard of. Water sources were clean, the land was rich with gold, and peoples future was bright.
Today, INNOCENT people have died, and strange skin ailments are becoming so prevalent, that no even care about them anymore. Water sources have been polluted, the land rich with gold is becoming empty craters, and lives of the people are getting worse each and every day. Not to mention the lingering environmental catastrophe. Thank you to globalization, countrys leadership, poor laws, and political establishment that can remain quite while the people are dying.
It is the curse of globalization that has propelled corruption to higher heights, and stripped our country of common sense, widened the gap, and started the class war between the haves and have nots. Globalization is making people homeless, as housing is becoming unaffordable to the majority poor in urban areas. Our culture is being lost to modernization; lifestyles are becoming monotonous, as MTV and social networks spreads the virus of West is the best mentality. The fabric of our social values is being torn apart by globalization which, tends to favor western ideals that we blindly follow, without knowing their ramifications
Globalization has changed the world and our country as well. Even though it was expected to have positive influence to the entire mankind, only a few nations can truly boasts its benefits. Tanzania has fallen a victim to globalization; as her fundamental social values have been eroded. Leaders careless for the country, as long as they can sign lucrative contracts, that will guarantee them a chance to pocket millions of dollars they need for their children schooling abroad, their European vacations, and posh homes in Masaki. Maybe we need to remind them to check on the broader interest of the nation
Maybe we need to remind them that, their posh lifestyles are unsustainable as long as they are surrounded with masses that have no shelter, surrounded with people who cant afford to educate their children in basic domestic schools, and at a time are forced to sleep with nothing to eat. They are unsafe as long as global corporate giants are walking tax free yet a poor peasant has to be arrested for not paying taxes. We need to remind our leaders that, in our very own country, there are thousands of children walking naked because their parents cannot afford clothes for them, for Globalization has pitted them against the rest of the world
Even though globalization can be blamed for some of our economic failures, we must also take responsibility for recycling inept politicians- leaders- exempting foreigners looting out countrys wealth from paying taxes. We must remind them that, they are never so safe as long as the majority of workers in the country are exploited through poor wages by multinationals. Our leaders are never as safe as long as the wage gap between continue to swell, in which some are paid so little yet leaders wealth is mysteriously swelling. Lets remind them that, economic vitality of a nation is the key component to a peaceful and prosperous nation.
Times have changed, we can no-longer sit and dwell upon our misery, poverty and hopelessness, and expect the world to come and rescue us from poverty. Lets change our thinking, lets revolutionize our nation from a nation of beggars to a nation of givers. Lets deviate from being a society of greedy and gluttonous wolves to a nation of Spartans. Lets transform our people from being fanatics and blind followers, to development visionaries and economic zealots. We must all work together to rid our self of mental and intellectual poverty, as these are the main impediments to turning globalization from being a curse, to the best ideology ever invented by man
Source: Issa Michuzi
GLOBOLIZATION A CURSE OR A
BLESSING TO THE TANZANIAN POOR?
The past two decades, have been dubbed with optimism, in which the world wealth, were to be redistributed in the context of globalization, characterized by free movement of people, labor expertise- technological revolution and other economic resources, from the world richest to world poorest. This was an invention meant to tame the brute force of poverty across the world. Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred, with the developing nations submerging deeper into massive poverty and destitution while the richer getting the biggest pie.
Major players have won; United States, the Europeans, and Chinese are some of the biggest winners. A few Innovators from the Asian continent such as Indians, South Koreans have also experienced paradigm shift, seeing their exports swelling threefold, and their economic muscle-bicep bulging, while majority of the world poor, seeing their hopes fade away. Globalization debate is quite tricky; each side is blaming the other. Americans and the west for example, are blaming their political leaders for having created an environment that led to some of their jobs being exported at the expense of cheap labor in developing world
Human rights advocates have been decrying for many years, a modern day slavery and exploitation of the minors and world poor, in which underage children, and even professionals around the world, work longer hours at a meager pay. They work in perilous environments, to produce some of world most sought after gadgets and products. Liaoning for example is a Chinese industrial province, where human misery is evidence. Thousands of underage children lines up in the streets each morning to attend torturous and long hours of factory work, producing western bound products.
