Social integration, globalisation and it's requirements

I have decided to write this blog post due to the increasing mass movements of refugees fleeing war torn countries. Also it's been quite a while since my last blog post. I apologise for any spelling and grammar mistakes in advance - I'm sure you will find them! I am writing this fairly quickly and at midnight. 

Globalisation has never been so rapid in all its history. Its length of history is controversial and has been argued by many. I believe globalisation is a process that started from the first wave of migrants out of central Africa around 125,000 years ago and has been increasing through time with burst of rapid growth due to certain scientific and technological findings. Today, the process has increased at a rate never seen before due to a number of technological advices particularly within the Northern Hemisphere: including the industrial era, the ability of flight, the computer chip....the list goes on! However, are we as a global nation culturally ready for globalisation? Are we capable of ensuring cultural globalisation increases at the same rate as economic globalisation? If not, how can we try to increase the rate at which cultural globalisation progresses, to keep up with the inevitable economic globalisation progression.

Are we culturally globalised?

As a global society our cultural integration is very backwards. Large population movements have occurred throughout time. Today, with increasing transportation links these movements have been even greater. Even with global migration of various ethic backgrounds, society is highly segregated on a global, national, regional and local scale. These segregations are based on colour, religion, cultural background, sex, sexuality, socio-economic status and even bloodlines.

Culture is made up of two components. The first is the oblique transmission of cultural heritage passed on from one generation to another - this includes bloodline, religion, family heritage, family honour. The second component is the horizontal transmission brought by our environmental surroundings and from peers within society - your socio-economic surrounding, the environment, science, peers within society. Different groups of society are more strongly connected to there oblique transmission than others. Those cultures who rely highly on oblique transmission are decelerates of cultural globalisation, they widen the gab between cultural and economic globalisation rates. Societies who rely on horizontal transmission are pioneers to society allowing us to improve and build on cultural understanding and allow progression of cultural globalisation.

Are we capable of ensuring cultural globalisation increases at the same rate as economic globalisation?

Currently, no. To increase the rate of cultural globalisation we must put less emphasis on our oblique heritage. This means the removal of religion, bloodlines, family heritage. This does not mean it has to be forgotten but one should not reapply it. Instead it should be looked upon similarly to the study of ancient history or classics. By doing this, more emphasis of the horizontal heritage is applied. This allows society to grow from our surroundings and environment rather than by our predecessors. Large groups of society still rely on oblique heritage. These societies can be found world wide and hence cultural globalisation will continue to lag whilst economic globalisation further accelerates ahead.

Currently there is a massive movement of populations from the Middle East and Northern Africa to European countries. These populations are generally very strongly connected to their oblique heritage of culture resulting in segregation of more horizontally reliant societies. In the U.K. we can see segregation within all cities including London, Bradford and Manchester. There is even rural and urban cultural segregation.

My parents were immigrants from Iraq back in the 1970s. I, myself, am not anti-immigration. It is again an inevitable factor of globalisation.  However, I believe suitable programmes should be adapted to ensure integration of migrants into society. Be it: the removal of practiced religion, education, language courses, scattered permanent housing to ensure cultural clusters are not formed. These may be fairly strong actions but are required to ensure the integrate society.

I guess you may have already realised, but just in case, I am a strong believer in the removal of religion and heritage to allow for global unitary. Global unitary is an inevitable end effect of globalisation. True global unitary would be one race, with one skin tone, one language and one so called "religion" (Science).

Our predecessors did not live in the world that we live in today. Even in the last 25 years the environment that I have grown up in has changed dramatically. How can we listen to preachings and teachings of someone who does not understand our surroundings?

What is the effect of a lagging cultural globalisation rate which realise on oblique heritage?

Well evidently segregation of society. It also results with other negative outcomes:

- Firstly many less progressed societies are using globalised technologies and tools which they themselves may not understand. This can cause both positive and negative effects.
- Secondly, social inequality is more visible. This can increase tension  between groups of society.
- Thirdly, from a biological sense societies which are less exposed to other societies are more prone to diseases and abnormalities. Research has shown that within animals (which includes humans) mixed race individuals can be healthier, more intelligent, stronger and less prone to diseases.....even better physical appearances.
-Fourthly,  discrimination.

The reason for this post

I guess the main reason is to teach those who are reading it what "culture" is made up of. Culture to me is what you learn from your current surrounding and implement to improve the future. However, many cultures learn and apply from their past to implement the future causing stagnation of cultural progression.

Controversial or Uncovering

A powerful piece of artwork that can be seen in a number of different ways, of which my personal views I will keep to myself. With a small amount of research I'm sure you can understand the topics the artist is trying to uncover within the image. However, a notable bias statement is the change in the facial expression. Perhaps a more suitable representation would be an unchanging expression to allow the reader to interpret the set of images for themselves. Nonetheless powerful, and moving. 

"Disparition" Yemeni photographer Bushra Almutawakel.

Land Grabbing: the transnational fight for water

Land grabbing is the acquisition of farm land from companies and governments on a transnational scale, with a particular interest in the global South. Countries which are wealthy but are food/fuel insecure have been searching for routes to address their insecurities. The scramble for land in Africa is becoming a noted commodity.

Saudi Arabia has a particular interest  in land grabbing due to poor water resources for agricultural purposes within their own country. This creates the the possibility of food and water insecurities on a continues basis. Saudi Arabia has acquired millions of hectares of land overseas to produce food in countries such as Ethiopia and the Philippines. 

Although it may seem, the value is within the land itself, it is actually for the water resource. Countries, such as India, are following suit after years of unsustainable irrigation systems which have depleted aquifers within a sub-continent!

