Hitting the road of globalization (1)

Quality for less
I have travelled throughout parts of the USA these weeks. I have travelled along the formation of a leading country in our world. And I have hit the road of globalization with all its disparities.

This is exactly the accurate metaphor because roads are so important in the U.S. Originating from a European country I have always focused on the places people live in which are conjunct by roads and freeways. In the U.S. it seems to be the other way round. Life is where the freeway is. And the places to go are intersections of the much more important ties between them.

I have travelled a lot of spots in Southern and Western U.S. where life is nowhere but alongside the intestate. That is presumably due to the distances people have to overcome in this country. And it might also result from a concept of life that is based on cars. That’s why – as to the wealthier people – Americans prefer to adopt a Highway rather than anything else. On the other hand the amount of people living in mobile homes or trailers makes me assume that the car might even be more valuable than a home and that mobility is a concept of staying in transit and not to arrive at a certain place. And finally this might also be due to the fact that a lot of people can’t allow themselves one important part of the triple bottom line of the American dream: a house, a car, a family (I’m not quite sure about the order of priorities).

So it was just the right decision to travel by car and to hit the road of globalization. What this process means to a whole country and the parts of it can be observed quite impressively travelling through the Southwest of the USA, a different country in many ways. One day I stopped at a billboard saying: „Quality for less.” This roadside billboard must have been out there for quite a while. But it still could be the claim representing globalization nowadays. Everybody can have access to everything at a much lower price compared to former times – that is one of the crucial promises of globalization. Everybody? Everything?

There are preconditions for an individual to be able to participate in the process of globalization and to enjoy its benefits: education, wealth – a membership card for the white middle class or an exceeding club is very helpful. Without it one has to struggle, often lifelong. There is better quality for a limited group of people. And this quality costs less for them. But for quite a big number of citizens – even in developed countries like the U.S. – the less educated, the non-whites, the non-Christians, often happen to pay the price of globalization. You can read that in a bunch of books on globalization. It’s different to recognize the people between the pages of these books.