When I crossed the wedding aisle in May 2010, I thought to myself before I said my vows, “How is my wedding taking place in Ankara, Turkey?” The answers to my question lied in globalization were in the past twenty years the world has rapidly advanced in becoming interconnected through the assistance of a global economy and technology. Through free trade, telecommunications, computers, and the modifications of safe and efficient transportation, the planet has become small and flat. In addition to the technological and economic benefits, globalization has made a positive impact on the social relationships between people from different cultures. Imagine if we were living in the late 1950s, the idea of a long distance relationship was considered ridiculous and impossible, especially when the relationship dealt with different cultural values. Even to this present day, there are numerous people who still believe that such a relationship is impractical. However, the opportunities of globalization have made it easier for people of different origins to communicate, understand, and in some instances fall in love with one another. My marriage illustrates how globalization was the catalytic element that helped develop a strong loving relationship between my wife and I.
A World Blossomed by Open Borders
Long before I met my wife, when I was an undergraduate at Rutgers University, I dreamed with the notion of one day falling in love with someone from a distant place. Yet, with the advancement of telecommunications and the migration of human capital within the labor markets, I never took such a belief serious. With 24 hour cable news networks, interconnected global financial networks, foreign language channels, social networking websites, and living in a global city such as New York City, I came to the realization that I was pretty naïve to think that the world was still a huge and obscure place. Such thoughts can be traced to my childhood upbringing where I grew up in a predominantly Spanish-speaking community. In other words, I grew up in a box within a box within a melting pot nation like the United States, but a segregated one defined by class and race. It was until I reached university that I began to be exposed to diverse ideals and people from different cultural backgrounds that it became evident that I was living in a twenty-first century world of open borders.
It was at Merrill Lynch, where I worked as a consultant, and graduate school that I began to be personally engaged with the powers of globalization. To describe the job functions and atmosphere during my time in Wall Street, it entailed in working with people from different nationalities in one office, having teleconferences with individuals from Mexico City or London regarding the legal and financial details of a security contract, or having coffee with a foreign co-worker to discuss work and life. Furthermore, night life in the city was real exciting since I enjoyed eating Indian food at an Indian restaurant in Tribeca, smoking hookah at a Iraqi establishment in the Lower East Side, having coffee at a Colombian cafe in Jackson Heights, and drinking a nice cold pint of beer at a Czech bar in Astoria that I said to myself, “Why travel to China if I can just take the 7 train to Flushing for good dumplings”. In addition, many of my co-workers and friends were socializing or having relationships with people of different backgrounds, which is very common within the global city. The beauty of globalization is that it did not only eliminate trade barriers, but also xenophobic ones by helping people see past skin tone or religious ideals by understanding and connecting with one another through a friendly or more intimate way.
During my time at graduate school, I developed great friendships with two unique and interesting people where my classmates. At the point I met them, I was in the middle of my masters program while they were completing their PhD dissertations. My friendships with these two gentlemen are filled with great memories of idealism, humor, and camaraderie. What made this relationship extraordinary was the fact that we all came from different backgrounds but shared many common principles. During our conversations over coffee or a beer, many of our discussions dealt with a strong commitment in bringing efficiency and transparency within public administration, social economic policies to lift the destitute from poverty, and foreign policies based on diplomacy to prevent future unjustified wars. Clearly, our friendship symbolized the common values of mankind that to survive in a chaotic world, peace and prosperity are the seeds for tranquility. For this reason, globalization is the vital element for the world to blossom in a rose of many colorful pedals and anyone who says otherwise is falling behind within the rapid changing world. Like the Berlin Wall falling down, so is the wall of barriers and tariffs that prevents the smooth flow of diversity.
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