Feb 22 2013: Finally - during my travels around the world it is the most developed countries that seem the most 'same.' They have tourist industries that trivialise and glamorise their traditions - is it because they places themselves have lost their soul? In the less developed countries, even in major population centres, although the same global brands are in evidence, they seem to have less of an impact at the moment. Could new technologies be used to capture and retain the local traditions and ways of life, or would the people living there rather have a better standard of living?
Would I rather eat locally produced food, or support farming cooperatives in poorer countries? Can I do both?
Feb 22 2013: I'm always interested in this type of debate because the missing voices seem to be those that are living in the poorest parts of the world. I wonder if they would give up the chance of development (as in better education, income, healthcare, human rights) for the chance to keep their local identity. For want of a better phrase, is worrying about the lack of local a '1st world problem?'
In my own life, I live somewhere completely different from where I grew up. I was born on St David's Day (the Patron Saint of Wales); in a miners hospital, the son of a coal miner, in the Welsh coal mining valleys and lived there only until I was 10. I then moved to the agricultural rolling fields of South West Wales. However, I consider myself 'local' to Wales even though I haven't lived there for 26 years. Local to me is the language, the customs ans the mannerisms of the Welsh.
In my current West Sussex coastal village, I'm surrounded by global brands and yet there is a thriving local community driven by the South Downs, activities such as running and cycling and around schools.
I can relate the the film as during my wide travels, I've been able to purchase Coke in a remote Pacific island (where clean water wasn't available) and the top of 4000m mountains. Is this a bad thing? I'm not so sure as advances in technology and the ability to connect and share allow me to do my job, stay connected with family and enjoy leisure time. But then, I don;t have to worry where the food on my plate in coming from.
Is the advantage of globalisation the ability to start a conversation anywhere in the world around common experiences? When sharing tea in a remote Berber hut in the High Atlas, the benefits of global brands were evident in making life a little easier, but those people were still essentially without any basic level of luxury.
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A comment on Conversation: How will travel change local places in the future?
Would I rather eat locally produced food, or support farming cooperatives in poorer countries? Can I do both?
A comment on Conversation: How will travel change local places in the future?
In my own life, I live somewhere completely different from where I grew up. I was born on St David's Day (the Patron Saint of Wales); in a miners hospital, the son of a coal miner, in the Welsh coal mining valleys and lived there only until I was 10. I then moved to the agricultural rolling fields of South West Wales. However, I consider myself 'local' to Wales even though I haven't lived there for 26 years. Local to me is the language, the customs ans the mannerisms of the Welsh.
In my current West Sussex coastal village, I'm surrounded by global brands and yet there is a thriving local community driven by the South Downs, activities such as running and cycling and around schools.
I can relate the the film as during my wide travels, I've been able to purchase Coke in a remote Pacific island (where clean water wasn't available) and the top of 4000m mountains. Is this a bad thing? I'm not so sure as advances in technology and the ability to connect and share allow me to do my job, stay connected with family and enjoy leisure time. But then, I don;t have to worry where the food on my plate in coming from.
Is the advantage of globalisation the ability to start a conversation anywhere in the world around common experiences? When sharing tea in a remote Berber hut in the High Atlas, the benefits of global brands were evident in making life a little easier, but those people were still essentially without any basic level of luxury.