The reality is that a third of Africa is already a water-scare environment and climate change is likely to induce further water shortages, This reduces access to water for already a water deprived society. Land deals in Africa are generally large scale, industrial agricultural operations that consume copious amounts of water that may not necessary been in supply.

The question I bid to ask from this.....is......is this the beginning of the water wars? It is predicted that by 2030 half of the human population will be water scare. UN studies project that 30 nations will be water scarce in 2025, up from 20 in 1990. Eighteen of them are in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, Israel, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Once a country does not have enough of its own resource it seeks elsewhere for the supply.  Acquisition of transnational water supply may still be civil ..... however.......how long will this continue for? 

Water deprived countries generally share water resources with other countries, such as the River Nile. Further upstream, countries have a greater ability to govern the resource (dams), whereas, down stream the resource often becomes polluted and dwindling in supply. An example is the River Jordan which has a dry mouth into the Dead Sea due to over abstraction. The Dead Sea is receding in size  and causing fresh water aquifers to deplete along with it.

Will turmoil already set in the Middle East and North Africa worsen within the next decade due to water shortages.......hmmm........I wonder.....however...I don't want to jinx it.

To burden or Not to burden.

I was discussing the start of this blog with a very close friend of mine yesterday. He gave me a view point that I hadn't really considered. He wanted me to view the affect of acknowledgement of these social occurrences on my own well-being. He essentially raised the point of, how much emotional strain would I be putting on towards myself and what would the gains be by acknowledging other peoples circumstances?
Would it be better to be oblivious to the things you cannot change and save yourself the emotional burden OR do you make yourself aware, take on the emotional burden and realise that us, as individuals, cannot change what we see.....I mean we are not all Nelson Mandela's or Mahatma Gandhi's.

I think the generic answer is, most of us make ourselves aware, but we put up that emotional/physical buffer that allows us to switch off the TV, internet, newspaper or journal and carry on with our daily lives. Sooner or later that story you will have heard, be it on CNN/FOX/Sky/Al Jazzerra, would dissipate because the interest has died down........but it's still occurring and perhaps magnifying.

I count myself as one of the people who can't make a difference....yet.....I hope I may in the future but the odds are currently not in favour. But there are many of us who can, and are, making change to what has influenced them emotionally. These are people who have position in social/professional or cultural hierarchy OR those who have the will,intellect or stamina to create change. Those who have position generally fight for multiple causes, of which personal gain may be a dominate cause.......but this is not the case for all. Those with will, intellect or stamina may fight for an initial cause but often must fight the temptation for personal manifestations.

If I can't change what I see and hear, and neither can you (the 150 or so people who have read this blog).....what is the point to this blog then? Do I hope that a Martin Luther King, a Mother Teresa, a liberator is reading what I write and can cause change? ..........YES. Do I hope it will bring awareness of those who are trying to make positive change?.....YES. Do I believe that awareness is better than oblivious?.....YES. Will I make a difference to the lives of those I write about? ..............most likely not. BUT through writing this blog I am building up my own stamina, intellect and will to cause change.....and hopefully doing the same to those who read it.

I was told by close family members not to post my views and get myself into "unwanted trouble".....however we all have to start somewhere with voicing our opinions.....none of the people mentioned above became who they are and caused reformation of society by keeping silent.

I will finish this post with the statement that I have mentioned before: A collective voice is strong than one that is singular. 

The scarred children of Iraq.

This image is famous within Iraqi communities. It shows a boy
who draws his mother in chalk and sleeps.

Surveys conducted by UNICEF have found 800,000 to a million Iraqi children have lost either one or both of their parents. This figure however is a fraction of those growing up in the shadow of violence around 4 million. The sheer number of Iraqi orphans has created a social crisis. The country has no child protection laws and only 200 social workers and psychiatrists put together throughout the whole country. Many live in dark unconsolidated dwellings with no light, water or satisfactory sanitary. However, most are left to fend for themselves on the streets and end up being sold into prostitution, slave trade and wealthily foreigners on the black-market.

What can you do?........Not much is the answer. Despite on going conflict, adoption of children is not allowed by foreign nationalities. Under Iraqi and Sharia Law of Kafala there is no adoption permitted, only guardianship. The Iraqi Ministry of Labour and social Affairs will only grant guardianship to family members or friends who can provide for the child within Iraq of similar faith.

The reason for this post is to purely bring attention and awareness to a situation which is largely neglected and over looked upon. Perhaps the next time you consider giving to charity I hope you have these children in mind.

http://www.iraqiorphanfoundation.org/

Fundamentalism can happen on your front door. Fight it now, stop it in its tracks.

Fundamentalism is a global problem. Don't distance yourself from the occurrence purely because it's not happening on your front door. Fight fundamentalism in the Middle East and elsewhere before it arrives on your door step. Fight fundamentalism, not the religion.

Arsenic and Salinity in Bangladesh drinking water and agriculture

These videos are with regard to the drinking water found in Bangladesh. The issue of saline water coupled with arsenic contaminated groundwater in Bangladesh affects a population of 60 million people, almost the population size of the U.K. It's the largest mass poisoning ever recorded in history. How does this concern you:

1. Firstly appreciate the importance of pure water. Many of us, including myself, take for granted the ability to switch a tap on and receive water of good turbidity, temperature, and pure.
2. Rice paddies in the region are grown using water from the surrounding aquifers.....some of which are contaminated with arsenic. In the short term the health effects are minimal. However in the long term not enough research has been conducted to understand the true magnitude of the problem. Rice from the region is exported on a global scale.

Video on arsenic contamination 

Video on salinity and maternal health