Its a Square World

Saima Shah

Globalization is the ultimate town-square/Chowk. The global world is hypothetically a hotbed of market activity, where all paths intersect and none know what may transpire. Our response to globalization ranges from euphoria to fear. But, we cannot ignore it. We may be helpless to affect globalization, but we can keep our eyes open on the ride to a future none of us can predict.

Exactly what does globalization mean? What will we lose and what will we gain? Which ?we? should we talk about? Never before has the world mingled as much as it does today. Never before have people from so many diverse backgrounds and cultures worked together as they do now. Yet, never before in mankind?s history has the world witnessed as much bureaucracy and regulation on travel and migration.

Innocent words like democracy have taken on sinister connotations, birthplaces have become insignias of the notorious sort, and we are all far too familiar and far too contemptuous of others.

In some edges and corners of the world, it seems as if the rest of the world doesn?t exist and that it can never exist. Even as we mingle, we have made up our minds exactly what we will never give up.

The world is, quite simply, not round but square.

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