2.3

The article "Why are Countries Rich and Others Poor?" gives a picture of global south countries. The less-developed economies' economic development is key to bridging the gap between rich and poor countries. Differences in nations' economic growth rates also result in differences in inputs (output factors) and differences in demand in Total Factors of Production (TFP)—the productivity of labor and capital resources. Higher productivity encourages faster economic growth, and quicker growth helps a country to avoid poverty. Along with institutions that provide innovation and development opportunities are factors that can improve productivity and growth (Wolla, 2017). Surbhi (2015) has also stressed that the United Nations divides countries into two major categories. They're the developed and developing countries. Country classification is based on economic status such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), per capita income, industrialization, living standards, etc. Developed countries, as opposed to poor countries, refer to the sovereign states whose economies have significantly advanced and possess vast technological infrastructures. Developed countries have safe, clean, and stable living environment while developing countries lack those things. Countries with low industrialization and low index of human development are called developing countries. The developing countries in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America is referred to as the global south. 

The Global South refers to:

· Developing countries or countries that are less developed.

· The underdevelopment and lack of participation of some states/peoples in global political processes.

· Regional disparities —- the aggregate economic and political power imbalances between states.

· Contemporary opponents of neo-liberal globalization and the victims of the aggressive economic 'cures' of organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

· "Third World" or non-alignment states that have rejected "colonialism" by both the US and the USSR (Cold War critics). 

The global south is everywhere. It transcends at the crossroads of tangled political geographies of dispossessions and repossession (Sparke, 2007). It is not a directional designation or a point due south from a fixed north (Grovogui, 2011). The 'Global South' is constituted by regions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South and Latin America--- which some are developing nations and non-democratic. On the other hand, the 'global North' is constituted by countries like the USA, Canada, Western Europe, developed parts of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand --wealthy, industrialized and democratic Capitalists.

Globalization in different perspectives based on the following points/issues: 

Melchoir and Telle (2001) explain that the long-held conventional wisdom concerning the differences between countries are due to differing prices for services. Services are traded between countries only on a limited scale. That same theory is based on the fact that the price of goods traded between countries should be equal in the countries concerned. In other words, a car should cost the same if taxes are not included in the calculation. A visit to the hairstylist, on the other hand, will be priced differently in two different countries. A haircut in the US, which costs 40 US Dollars would cost around 2,000 Philippine pesos if one converts the equivalent of the current dollar-peso trading rate at 50 Philippine pesos to 1 US dollars. Yet, the regular haircut cost in the Philippine is only around 100 pesos (Philippine currency). Hence, to correct for this discrepancy, economists have always adjusted their figures for local purchasing power. This is known as purchasing power adjustment. Various conditions affect disparity in global south countries, which led to assumptions on why such countries have not easily adjusted to the workings of globalization. 

Reasons Why Global South Countries are Slow to Adopt Changes Brought about Globalization

1. Underdevelopment of the global south prevents it from being globalized.

• For example, the shanty stands for the tenacity of the locals who cannot engage in a cosmopolitan society embodied by Starbucks.

2. Globalization creates both affluence and poverty.

• It pushes people and groups into modernity associated with Western culture and capital, while simultaneously leaving behind others.

3. Neo-liberalism cause and reinforce the endemic poverty of the global south.

For the neo-liberalism critic, the enforcement of the neo-liberal consensus deepens inequality in the world's poorest countries. The rich industrialized countries have continued to exploit the natural resources of global south countries and also exploited the people through the giving of meager wages, and more often than not, hazardous working conditions. 

4. Various forms of inequality cut across national boundaries.

This runs contrary to the Marxist ideology that asserts there should be a classless society where everyone is equal because of the destruction of private property. In reality, there is always a global north in the global south and the global south in the global north. 

5. The global south is placed in the interstate of inequalities. 

• The decolonization process produced states that become recognized as sovereign under the international law system promoted by the United Nations.

• Solution to problems generated by globalization is primarily forwarded on a state level. 

• Walden Bello (2006) contends that development in the global south must begin by 'drawing much of the country's financial resources for internal growth, rather than being dependent on external finance markets.

• States are permitted to control businesses working within their boundaries. Ex. Transnational corporations operating in many global south countries are the results of state policies. 

• Global South comes from Western imagination.

• In the 16th century, there was the Spanish conquest of Latin America and Asia. 

• G W F Hegel believed that a universal "spirit" propelled world history, leading humankind to higher consciousness levels.

