Wednesday, November 11, 2015

'Brain Drain' in How Soccer Explains the World

'Brain Drain' in How Soccer Explains the World

Globalization is controversial. Regarding economics, Globalization can be praised for drastically increasing the wealth of the world, while at the same time it can be blamed for outsourcing of jobs. Globalization can also be praised for the vast network of ideas that is responsible for so many of the important innovations in the world today. However, Globalization can also be blamed for brain drain --when a country's brightest and most qualified people immigrate to countries with a higher quality of life--, which effects many countries with a lower quality of life. Often times, these immigrants are received with disdain by the local populaces of their new countries. How Soccer Explains the World  accurately depicts the effects of 'brain drain' in the chapter about Nigerian immigrants playing soccer for the Ukrainian national team. 

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became an independent state. However, because the Soviet Union's Soccer team represented all of the states under its control, Ukraine was left without a Soccer team after the Soviet Union dissolved. In addition to this, many of the best Ukrainians continued to play for Russia. Despite this, Ukraine founded its own national team in 1991, and they began recruiting the most talented players from Nigeria to play for their new national team. 

On the surface this appeared to be a very pragmatic solution to Ukraine's soccer woes; the thought was that all parties involved would benefit. These new Nigerian players contributed their talents to the national team, and they were paid very much. This situation, highlights the good aspects of brain drain, as it creates a conglomeration of the most talented people, while improving those people's quality of life. Because of this influx of talented players, the Ukrainian national team thought that more Ukrainians would watch and support the team. However, this was not the case.

The influx of Nigerian players on the Ukrainian national team actually created many problems. The play style of the new Nigerien players did not work well with that of the Ukrainians. Here another parallel can be drawn with 'brain drain,' as often times different cultures--even when both are extremely skilled at completing a task--don't always work well together due to a conflicting process. In addition to this, Ukrainian players were displaced by the new Nigerian players, which enraged nationalists, sparking a racist reaction. A common issue with immigration is the local backlash, due to the locals fear that they will lose their jobs to the new immigrants.

How Soccer Explains the World portrays globalization in light that is both good and bad, which is important, while this concept is more complicated than it may seem. Globalization may break down old stately boarders, but in doing so it simply can just create new and often times more boarders. For this reason, globalization cannot be forced. Therefore, state officials and the leaders of international businesses need to realize how delicate the world is, and that the frivolous mixing of cultures often times causes more problems than it fixes.  

5 comments:

  1. Hi Ben, I liked how you addressed globalization and highlighted both the good and bad aspects of it. I agree that there are many positives and negatives, and this was definitely shown through the Soccer example. Also, i really liked how you said that globalization cannot be forced. I agree that it must be done with care and if not, can cause problems. Do you think that globalization should be integrated even into cultures that do not want it at the time, if it is done so carefully?

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  2. Thanks for your comment Jonathan,
    I think that when governments or organization proactively globalize when citizens are clearly against it, then it becomes a serious problem. However, when globalization slowly seeps into a culture over a long period of time, without forceful government action, then it is ok.

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  3. I agree with you Ben that globalization "seeps into a culture over a long period of time". In the world we live in today, it is impossible for other cultures to not be reflected in other countries where they could not be found today. Social media and advances in technology allow for communication and interaction between countries and therefore globalization occurs sometimes unconsciously.

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  4. Hey Ben,

    Good job on your blog post. I really like the way you started, “Globalization is controversial.” That definitely caught my attention. I never viewed Globalization as something that can be controversial. I think your post did a good job of explaining this. I like how you described the positives and negatives of Globalization as well. I really like your incorporation of the Ukrainian national team as well. Overall, do you think Globalization, although complicated, has more potential to be good or bad? Good job!

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  5. Hi Ben!
    I really liked how you went into more detail from the discussion we had in class. After reading your post I realized the brain drain could be seen from another perspective: the "brain drain" of Nigeria. Their players are also being exported and not contributing to their national interest.

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