15.Living in the global village

The phrase ‘global village’ may have different meanings for different people - it may be ‘a community of diverse people living at peace in mutually constructive interaction’ or ‘a repressive global uniformity from which there is no place to escape’ (Lerda 2002:3). Internet, as a global real-time information system, gives the possibility to communicate with the whole world. On the other hand, Internet used by hackers may be dangerous e.g. Internet crimes and even terrorists’ attacks. However, Internet is not accessible everywhere. Lately, in Cuba the government decided to legalise computers, but Internet access in still restricted. Visible McDonaldization, which is the process ‘by which the principles of the fast food restaurant (efficiency, calculability, predictability and control) are coming to dominate several sectors of society‘ (Mooney 2007:162), is in fact the method of unification and exploitation. In the global village, instead of many improvements, many threats are becoming real. Terrorism and international crime are a big problem. To be able to prevent and act against it, organizations such as FBI and local police have to cooperate. What is more, because of the cheapest and easier travelling, many diseases which used to be exotic, may be spread. Not to mention global illnesses such as avian flu. A process of global warming also causes the spread of new diseases, the extinction of many species and the occurrence of more and more dangerous natural phenomena.