Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 1

Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests

Griffin A. Klevering

SLHS

March 2018
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the growing disparity between public and private

interests. We as a society have drifted away from taking actions the actions which help the most

people and more towards taking the actions that will result in the most money. The days of

congress voting with the people and businesses valuing their workers are over. The cause of this

is globalization. Due to globalization, companies and countries must rapidly produce in order to

be able to make profits. This forces them to act in private interests instead of public interests.

They act in private interests in a couple of important ways. They throw away the rights of their

workers in order to turn a profit. They pay the government to act in their interests instead of the

interests of the voters. They outsource their work to countries far away for cheaper labor while

leaving their home countries behind. Globalization has forced corporations to do these disgusting

things. Through this paper, I hope to bring the importance of what globalization has created to

light.

Wordcount (179)
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 3

Every action a human makes affects the world around them. Some actions benefit many

people, these are action done with public interest. Other actions, benefit only themselves, these

are private interests. Throughout the years, the cost of surviving has grown dramatically while

the profit from helping others has fallen. This has led to more people being forced to act for only

themselves. This is particularly evident in modern times, where the cost of running a business

gets exponentially higher the larger the business. This is due to globalization. Globalization is the

process in which cultures and economies meld together. Due to globalization, companies and

countries alike need to produce much more to compete on a global scale. No longer can one

country sustain itself, it needs other countries from around the world to survive. For companies

to turn a profit, production must be higher and costs must be lower. Due to this, many unsavory

practices have sprung up. Globalization drives more and more corporations to abandon acting in

public interest and look out only for themselves. Globalization has made is easier and more

convenient for corporations and governments to only support their own interests.

The Loss of Workers Rights

Due to globalization, workers are forced to lose many rights they once fought to obtain.

The demand for manufactured goods has risen higher and higher, thus requiring higher and

higher spending to create more goods. To compensate for this loss, corporations must take

drastic steps to make their production more affordable. This is done mostly through decreasing

worker pay and increasing worker responsibility. This trend is specifically evident in Chinese

manufacturing companies. In David Barboza’s “In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low

Pay”, he states “they worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, for $120 to $200 a month, far less
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 4

then they are required by law”​ ​(Para. 14). According to Barboza, Chinese corporations, in order

to keep up with the products today’s society demands, abuse their workers through high hours

and low pay in order to cut costs. According to War on Want, these factories are allowed to exist

due to Chinese migrant worker laws (2016). China decides worker laws based on where an

individual is born. This decides their education and welfare benefits, but also places restrictions

on where and how they can live. This forces many migrants to be forced into factories that they

have no hope of escaping. Due to this housing issue, many workers are forced to live in the

factories they’re employed at, and their housing isn’t very welcoming. Olivia Lambert’s

“​Investigation uncovers squalid conditions in Chinese toy sweatshops”​ states that “​At least 14

people share a shower and toilet and there’s one cafeteria where they can buy food, which lacks

nutrition.” (2016, para. 14). Through Lambert’s article, it becomes clear how despairing the lives

of these people must be.​ Workers are forced into jobs with little pay and unlivable conditions.

Lambert’s and Barboza’s articles creates a viewpoint into the daily lives of the people forced into

these jobs. Workers live in the factories in which they are employed with no choice of their own.

Everyday, they work for 12 hours a day for just dollars an hour, definitely not enough to allow

them to leave this life style. They work in these conditions by “choice”, because they will starve

if they don’t accept the life the factories have laid out for them. The demand for more products

due to the ever increasing wants of the population has driven these people into this life of labor

without pay.

The Rise of Corporate Lobbying

Globalization has also caused the power an individual business holds to increase to

unprecedented levels. The growth of the global economy has allowed businesses to control more
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 5

and more of the income of nations. Individual corporations now hold a large amount of

government power. They can essentially buy votes or shoot down bills with their massive

amounts of money. This transition into power came rather quickly in the 1970’s. After the

United States congress passed a large environmental protection bill that forced factories to lower

production to protect the environment, corporations decided that they must become a part of the

political machine to protect themselves (Drutman, 2015). The corporations began what's known

as lobbying, where they try to, usually using a large sum of money, try to get politicians to vote

in their interests. Since then, Drutman states, their power has snowballed, allowing them more

and more power. This effect was shown in a recent controversy, Net Neutrality. ISP’s, namely

Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast, lobbied to repeal Net Neutrality. Since 2008, Telecom

corporations spent $572 million on lobbying against Net Neutrality (Bass, 2017). Due to their

great efforts, in late 2017, it was announced Net Neutrality would end. However, 98.5 percent of

all comments for Net Neutrality were for keeping the rule (Bass, 2017). Here lies the true

problem with lobbying, it allows the government to side step the will of the people in favor of

economic profits. Bass proves that, despite the populace overwhelmingly wanting to keep Net

Neutrality, corporations willed it away due to their ever increasing power. The only defense

against this issue, in the U.S., is individual states rights. Klint Flinley’s article, “States and Cities

Keep the Battle for Net Neutrality Alive” states that Net Neutrality can only live on only in

individual states (2018). This is because corporate lobbying can’t impact the decisions that an

individual state makes, but it can have control over the government. Flinley illustrates that the

only way to be protected from the will of businesses is to hope that individual states deny the

federal government in favor of the will of its people. Businesses now have the ability to turn the
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 6

government away from the needs of the people and towards the wants of corporations. Congress

now votes with the money instead of with the people. Globalization has allowed corporations to

snowball into political powerhouses who can control the government.

