happy people

on tuesday, one of the discussions was wether the people in the third world countries were happy or not, that kinda stuff. i couldn’t really talk, i was still getting over being sick and my throat was swollen, so here’s what i think about that. i’ve been to a developing country, egypt, and not just as a tourist. my dad was living there, so he was friends with many people that were considered middle class there, although in the u.s. they would be pretty poor. i got to go to their homes and have dinner and get to know some of these people. and yes, they are happy. because they are much poorer, they have a much higher value for life and a greater appreciation for family and friends. the only thing they seemed to regret is that egypt did not have baseball like the u.s. did. they know what the rest of the world has, but are content with what they have.

wal-mart

wal-mart, one of the biggest contributors to globalization. was found in the news again. on msnbc, i found an article about wal-mart, and how wal-mart is going to attempt to create a more flexiable work force and cut back wages by using more part-timers and more night and weekend staff. not a very large article, but it had a lot of feedback. surprise, surprise, not many people are liking this change. after reading 5 of the 30 some pages of feedback, i had found some intelligent ones(i even found one about friedman). these employees are not being treated well, full time or part time. there are complaints of their benefits and hours being cut. although cutting back wages helps wal-mart, it certainly does not help the employees, many of which depend on their job for their families. this change works well for wal-mart’s economy, but it widens the poor-rich gap, making more people rely on welfare programs. however, if wal-mart does not do something like cut back wages, the prices of the product must go up. the big question is, which one is more important, the well-being of the employees or wal-mart’s ability to provide the country with cheap goods. personally, i feel it is more important to keep the better wages. if i work at wal-mart i want to be able to afford to shop there as well. wal-mart has always been good about hiring people, the retirees and such, but providing someone with a minimum wage job for part time is not enough to get by on.

myspace

so i read an article on msnbc about news corp starting a myspace for china. rather interesting… myspace is very very popular in the states, i know few people who do not have one. it really does help you keep in contact with friends, or as i use it most, to keep updated on my favorite bands and such. Chinese advertising is smaller, so the myspace for china would have to be adjusted, but it’s still the same basic idea. spread of communication and ideas…

Globalization

Globalization

Originally uploaded by Sharrie.

another example of a company everywhere… coke at the great wall of china. i’d have the mercedes picture here too, but i do not remember how to put more than one picture on a page at a time. to me, things like this represent globalization because it shows the spreading of companies and merging of cultures. years ago, coke would not be found in china or a place like egypt (actually, it’s mostly pepsi there, same basic idea though)

globalization

globalization

Originally uploaded by Esthr.

this is esthr’s pic from flickr

i’ve seen this before, in grocery stores like wegmans. you can find nearly any culture anywhere at a store, you don’t need to travel to test out a culture, you can find it right at home. even if it’s just recipies, it’s still a sharing of ideas.

dump truck

dump truck

Originally uploaded by kurzy.

most people associate mercedes with money, but not in this case. when i was in egypt, mercedes were garbage trucks. mercedes are everywhere, even if not in the same way they are here.

messing around with pics…

look! a kitty!

photo from flickr by tom poes