This week we have been hearing about the blind Chinese Activist Chen Guangcheng who recently escaped his home and fled to the U.S embassy.  He was convicted and sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison for damaging property and organising a mob to disrupt traffic.  Even after serving his entire sentence he was then placed under house arrest with his family.  He is a self taught lawyer in China who is known as a "barefoot" lawyer activating for women's rights and the rights of the poor.  He filed a class action suit exposing the excessive enforcement of China's family planning policy, one-child policy.  This enforcement often involved violence and forced abortions.

My point of talking of Mr. Chen is that I believe that the technological advancements that we currently have had lead to the globalization that is now helping Chen Guangcheng and his family. Since the story broke on May 2, 2012 that Mr. Chen had escaped his home (which was under police guard) and fled to the U.S Embassy, the world has become aware of the injustice and fear that he and his family have been living under. I believe that it is this world audience that the Chinese government fears.  Since leaving the U.S embassy and going to a Chinese hospital Mr. Chen has again asked to be able to leave China with his family.  New York University has offered him the opportunity to come and study as a visiting scholar.  It is reported that the Chinese Government has agreed to let him and his family leave China.

So is globalization always good.  No, probably not but I believe that it is inevitable.  With the technical advancements that our society now has it is impossible to put our heads in the sand and act like we do not have the ability to help.  It is the greed of some people that leads to the corruption of power.  With the world as a stage maybe this will lead to more accountability of those in charge and force a more helpful hand in some situations, like this one involving Mr. Chen.  If you think about it globalization is still a young creation and has a lot of growing up to still do.

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