The Outsourcing of Production

Globalization also paved the way for businesses to outsource their labor to far away lands

for cheaper and quicker production, at the cost of local economies. Corporations constantly

search for easier ways to build merchandise for selling in order to counteract the increasing

demand for goods. No longer are they able to domestically manufacture their products. In

modern times, the easiest way to cut costs is to simply develope goods in different countries then

simply ship it back and sell it. From 2001 to 2014, 3.2 million jobs were outsourced to China

alone (Peralta, 2014). This put 3.2 million Americans out of jobs instead of employing them.

Figure 1. Corporate profits in relation to number of US jobs from 2007 to 2010. (2011)
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 7

Outsourcing work to different countries may increase business and government profits, but it

harms average people just as much. As seen in Figure 1, corporate profits continue to rise while

the amount of U.S. jobs continues to fall. This is because of outsourcing. Corporations, in order

to make a profit during a recession, resorted to fire their workers and send the jobs to other

countries, where wage rates are lower. Corporations can cut costs and make goods cheaper than

ever before, but their homeland suffers. Countries thrive with economic growth, but their people

are left behind. This is the main problem with outsourcing, it lifts the societal elites and

corporations up, while putting the average citizen down. Steve Hargreaves’s “The Case for

Outsourcing Jobs” summarizes outsourcing well, “‘... [outsourcing] certainly has a negative

impact on that community in the short run … but in the long run it makes things more efficient’”

(2012, para. 3). The important part of Hargreaves’s statement is “efficient”. Those who

outsource don’t care about the negative impact they’re having on a community, they care about

their business's efficiency. This is all due to every business need to grow larger and profit more

by staying competitive in modern day markets. If they don’t cut costs, they won’t survive. This

creates an outsourcing arms race, where different corporations try to sell their work to the lowest

bidder, who ever will do their work the cheapest. This often results in jobs being sent to places

like China, who has poor working laws and has no problem depriving its workers of their rights.

Globalization forces companies to stay competitive, and in doing so, harms the average person.

Conclusion

The lengths a corporation goes to make more money will set the stage for how society

progresses. The abuse of workers in order to make higher profits is becoming more and more

commonplace. Corporation’s ability to influence government decisions is slowly out pacing

Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 8

voter’s influence. Outsourcing is becoming the go-to strategy to cut profits. This all illustrates

society’s departure from public interests into private interests. No longer do people care about

helping each other, they only care about their profit margins. The necessity to find cheaper ways

to make more products has forced the world to abandon the old beliefs of looking out not only

for one’s self, but one’s community. Globalization’s ability to force this change is impressive

and overwhelming. Through globalization, it is now easy and convenient for corporations and

governments alike to ignore the needs and the public in favor of their private interests.
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 9

References

Bartoza, D. (2008, Jan 5.)In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low Pay. Retrieved March 05,

2018, from

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/worldbusiness/05sweatshop.html

Chatterjee, S. (2011, August 31). Outsourcing: Big Obstacle To US Unemployment Rate -

Suman Chatterjee. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from

https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/1007064-suman-chatterjee/212217-outsourcing-big-o

bstacle-to-us-unemployment-rate

Drutman, L. (2015, April 16). What we get wrong about lobbying and corruption. Retrieved

March 05, 2018, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/04/16/what-we-get-wrong

-about-lobbying-and-corruption/?utm_term=.c6d485d2c08e

Finley, K. (2018, March 06). States and Cities Keep the Battle for Net Neutrality Alive.

Retrieved March 22, 2018, from

https://www.wired.com/story/states-and-cities-keep-the-battle-for-net-neutrality-alive/

Frank, Bass. (2017, December 13). Amid Net Neutrality Debate, Biggest ISPs Spent At Least

$26.3 Million On Lobbying. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from

https://www.fastcompany.com/40507541/amid-net-neutrality-debate-biggest-isps-spent-a

t-least-26-3-million-on-lobbying

Hargreaves, S. (2012, September 14). The case for outsourcing jobs. Retrieved March 22, 2018,

from http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/14/news/economy/outsourcing-jobs/index.html
Globalization’s Effect on Private vs Public Interests 10

How corporations turned into political beasts. (2015, April 25). Retrieved March 06, 2018, from

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-corporations-turned-into-political-beasts-2015-4

Lambert, O. (2016, December 12). 'Children's dreams based on workers' nightmares'. Retrieved

March 22, 2018, from

http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/investigation-uncovers-squalid-condition

s-in-chinese-toy-sweatshops/news-story/cbdc8886b807023c7480c760a8bbfb66

Peralta, K. (2014, December 11). Outsourcing to China Cost U.S. 3.2 Million Jobs Since 2001.

Retrieved March 22, 2018, from

https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/12/11/outsourcing-to-china-cost-us

-32-million-jobs-since-2001

Sweatshops in China. (2016, September 21). Retrieved March 06, 2018, from

https://waronwant.org/sweatshops-china

White, G. (2010, July 28). CHART OF THE DAY: Why The Public Hates Corporate America

Right Now. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-corporate-profits-vs-jobs-2010-7