An Afternoon at IKEA

As a means of delaying work on my dissertation for one more day, I decided to take the red metro to the end of the line to check out IKEA, in particular their pillows and towels. As I walk into the giant blue box with huge bright yellow letters IKEA sprawled across the side of the building, I think how i very well could be in suburban Chicago, or perhaps northern Virginia. But no, Im in a Swedish furniture store in Budapest, listening to Seal (a British musician of Nigerian/Brasilian descent). As i walk past the restaurant serving swedish meatballs and falafel on pita, I grab a large yellow bag and head upstairs to the linen section (or what i guess is the linen section, my household hungarian words need some refreshing). I check out the other customers, generally youngish women wearing low hung jeans with flip-flops, skin tight t-shirts and cloth belts of various pastel colors. i really could be in Northern Virginia.

I find some towels and pillows that are adequately fluffy for my sensitive skin and toss them into my bag. Good thing i left my atm and credit cards at home and just brought cash, as i passed woks, blenders, and asundry other fancy kitchen contraptions that i dont really need, but would really enjoy having.

I finished my shopping and headed to the swedish meatball snack bar to relax a bit before i head home on the metro. I started thinking about the fact that im shopping at a swedish chain store that ive frequented in the states, which spurred me to think about the globalizing forces that are so prevalent in today’s world. Recently these thoughts have been lingering in my head after reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman of the NYTimes. Friedman’s main thesis is that due to a number of forces (fall of the berlin wall, the internet boom/bust, open source software, outsourcing, insourcing etc.) have leveled the playing field of the global economy, not only are companies competing globally but so are individuals.

I’ve come to the conclusion that globalization is inevitable, the world is becoming smaller, I can shop at IKEA, eat a sandwich at Subway, and call mom and dad for 2 cents a minute all while never leaving Budapest. Fifteen years ago, none of these could have occurred. In the early nineties, Friedman offered a theory that no two nations have ever fought once they have acquired a McDonalds. Even if this theory holds, which it may, in an ideal world, would there be McDonald’s in every country---is that truly globalization or is that U.S. culinary hegemony? Does globalization necessarily mean cultural homogenization? But then, if the citizens of Hungary also want to clog their arteries through the consumption of Big Macs, should my dislike of McDonalds matter? Probably not. If I don’t want to support McDonalds, then I won’t eat at McDonalds. If enough people choose not to frequent McDonalds, then it won’t be financially beneficial for McDonalds to maintain their presence in Hungary (Im just using an example of McDonalds here, I could have very well used Nike, Walmart, Kmart, etc.).

This theory of essentially voting with your dollars relies on the assumption that costumers have adequate information to make the consumption decisions and that the cost of receiving this information is reasonable (ideally free). For example, I believe that it is the responsibility of McDonalds to have freely available information regarding (1) where and from whom they purchase their food supplies (e.g., cattle farms in Hungary versus Brasil); (2) how these animals and vegetables are raised (e.g., free range chicken versus cooped chicken, hormone use in cattle, organic or pesticide intensive); (3) the employment practices of McDonalds and agricultural enterprises that grow their food (e.g., wage rates, benefits, child labor laws); the list could continue. It is my opinion that very few people in the developed world seek out this information before making a consumption decision (be it where you eat, what shirt you buy). Tracking down this information is costly, takes time and it takes resources. However, if McDonalds and all other corporations are required to supply this information to all of its potential consumers, a portion of society may change their consumption patterns in favor of small local businesses, and higher environmental and labor standards and some may not, but at least all consumers can be informed at no cost to them. Now I realize that this will only work if the consumers have a certain level of education (e.g., literate, environmentally literate etc.)---I’ll address that in a future blog. As well as the United States hypocritical free trade and protectionist policies.