Contributor: Elephango Editors. Lesson ID: 10384
What do a hamburger and your shirt have in common? (Hopefully, there isn't ketchup on both!) They are products of globalization. Learn what globalization is and how it affects the world!
Over 76 years ago, the first McDonald’s opened its doors in San Bernardino, California. In 2014, a new restaurant opened every 6.66 hours.
Today, McDonald’s is in over 100 countries and serves approximately 69 million customers daily.
McDonald’s, the poster child of both the good and bad of globalization, is a relatively recent phenomenon. Discover the answers to the following questions in this lesson.
Technological advances — such as mobile phones, airplanes, and the internet — made the growth of transportation and communication networks possible.
These advances allowed people and countries to exchange information and goods more easily. This process is called globalization.
Globalization describes how the world is becoming more connected and interdependent. It's like when you make friends with kids from different neighborhoods or countries, learn about their cultures, and share things with them.
Similarly, countries worldwide are getting closer together. They trade with each other, people travel and communicate more easily, and ideas spread quickly thanks to the internet. This makes it possible for you to enjoy foods from different countries, watch movies from all over the world, and even play video games with friends from different places.
So, globalization is like the world becoming a big, friendly neighborhood where we all learn from each other and work together to improve things.
Sounds great, right?
It is, but just like anything, globalization has downsides.
Watch the short video below to learn more.
Delve even deeper in the Got It? section.