Final Post

Mass media is probably the most globalizing force of this generation. Pietreses defines the globalization of economics is accelerated movements across national and regional barriers of economic goods. (p. 17) Commercials, billboards, catalogs etc. communicate the message of materialism and popular culture from Los Angles to London to Nairobi to Beijing. One can only speculate as to the success of the globalization of economy without the vehicle of mass media. A few years ago I visited the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the main exhibits was of all the different types of products that they sell from the around the world. From the Italian version to the Chinese one, one can see the amazing power of mass marketing.

He defines the globalization of sociology is both the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole. (p. 17) People outside of the United States yearn for the technology and comforts that we have, and in turn, we too love to export our technology almost as much as they want it. Interestingly, as we discussed in the past blogs and classes, we desire to export this technology to the rest of the world, but we do not readjust our lives and resources to make that possible. Our desire to share would seem to be more of a desire to show off our ingenuity and fancy gadgets. Perhaps, it is more of a desire to make everyone else more like us than it is a desire upgrade the world for its own good. Pietreses also defines it as the social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and in which people are increasingly aware that they are receding. (p. 17) Over the last century, the world has been “shrinking” at rapid rate. With the rapid development of radio technology, telephones, cellphones, internet etc. communication has become exceedingly easy and accessible. On a mission trip in the remote parts of Brazil, we were able to carry a satellite phone that had the capabilities of reaching around the world.

Pietreses describes the globalization of the history and anthropology is a long term historical process of growing worldwide interconnectedness. (p. 17) As I stated earlier, the advancement of technology and mass media has progressed rapidly over the last century. Globalization goes as far back as the system of roads that were built in Europe and Asia during the Pax Romana.

Mass media is merely a vehicle. It is not a value or an ideology in itself, but it is used as a means of communicating values and ideologies. As Jesus followers, it does not make sense to fight technology and mass media as the church has often done in the past. We need to learn how to use mass media to combat evil and immoral ideologies in this world. As we near the end of our class, I thin kit is important for us to ponder the implications of how we use mass media in our ministries and how we can equip believers to respond more thoughtfully and effectively to these important globalizing forces.