Nikola Tesla's Second Industrial Revolution

The Second Industrial Revolution that began in 1870, not only opened the technological age and, ushered in an age of great prosperity for many in America but started the process of globalization. Between 1870 and 1900, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived, causing overcrowding to occur in larger cities (Immigration). In this new age, one filled with marvelous canals, bridges, steamboats, and railroads, the concept of moving westward was no longer restricted to dreamers and adventurers. Millions of immigrants, each having arrived with their own cultures, identities, and political ideals intact, impacted the regions they settled. Their influences, and the interweaving of cultures, is another example of the positive effects of interconnectedness.

Nine years later, this man, Nikola Tesla, introduced electricity, the single most important invention to ever influence the world and globalization. His “Tesla coil,” the blueprint for wireless technology, is still in use today (Nikola). With these two inventions, Tesla changed the shape of the world and enabled globalization to proceed at breakneck speed. The supporters of globalization are inclined to argue that it will lead to: a consolidation of access to knowledge, technology, power, a better standard of living, global wealth, and political ideas. The coming together of these abstract concepts would result in an increasing number of people benefiting from modernization, economic development, and overall growth. Many of the effects of globalization are clearly positive. One small example, the modern ability to refrigerate food effectively amounts to much less time being required of societal members for gathering or hunting fresh sources of nutrition. Much more time may be spent in discovering ways to improve the overall human

It affects every individual on the planet, both positively and negatively. In India, where outsourcing of call center careers is most common, this has boosted the economy exponentially. “The call center employees earn $3,000 to $5,000 a year, in a nation where the per capita income is less than $500. The perks include free private transport to and from work plus the sheer heaven of an air-conditioned workplace” (Leung). Outsourcing, in the short term, may seem detrimental to the American economy; however, the long-term outlook is positive. There may be a temporary shortage of less skilled jobs available here in America, but every person employed in a less developed country boosts that country’s economy. And with economic upswings, comes more education opportunities, more money for medical necessities, safer housing, and a general improvement in the overall condition of these impoverished nations. That improvement will not only benefit other countries, in the long term, but also America. The negative impacts of globalization on these less affluent countries is apparent in the numerous tragedies seen in industrial disasters. Even in less dire instances, the working conditions seen in these countries in deplorable, when not outright potentially deadly. In Cambodia, in a garment factory that supplies clothes to H&M, workers make $140 a month (Retailers). In Bangladesh, in another factory for the same company, nearly 79,000