In most countries, multinational companies and their products are becoming more and more important. This trend is seriously damaging our quality of life. Do you agree or disagree? v.1

Never before have multinational companies played such a pivotal role in society. In the past, rarely a local company's products would reach external markets. Yet today, seemingly due to the advent of globalisation, both manufacturing and distribution have gone global, increasing the quantity and the variety of goods and services dramatically whilst driving down prices. These are often cited as some of the examples of how this trend has improved people’s lives greatly. Advocates of this point of view assert that never has the world experienced such prosperity. From wide-screen televisions to luxury cars, globalisation has brought about variation never seen before. What is more, multinational companies generate a substantial number of jobs and innovation, both of which are catalysts to some wealth in society. And thus, they claim, the quality of people's lives has been substantially elevated across the globalised world. Albeit I acknowledge the validity of such arguments, it is my belief that it is outweighed by one simple yet powerful counter-argument; consumerism. That is, such a massive number of products allied with an efficient marketing industry, poured with huge budgets, has converted people to mere consumers. As a result, many have become prone to buying compulsively far more things than necessary, generating massive wastage. Worse, some evidence would suggest a strong link between this dysfunctional behaviour and some psychological issues such as depression, stress and the like. Hence, that multinational companies have yielded a number of benefits is clear. However, I feel that the rampant consumerism which has widely spread across society as a consequence of globalisation will end up putting at stake not only our quality of life but also perhaps the planet itself.