The World is changing... Fast!

Globalization is one of the words we hear thrown around all the time these days. We all have an idea of what this concept refers to... But does anyone really understand it?

Over the last few days in my trip through Indonesia, I've been able to witness Globalization in action. Trust me, it is real. And it is happening FAST.

For the first few days I was in Kuta, which is the main city in Bali. I couldn't wait to get there and experience the world-class surf and the paradisaical beaches. The good news, the surf is indeed world-class and the beaches are beautiful. The not-so-good news is... when you're in the ocean, looking towards the beach, all you see beyond the palm trees is giant cranes and the McDonalds arches. Not exactly my idea of a paradise setting.

When you go around the city, it becomes quite clear that there isn't much left in terms of Balinese culture around these parts. Tourist shops by the 100's, all trying to sell you the same crap, make up the bulk of the landscape. Hungry? McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hard Rock Cafe are there to satisfy your culinary desires. But make sure you plan enough time to get there... because chances are you'll get stuck in traffic. Yes, traffic. In Bali. WTF?

I went to a Temple about an hour out to find some peace and quiet, and I was appalled to find that between the parking lot and the Temple, you have to walk about 400m through some more toursist shops. That was just too much for me. Enough with the touristy crap.

That's why I headed to Gili Trawangan, a tiny little island in the middle of the ocean. Only 700 people live here, and  there are no cars, no scooters, not even police. The only law they have on the island is "Be nice to other people" Definitely the right kind of place to relax and forget everything. No such thing as stress or hurry here around here!

I'm loving it here... but I'm still finding some very obvious signs that Globalization is reaching even the most remote parts of the globe. For instance... Every young person here is on Facebook. And they're loving it. Consider this for a second. 7 years ago, Facebook was created as an "elite" social network for Harvard students only. Now, young Indonesian guys are using it to try and seduce girls from the next island over, Lombok. Also, everyone on the island has a cellphone. Everyone. I didn't even have a cellphone 5 years ago

Yesterday, as I was having lunch in a little "local's" place, I struck up a chat with one of the guys. We ended up talking for a while, and he confided in me how recently he had met this girl from Texas, and now they were having this "affair" over Skype. Wait, what? This little Indo guy has a Skype-girlfriend who lives in Texas? They say the world is more connected, and thus a "smaller" place than ever before, and I can't really think of a better example of that.

This has been truly eye-opening and I'm left pondering on the consequences of all this. Surely, this helps raise the Quality of Life level of most people here... at least if we measure it in terms of GDP and technology. But it seems clear that their local culture is getting diluted through it all...

So I wonder, are all these changing for the best? Are they positively impacting the one measure that really matters, happiness? What do you think?