Claudia Jansen
Essay: “Global Village”
The twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of widespread believe that today we humans function as one body in a common global society. The previous century has a rich history of symbolic events that represent this idea of a common global society: World War I and World War II, the atomic bomb, Einstein’s theory of E=mc2, Mao’s victory in China, man on the moon, the OPEC oil shock, the United Nations charter signing in San Francisco and the Olympic Games, to mention just a few. But whether it be by the picture of a comet or the arrival of television in his village, local man all over the universe, recognises his connection to a common humanity.
He recognises the inter-connection with humans near and far. The following phenomena are certainly proof enough of this inter-connection among humans of various races: common interest, common values, common rules and common institutions. Not to mention our political linkages and economic inter-dependence among countries across the globe.
Are governments prepared to sacrifice and work with global organisations to set a higher standard of living for the citizens of their countries? Are they prepared to deal with complex issues within their own countries, which have an effect on the global village? Two of these complex issues that I will be discussing in my essay are businesses (the economy and finance) and education; and the effect these two pillars have on the future of South Africa.
Business
Although I do not fully understand what appears to me to be the complex working of countries economies, one thing is sure and that is that all nations of the world must participate in money making or wealth creation.
Wealth creation has a particular and profound impact on a household, a community, city, district, provinces and finally the whole nation.
In South Africa, for example we have the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where ordinary citizens as well as companies could trade by buying shares in preferred stocks, which may appear lucrative based on good share performance.
Stockbrokers and investors who provide valuable information to buy and sell stocks in various markets normally study local newspapers, television and various other financial magazines.
The Financial Mail is one such good international paper from where shares and stocks could be monitored for wise investments. Stock Exchanges with strong currencies to be studied are: Wall Street – American U.S. Dollar
London Stock Exchange – Pound Sterling
Japanese Stock Market – Yen
Deutche Stock Market – The Euro etc.
The United States dollar is to date the strongest currency in the world, with vast stock traded for wealth creation for the U.S.A. This is to aid the U.S. government in solving problems of joblessness, poverty, lack of education and homelessness. The South African government appears to have far less success due to various negative influences in our country.
Now that we are a fully-fledged democratic country after many years of oppression. South Africa has yet to obtain investments from other parts of the world in order to alleviate the serious socio-economic problems we have. For example, South Africa’s gross national product (GNP) is much lower at 2,4 percent against an average of 11 percent in Botswana.
This shows how much more investments we need in South Africa in order to better all our lives in particular that of the previously disadvantaged groups.
I realise investors want to invest in a stable economy with a low rate of crime, with as little as possible industrial investments, high productivity rates and adequately automated factories. The latter are handicaps South Africa grapples with, which unfortunately are factors that scare investors off resulting in poor investments.
Hopefully soon South Africa will succeed in bringing the above-mentioned issues under control, and attract more investments and make the Johannesburg Stock Exchange a preferred haven for future investment in our country.
Education
One of the most obvious features of development in the field of education today is the rapidly increasing emphasis placed on technology and its impact on teaching and learning in the classroom. There are few human activities that do not involve the use of computer technology in some form or other. The integration of the computer in the traditional classroom has the advantage of providing a variety of educational themes and settings.
The use of the computer is fast growing, and most glorious developments of the wired community. According to a recent article, the use of Internet has grown to an estimated 57 million people, a number that was expected to “explode to 700 million by the end of the twentieth century.” The question politicians, teachers and educational administrations should consider is what implications computer technology holds for classroom learning.
One common concern is the cost of implementing computers in schools. Apparently everyone is in agreement, as is the case in South Africa, computers need to be introduced into schools, and everybody is likewise concerned that this be achieved at the best possible cost to the taxpayers. Another issue of concern, perhaps the most fundamental of them all is equal access to all students.
The main goal is to introduce “globality” to students. Whether that means working on daily tasks on the computer in the classroom, working with students across the country on similar project, or collaborating with students from around the world. Schools have to first be linked within their own communities.
Special emphasis should also be placed, at schools, on personal and community development, and moral and cultural issues. When studying the high crime figures in many countries, especially in our own country, South Africa, it seems clear why those issues should be emphasised.
Conclusion
There is a growing tendency for countries to join hands as a way to find solutions to problems of a global nature. Organisation such as the OECD and UNESCO for example, seem to aid many countries in solving their common global problems. It is a country’s government and citizens who should join such organisations to help solve commonly shared problems and who should realise that they are part of a global village.
Is the South African government, its citizen and different operations serious about making this a better country or society of benefit to the world? I think if we are assertive enough and respect others we definitely can.
