Globalization

We live in an increasingly global world. While this probably sounds silly and obvious to some, the truth is that there are still many political and religious arguments that naïvely assume that nation states and religious denominations can act and live within themselves—that the policies they make and live by are for themselves alone. Others assume that economic (business) problems can be off-loaded to countries and regions with looser laws and cheaper labor costs. However, there is little that goes on in this world—on this planet—that will not affect other parts of the globe in some way. In an increasingly complex world, the butterfly effect teaches us that we can neither off-load nor ignore the problems of others in other regions or other religions. We are in this boat together.

Whether it be economic, religious, political, biological or technical, actions beget reactions and they are often more or different than we expect. After little more than a decade, the Internet has connected 17% of the world population, and its penetration is doubling every two to three years. Over the next decade, a majority of the world's population will be affected—for good or ill—by this unprecedented dissemination of information and opinion. Increased air travel for business and pleasure will remove many of the biological barriers once provided by the worlds oceans and deserts, exposing most of us to pathogens our regionally developed immune systems are unequipped to protect us from. Likewise, increased travel as well as global communication will expose us to sectarian and ideological conflicts previously restricted to their regions of origin. We cannot save ourselves by abandoning ship.

This section is dedicated to collecting articles, essays and discussions regarding global issues. It is initially inspired by Dr. K Prabhakar Rao's articles regarding global politics and comparative religion. But it is hoped that others will be inspired to add their thoughts as well. Your ideas on improving this section are much appreciated and needed. It is a work in process—as is the rest of this site—and therefore always in need of improvement. Globalization is the new Industrial Revolution, or even Enlightenment, which will permanently affect and change human civilization. We must do our best to understand it so that we can equip our children for the rapidly changing world which we will—for better of worse—pass on to them.

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