The global De-globalization

As we march forward into an exciting world of new generation science, technology, economic advancements with breath-taking pace, we seem to be lagging on one quotient that has always aided humanity in the past. SOCIETY. As technology advances and internet takes over lifestyle, we seem to have lost touch with our social behaviour as human beings. Instead of regular visits to friends and families, we now chat and post over social media. But these changes are imminent and not as dreadful as something else that has been gripping our society in a past few years.

What is happening?

There has been an increase in certain anti-social sentiments among all of us that threatens our integrity. Like old days, we have started to become more reserved in our view of other people. This is not just reflective in our neighbourhood but also on national level. If we all read and hear news just the same, you will know that countries are now inclined to be more conserved and closed, almost to the point of being unwelcoming. Common man was never bothered by such attitude, but now he feels the difference. People have started to be racially disrespectful. It’s still discrete and subtle but it’s there and nobody can deny it.

Countries are now inclined to be more conserved and closed, almost to the point of being unwelcoming.

The feelings that we kept buried inside for so long have almost risen back to the surface. The façade of global equality now seems like a hope more than concrete reality goal.

It’s not because of one person or certain group of people, but mostly due to our increased consciousness of what is happening in the world. We watch the news, read the papers, and then make up our minds on what might be questionable information. Some nations running out of treaties that they have guarded for decades, some nations threatening to build walls and make promises of strong borders, some have decided to amend their immigration policies and some are on the verge of outright war. Where is all this going? What will happen in the future?

The feeling of patriotism is replaced by paranoid nationalism and we are blindly believing what is being fed to us. Clearly, all the information on media and social media platforms cannot be true. There has to be discrepancies here and there. Then why is there an alarming increase in such anti-global sentiments? Most importantly, how will this trend affect us?

Why is there an alarming increase in such anti-global sentiments?

The worst effect of this change in policies all over the world, is that on the field of science and technology. Science has always relied on three pillars: Innovation, Propagation, and Congregation of like-minded scientists. If we put a hold on free will and freedom to travel, if we restrict people from exploring new avenues, do you think there will be scientific progress? We will go back to the stone age that we evolved out of. If scientists are branded by their origin or by some obscure point of discriminant, none of them will be able to work together. If that happens, we can imagine the loss of potential.

Different cultures amalgamated in a huge scientifically oriented community that share a common roof.

International Community in Wageningen

Our university is bestowed with rich diversity in its students. We have people coming from across the world. Different cultures amalgamated in a huge scientifically oriented community that share a common roof. Hence, I wished to bring these matters to light. Look around you. You will see great variation. All of us are different in our languages, traditions, cultures and yet we are one when it comes to a scientific temperament. All of us want to progress in our fields of choice. All of us want to gain the latest knowledge and lay our hands on latest tech. Since we are the new generation, we must make a conscious choice between being reserved and being open to globalization.

These trends affect the world markets and corporate structure. Indirectly as well as directly, they affect each and every one of us. On one side, certain scientific communities are aggressively defending open access to world of literature while other communities are fighting wars based on misguided beliefs and discriminations. It’s a paradigm shift from pace of progress to regress and we should know better than to fall in this trap.