In Tanzania for example, Globalization has brought about multinationals. It has brought the emergence of social classes, the rich billionaires and the poor. It has also hastened the rapid depletion of natural resources, and made life more miserable to the citizens than previously thought. It has brought exploitation and bolstered corruption. Today as we speak; many corporate giants are operating in our country with impunity. They are importing very basic commodities easily found in the country from their overseas suppliers. This is because we have weak economic policies that do not favor or protect domestic farmers and manufacturers
Globalization has pushed us into dependence, and turned us into a beggar society. Tanzania has become a dumping ground for fake expatriates and dangerous goods from around the world. In the name of free market economy [globalization] our once vibrant, factories have been privatized or simply died. These factories which symbolized our independence, have been sold at throw away prices, and no one dared raising a finger, thank you to globalization and corruption for creating a time bomb of seismic proportion, which needs to be diffused before it is too late
One of the largest beer companies in the country is importing barley; a key ingredient in beer brewing from South Africa, yet the same commodity is available domestically. The same company is importing beer bottles that can be produced domestically, and the clueless consumer is busy feeding into the hype of social responsibility from these multinationals by buying their products without knowing the damage they are causing into our economic vitality. They are denying our farmers a chance to sell their commodities, and our leadership is quite comfortable as if nothing is happening, not knowing that barley farmers in Manyara and killimanjaro needs to sells their agricultural produce to send their children to school.
Policy makers in the countries that have historically benefitted from globalization, including United States, European union, and China, erected monocratic trade barriers benefitting farmers in their respective countries. These wealthy nations refused to end agricultural subsidies and other protectionist mechanisms, thus distorting world commodity prices which would have helped developing nations that depended on farming. They have tightened access to their markets, negating the entire concept of globalization. Why cant we protect our domestic factories and even agricultural farmers from this one sided exploitation?
I am not a proponent of protectionism, I support free trade. However, when policy makers turn a blind eye on very basic economic principals of trade denying local producers a chance to sell their commodities at the local market domestic companies- you wonder what is the gain, for having these companies in our country? Consumers are not going to be blind forever, keeping on drinking beer, without pondering the facts behind the scenes. Consumers are not going to continue supporting, and cheering phone and beer companies forever. They are going to realize the damage and erosion of our morals and values, hidden behind sponsorship of unnecessary entertainment, and beauty pageantry, as opposed to economic development
Many of these multinationals are enjoying massive tax breaks, while hard working Tanzanians both from within and outside the country, are forced to pay fortune for small items they ship from abroad, which in many cases ends up being abandoned anyway, because the shippers have no power to tussle with the TRA officials. Before Gold Company, globally known for serious human right violations stepped into North Mara, the strange diseases being experience never existed, and were unheard of. Water sources were clean, the land was rich with gold, and peoples future was bright.
Today, INNOCENT people have died, and strange skin ailments are becoming so prevalent, that no even care about them anymore. Water sources have been polluted, the land rich with gold is becoming empty craters, and lives of the people are getting worse each and every day. Not to mention the lingering environmental catastrophe. Thank you to globalization, countrys leadership, poor laws, and political establishment that can remain quite while the people are dying.
It is the curse of globalization that has propelled corruption to higher heights, and stripped our country of common sense, widened the gap, and started the class war between the haves and have nots. Globalization is making people homeless, as housing is becoming unaffordable to the majority poor in urban areas. Our culture is being lost to modernization; lifestyles are becoming monotonous, as MTV and social networks spreads the virus of West is the best mentality. The fabric of our social values is being torn apart by globalization which, tends to favor western ideals that we blindly follow, without knowing their ramifications
Globalization has changed the world and our country as well. Even though it was expected to have positive influence to the entire mankind, only a few nations can truly boasts its benefits. Tanzania has fallen a victim to globalization; as her fundamental social values have been eroded. Leaders careless for the country, as long as they can sign lucrative contracts, that will guarantee them a chance to pocket millions of dollars they need for their children schooling abroad, their European vacations, and posh homes in Masaki. Maybe we need to remind them to check on the broader interest of the nation
Maybe we need to remind them that, their posh lifestyles are unsustainable as long as they are surrounded with masses that have no shelter, surrounded with people who cant afford to educate their children in basic domestic schools, and at a time are forced to sleep with nothing to eat. They are unsafe as long as global corporate giants are walking tax free yet a poor peasant has to be arrested for not paying taxes. We need to remind our leaders that, in our very own country, there are thousands of children walking naked because their parents cannot afford clothes for them, for Globalization has pitted them against the rest of the world
Even though globalization can be blamed for some of our economic failures, we must also take responsibility for recycling inept politicians- leaders- exempting foreigners looting out countrys wealth from paying taxes. We must remind them that, they are never so safe as long as the majority of workers in the country are exploited through poor wages by multinationals. Our leaders are never as safe as long as the wage gap between continue to swell, in which some are paid so little yet leaders wealth is mysteriously swelling. Lets remind them that, economic vitality of a nation is the key component to a peaceful and prosperous nation.
Times have changed, we can no-longer sit and dwell upon our misery, poverty and hopelessness, and expect the world to come and rescue us from poverty. Lets change our thinking, lets revolutionize our nation from a nation of beggars to a nation of givers. Lets deviate from being a society of greedy and gluttonous wolves to a nation of Spartans. Lets transform our people from being fanatics and blind followers, to development visionaries and economic zealots. We must all work together to rid our self of mental and intellectual poverty, as these are the main impediments to turning globalization from being a curse, to the best ideology ever invented by man
