Globalization is the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of transportation, communications, and trade. Through a global lens the process of globalization appears to be vital to the development of the modern world. As a result of globalization, a dramatic transition has occurred in every aspect of life around the world, most specifically in areas such as trade, immigration and human development. International trade strengthens sales, reduces production and consumption costs, and extends the market reach of any company. This is beneficial to America as consumers are able to purchase more goods and services at lower costs and thus the gross domestic product increases. Furthermore, with domestic consumers able to market their product globally, foreign consumption increases. Immigration brings some of the same benefits as trade. Immigrant workers statistically work for lower wages and take jobs that are presumably unattractive to native workers. This translates into lower costs for employers and an influx of workers. Whether legal or illegal, additional workers drive economic growth. Finally, globalization has facilitated human development through cultural diversity, the broadening of ideologies, and the creation of advantageous competition between nations. However, as the United States protects its citizens with labor laws and livable wages, millions of manufacturing jobs are lost to lower-wage foreign counterparts. While there are many benefits to merging the world, globalization comes at a cost, the elimination of the American middle class. Trade supports more than 50 million American workers who are employed by companies that export their goods, accounting for nearly 40... .middle of paper......ease of transportation and information sharing people are now exposed to infinite worldviews and ideologies. Nations are able to use each other as benchmarks to improve themselves and the conditions of their citizens. However, globalization has also created an environment that forces companies to send jobs overseas to remain competitive. Most of these jobs belong to the American middle class. If current trends continue, the middle class will disappear and the United States will only have the rich and the poor with a large disparity between them. trade-works-for-americahttp://www.uschamber.com/international/agenda/benefits-international-trade-and-investmenthttp://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/contributions.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/ now/politics/outsource.html