Globalization in the past 250 years has created new aspects of cultural and social spaces identities that have helped the shape the way humanity copes with current beliefs like religion, survival during unprecedented times among others. Humanity has evolved to embrace change as a means of assuring survival and blending with the environment. This essay will highlight the social and cultural identities that have culminated from the past 250 years based on small bits of documented journals, and what challenges these identities pose to communities in the 21 st century.
Based on the document titled, “The Devil and Commodity Fetishism,” it is evident that Afro-American peasants came up with a belief that materialism was attached to Satanism and the wealth gained by people from such ventures was uncouth and in vain (Taussig, 1980). However much you accumulate, if the source is from devilry acts, then it is as good as worthless. In the article, ‘Flexible Citizenship,” the author addresses the idea where the Taipans in China used double identities in both Hong Kong and Beijing to survive the vagaries of political insecurity and benefit from global trade (Ong, 1999). Another article is, “Sweetness and Power,” which helps portray the ingenious thinking of the British who invested in tropical companies in their colonies to produce products for their own market because they believed production and consumption were interdependent.
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The social aspect have not changed as much. From the article, “Flexible Citizenship,’ many Taipans had more than one passport so that they could use to double as natives of both mainland China and the regions on the island. The main intention was to help survive political insecurity and participate in global trade. This trait has led to the birth of dual citizenship in the current generation but with consequences. Terrorism has become a world problem in the current generation and the so called terrorist are using dual citizenship as an easy way to stage lethal attacks in other countries.
In the current generation, many denominations believe that joining cults and earning wealth comes at a price like losing your soul to the devil or loved ones too but since times are tough and people are desperate to succeeding the easy way, they give it a try. Concurrently, these individuals have lived miserable lives based on a religious perspective and global conspiracy. Besides, individuals who join such cults are socially segregated and “feared” for the potential harm they may pose on other people.
The author’s point of view about social and cultural identities is that globalization in the past 250 years has had a direct impact on today’s livelihood. Not many aspects and practices are different. For example, dual citizenship has transcended from historical practices like “Flexible Citizenship” that was meant to help people double in their identity for personal benefits.
In conclusion, globalization in the past 250 years has had a direct impact in the livelihoods of people in the 21 st generation. Cultural practices and beliefs like religious rituals are more or less the same among other social aspects like dual citizenship. Another aspect is dual citizenship that had helped people survive somehow but is being used for the wrong reasons like abetting terrorism, which is detrimental.
References
Taussig, M. (1980). The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. MICHAEL T.
TAUSSIG. American Ethnologist , 9 (1), 198–199. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1982.9.1.02a00180
Ong, A. (1999). Flexible Citizenship. Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education .
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218533.n292
