By Katherine Connelly

“Fake news” is a phrase that has been thrown around a lot recently. It seems to be the hottest catchphrase for President Trump—and something that is starting to cause issues throughout the country. President Trump is not a full supporter of the media as of late, and while he seems to have some good reasons for his claim, there is a bigger issue all of this “fake news” has an effect on—globalization. As business students we hear this term a lot, especially when it comes to courses such as supply chain. In the business world, success stems primarily from our connections to the rest of the world. There, global ties and globalization is imperative. If we begin to end our relationships with the rest of the world then what will come of us?

Recently BBC News interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, the famous founder of Facebook. He believes that Facebook can help to “re-boost globalization” by bringing the world closer together. Zuckerberg believes that now more than ever people cannot just “sit around and be upset, but act and build social infrastructures” (BBC). Furthermore, he believes that every branch of society needs to work towards creating more opportunities for everyone—not just specific people. Throughout his interview he seemed to be hinting at a dislike towards the newly elected president but later denied these claims. Zuckerberg is a strong believer in connecting the world, rather than having it continue down a disconnected course that President Trump might be causing.

One of the reasons why globalization seems to be going through a rough time is due to the separations from the rest of the world that President Trump is trying to instill. One of his biggest points during his campaign was to bring more jobs back to the United States. He has been known to say that it is because of other countries that our own country does not have as many jobs. However, there is evidence that contradicts this. A study that was done by Ball State University showed that during the years of 2000-2010, 13% of jobs were lost to global trade. While 87% of jobs were loss to productivity, or better known as automation (CNN). This has to do with the influx of technology that has developed throughout our country and thus causing many citizens to lose their jobs. While there is blame on both China and Mexico for the amount of trade that has occurred between them, there seems to be more of an American issue as well. Maybe there should not be such a quick jump to conclusions and wall building when it comes to a problem like this one.

Trade with other countries is going to continue to happen despite President Trump’s best efforts. He might be able to decrease it, but it is still going to exist. It is the same for globalization. There are too many communication platforms for us to connect through for globalization to cease evolving. Zuckerberg may be the first person to bring more awareness to our voices starting to falter as a country, but he will not be the last. Even though we have a new government that is trying to decrease our global atmosphere, there are actions everyone can take to stop it from happening. We have come too far as a country, and as a world, to stop it so suddenly. The following is a perfect closing statement from Zuckerberg. “A lot of today’s biggest opportunities will come from bringing people together—whether that is spreading prosperity or freedom, or accelerating science, or promoting peace and understanding” (BBC). We must continue forward with globalization in order to make sure this occurs.