Global Citizenship

Venice, the city built on water (literally, the entire city is leaning). It is a mixture of things that don't go together, but that irrationality is what makes it so perfect. Venice is a great city to finish the trip because it felt so Italian. Here is where I reflected on the idea of globalization. 

Venice dominated the seas and therefore controlled the link between Asia and Europe (it is also the gateway). Europeans and Muslims had representation in Venice as did the Germans and Turks. The city of Venice kept growing and because they were masters of the sea, they would trade more with Egypt. The Venetians eventually had a monopoly for products from all over the world, like indigo blue, which became to be more valuable than gold. Venetians are capitalists, so they could be in war with a country and still trade with them. Contracts were important to them.

In Venice, it is clear that globalization was prime and the power they had because of it, but is this power too powerful? As I reflected on this concept through my exploration through Venice, I answered yes, it can be too powerful at times. Now a days, globalization has allowed for more competition, therefore giving local, small companies a difficult time if they have to compete against a large corporation. For example, a local restaurant that sells the culture's food can go out of business because of a McDonald's next door. This is when I began to believe that globalization can also harm a country's culture. Globalization gives major gateway to a country's culture increasing the risk that culture appropriation will form due to the extensive amount of access the world has to its culture and information. A good example of this is located right there in Venice with murano glass in which they did not want the secret to be let out because then the entire world would jump in on the creation of murano glass. They did not want to globalize it. 

Before I entered Venice, I was a believer in globalization, but as I learned the power that was attained and used by Venice, I began to believe that there must be a negative effect on the world due to globalization. I leave Venice with a different idea of globalization than I had when I entered.