Globalization in the 21st Century

After reading the article by Byron Ellsworth Hamann which touched on examples of globalization found in the painting Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, I feel as though I can name a lot of examples of how globalization appears in the twenty-first century. With so much trade happening between different nations and so much diversity in the population, it makes sense that cultures intertwine and goods travel all over the world before becoming a familiar entity in a foreign place. The first thing I thought of when I was reading Hamann’s article was Turkish rugs. Although it is clear from their name that they originated in Turkey, they seem to appear all over the United States. I’m half Turkish and visit Turkey with my family every summer and grew accustomed to seeing the beautifully colored and detailed rugs that were sold in marketplaces, but as I grew up in the United States, I continued to see them being sold in stores like Home Goods which I found to be very interesting. What I found to be even more interesting is that in Turkey, most of the rugs were made from real silk which was farmed from silk worms, making the rugs extremely precious and expensive due to the intense labor that was required to make such large designs. However, in America, rugs with the same patterns as those found in Turkey are being sold for a mere $40 and are made from regular rug material. This seems like a good example of globalization in the 21st century because although rugs with Turkish patterns are being sold in the United States with no allusion to Turkey, that is where they were started and are a huge part of Turkish culture.