Q

Assignmnet states about California that it is not just a State but also a commodity that is sold to thousands of people

Home, - Commodification of California

Introduction

With the evolution of mankind and also with the advent of new technologies, man has been trying to develop and prosper in all the directions that suit him. Under this process, it is always difficult to realize how other living entities and non-living aspects are affected from the perspectives of environment, humanity, and even social values (Laver, 2014). 

Considering the case of California, authors have argued that it is not just a State but also a commodity that is sold to thousands of people in different ways in a given community. The first discovery of California in the US began when the Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1700s and since them it started progressing in a quicker way(Laver, 2014). 

Later, it was merged as the US territory in 1848 after the treaty between America and Mexico. Later, the discovery of gold in 1848 inspired several people to head to the west coast to develop their fortunes. The famous incident of Gold Rush is related to California and hence, it becomes necessary to discuss the impact of commodification of California in this report. It will discuss the major events pertaining to commodification; will determine how cultures have changed in California and how it has impacted other States in the US in a given environment.

Discussion and Analysis

The term commodification refers to the transformation of the goods and services into objects of trade so that people can thereby sold them for the purpose of either earning a living or to make their personal fortune (Brown, 2014). 

A commodity as per the reviews of economic experts relate to any object that could be exchanged with other people. It has economic value associated with it and hence will be used during the time of a trade transaction. People are commoditized would reflect that they are transforming their labor on the market with the employer to earn their living(Brown, 2014). 

It is also referred to as slavery in other terms but today there are several such objects found that are sold by people for their corruptive and selfish purposes. It is thereby impacting the environment and the culture in many ways. Commodification is often criticized since people have now started trading to sell those commodities such as data, education, water, and even knowledge that once during the old period were not counted as commodities (Hathaway, 2014). 

It describes the assignment of economic value to a given objective but is often described as the transformation of the market based on undifferentiated products. A non-commercial good will be sold as a commercial product in the market by the people and hence it is referred to as commodification process(Hathaway, 2014). 

If one looks at the historical context of California, one can find that the incident of Gold Rush marked the beginning of economic history of California. It set the tone for the people where they could exploit resources such as gold and other resources such as minerals, plants, animals, and even hydrological resources(Hathaway, 2014). 

They focused on ways to transform those products into commercial products and thereby started selling them to change the landscape of California. Minder's diaries from the Gold Rush showed that the newcomers tended to make three assumptions about the California's natural environment (Kinukawa, 2013). 

They believed that the available resources were untapped and were not utilized by the local people; second, they found that these resources were available in abundance and hence should be sold with an objective to commercialize California in a given environment. And, third, they viewed these resources as inexhaustible. Hence, they focused more on changing the entire culture and social values of California by deploying the principles of commercialization. 

People from not only the United States but also from Europe started entering into California for every product that they could find or image and thereby started their business ventures. The early entrepreneurs also commercialized hot springs and caves and even collected natural asphalt from the Salton Sea (Edwards, 2013). 

By 1851, the markets of California changed completely and it turned out to be the biggest suppliers' markets for every variety of flesh, fowl and fish. In 1859, the commercial businesses related to oil and gas started that allowed people to enter into the Machine Age. It was during the years in the later 19th century when roads, steam locomotives and steam-powering shipping replaced coal (Camp, 2013). 

The new oil fields found in Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley allowed for dramatic explosion and that led to the development of the automobiles industry in the US. The Progressive Era in 1911 allowed the organized businessmen to become the leaders of the different business sectors(Camp, 2013).

Each of the industries was revolutionized with the best technology and also with the best working approach to ensure maximum productivity across the organizations. Later, there were water projects developed in California that included - Los Angeles Aqueduct, Central Valley Project, and other Desalination projects for the purpose of utilizing the hydro resources for different commercial purpose(Camp, 2013). 

Later, the development of aerospace industry allowed California to step among the top business cities of the world. One can thereby find that the development of the different business firms and the commercialization of the non-commercial products led to complete transformation of the culture. 

People did not focus on the core cultural and social values and instead merged them with the business processes to earn their fortunes. Such dramatic transformation allowed California to become not only one of the biggest States but also become of the biggest Commoditized Products for the businessmen across the era in the entire history(Camp, 2013).

Conclusion

If one compares the other states with California and thereby focuses on understanding the change in the culture and other values, it can be confirmed that people that arrived in California only looked after the commodification of the products and processes. There are several economists and researchers that are criticizing such culture as it has affected the entire culture of California from different perspectives (Sevignani, 2017). 

It is also observed that there are negative consequences of commodification such as commodification of agriculture that leads to factory farming and extreme concentration of livestock; it will subsequently increase the risk of epidemics in a given environment. Second, it is also found that with such heavy consumption of mineral resources and forest resources, the impacts of global warming and climate change will be huge and could even cause negative effects for the mankind. 

It is thereby the responsibility of the government, the regulatory authorities, and also the business corporations to prevent such acts of commodification in a given environment. They instead need to focus on carrying out business in other forms that would not allow selling of non-commercial products in the market. One cannot determine the value of water resources or one cannot determine the value of forest resources in a given environment. 

It is thereby necessary to understand these concepts from different perspectives and subsequently focus on the aspects that will allow the business corporations to follow the Code of Ethics in a given working environment. They will thereby not change the existing cultural and social values and also will not only focus on the business activities in a given environment.

Leave a comment


Captcha

Related :-