Goods-Move.-People-Move.-Ideas-Move.-And-Cultures-

Goods Move. People Move. Ideas Move. And Cultures Change.
Part I (Paras. 1 – 3)
“Globalization”:● not something completely new (1); ● not a choice but a reality (2); ●the basic dynamic remaining the same with the difference only in the speed and scope of changes (3).
Part II (Paras. 4 – 6)
Different views on globalization: ●some believing this to be “cultural assault” that will lead to one big “McWorld” (4), ●some rejecting it and attacking what they call “blind worship of things foreign” (5), ●and others holding a positive attitude by emphasizing the benefits it has brought about to less developed parts of the world like China (6).
Part III (Paras. 7 – 9)
Three discoveries by the author: ●westernization not a straight road to hell or to paradise either (7); ●cultures as resourceful, resilient and unpredictable as the people who compose them (8); ●teenagers as one of the powerful engines of merging global cultures (9).
Part IV (Paras. 10 – 19)
Examples of fusion, or merging different cultures: ●the author’s experience with Amanda Freeman, a “cool hunter”, as a perfect example of young people engaging in merging global cultures (10 – 13); ●Tom Sloper and his unique online mahjong program to illustrate that fusion is the trend (14 – 19).
Part V (Para. 20 – 28)
Effects of globalization (or cultural fusion) in China: ●dramatic changes and improvements in people’s life for the past two decades as a result of economic reforms and opening to the West (20); ●cultural trends in Shanghai as exemplified by the booming business of GM (21);
●fast-changing physical appearance of the city and general acceptance of Western lifestyle
(22); ●improved living standards giving people more and better choices in daily life (23); ●
“cultural dislocation” generally accepted with a tolerant attitude (24); ●what underlies such acceptance and tolerance: a great leap forward at the level of ideas (25); ● the author’s experience at Shanghai Theatre Academy as a further example to show the change at the level of ideas, something totally unthinkable in China a generation ago (26 – 28).
Part VI (Paras. 29 – 34)
Toffler’s view on conflict, change and world order: ●Alvin Toffler and his recent book The
Third Wave in which he developed some interesting ideas (29); ● Toffler’s idea of “wave conflicts” between cultures, or conflicts within countries making a transition from one to the other (30); ●Toffler’s idea of “waves”, which to him are major changes in civilization, and his explanation of the three waves (31); ● Toffler’s idea of the effects of the third wave, which is bringing about a entirely new world order, a trisection of order, in which different cultures coexist and collide (32 – 34).
Part VII (Para. 35)
Linking — what the spread of global culture essentially means, as goods move, people move, and ideas move.
Part VIII (Para. 36)
Change — not a choice but a reality, not for cultures to become something uniform but for compatibility and mutual understanding by transforming each other.
Part IX (Paras. 37 – 39)
One other example in Shanghai to illustrate the transformation and compatibility of cultures.
Part X (Para. 40)
Conclusion: globalization as an inevitable trend of our times is not merging or fusion but linking, which is a natural human desire.。