Economic Opportunities: A Beacon for Exploitation in the Global South

Economic development is a sustained increase in the production of goods and services by a country over time. The output of an economy is a function of its inputs or development factors (natural resources, labor resources, and capital resources) and the productivity of those factors (especially labor and capital resources productivity) – the total factor productivity (TFP). A higher rate of economic growth means more goods are produced per person, creating higher incomes and allowing more people to escape poverty more quickly. It seems like a simple relationship. If governments grant substantial ownership rights, free markets, and the rule of law, markets will flourish and the economy will expand. Yet, in the quest to improve their economies, several global south countries have invited Multinational and Transnational companies to operate within their territories. However, to lure these companies, states offer lucrative packages such as tax holidays for a more extended period, lax environmental policies, and unfair labor practices. These things create a trade-off between economic growth versus the well-being of the natural environment and the country's citizens where said global corporations operate. More often than not, it is the poor countries that always receive the lowest end of the bargain since such countries are desperate for development. They seem to be willing to pay the price for progress. Hence, the people suffer and the natural environment is exploited to the max. 

Global South Resistance to Colonial Order

• Benedict Anderson (2007) has shown that there was resistance against Spanish colonialism in Latin America and the Philippines. Ex. Domestic nationalism.

• The Socialist International (social Democrats) takes a more radical and militant interpretation of socialism for people's struggles to be recognized.

• Vladimir Lenin, the founder of Communist International, argued that capitalism's strength is premised on the creation of new markets via imperialism, which looked for venues to exploit human labor.

The Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung has forged economic and cultural cooperation. The Sukarno led "Third worldism" has begun as a collective resistance to new forms of colonialism. 

Struggles in the Global South made Global.

There is a significant gap between the developed (North) and the developing (South) countries. The developed countries are self-contained and thriving, while the developing countries are only merely in the process of emerging as a developed world. Developing countries are those that experience the development process for the first time. The developed countries, on the contrary, are those belonging to post-industrial economies. Thus, a significant chunk of the revenues from developing countries comes from the service or labor sector (Surbhi, 2015). Compared with developing countries, developed countries have a high Human Development Index (HDI). The former has built itself on all fronts and, through its efforts, made itself sovereign while the latter is still striving to achieve the same. 

The global south's ills are being globalized, and the Greeks seem to be sharing the struggles of the global south countries. For instance, in the year 2009, Greece suffered an economic collapse that lasted longer than America's Great Depression. Greece's Prime Minister, George Papandreou, admitted in 2009 that the budget deficit figures had been understated for years and that those originally reported could be doubled (Johnston, 2020). 

The global south has routinely provided models of resistance for the world. From the anti-colonial campaigns in India and the Philippines against the British and the Spaniards and Vietnam's efforts to unite the North and South Vietnam that culminated in the Vietnam War, the south seemed to have the penchant for resisting colonial powers after the powers' domination, if not exploitation through the years. At present, the global south is still home to anti-neoliberalism struggles. The continued struggles of the Communist Party of the Philippines through its armed wing, the New People's Army, in the Philippines are one example. 

Basis for Comparison - Global North - Global South

1. Meaning 

- A country having an effective rate of industrialization and individual income is known as Developed Country.

- Developing Country is a country which has a slow rate of industrialization and low per capita income.

2. Unemployment and Poverty

- Low

- High

3. Rates

- Infant mortality rate, death rate and birth rate is low while the life expectancy rate is high.

- High infant mortality rate, death rate and birth rate, along with low life expectancy rate.

4. Living conditions

- Good

 - Moderate

5. Generates more revenue from

- Industrial sector

- Service sector

6. Growth

- High industrial growth.

- They rely on the developed countries for their growth.

7. Standard of living

- High

- Low

8. Distribution of Income

- Equal

- Unequal

9. Factors of Production

- Effectively utilized

- Ineffectively utilized

Table 2. Comparison Between the Global North and Global South Countries

Source: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-developed-countries-and-developing-countries.html

Key Differences Between Developed Countries and Developing Ones

According to Surbhi (2015), the following are the critical disparities between developing and developed countries.

1. Democratic affluent countries are known as Developed Countries. The countries that face the start of industrialization are called Developing Countries.

2. Compared to developing nations, developed countries have high per capita income and GDP.

3. In developed countries, the literacy rate is high, but in developing countries, the illiteracy rate is high.

4. Developed countries have adequate health and safety services and a safer climate, which is lacking in developing countries.

5. Established countries produce Industrial sector revenue. Conversely, developed countries generate service sector revenues.

6. In developed countries, people's living standards are high. In developing countries, people's living standards are low.

Conclusion

This lesson concludes that the industrial revolution has changed the way people think about everything. Population continues to grow despite issues concerning steady income and food availability. The problems hounding the global south cannot just be readily addressed. The cities grew around factories, working people lived in tenements and slums, and there is lack of planning that often resulted in a shortage of water and inadequate sewage system. 

The global south poses a challenge in the world today. Means to properly allocate limited resources for maximum benefit among people are desperately needed. However, increasing access to international trade has provided markets for the goods produced by less-developed countries. In a way, it has increased productivity by increasing developing countries' access to capital resources. Nevertheless, the global south has to contend with undesirable trade-offs to attain development.