Ayatollahy (2008) described one debate in the globalisation literature about free will. One argument is that we act as sponges, simply indiscriminately absorbing new developments and changes of globalisation without interacting with it. Ayatollahy disagrees saying we actively make choices and alter our direction in regards to these new changes (p. 36). I believe only a select few are those who interact and the majority of us are the sponges who choose not to exert our free will.
In Western cultures, we feel invulnerable to change, we feel like we don't have to - it's the world that needs to change. New food, new media, new entertainment that didn't come from the West and it is inserted seamlessly into society, with most of us barely registering there was a change. But I think this is a good thing. The world would be thrown into disarray if people started standing up and saying, "Why is this thing in my country? This isn't how it used to be."
On a world stage, we need the viewers and we need the players. There isn't room for every person to play the game. But it's the silent support of the viewers, and perhaps the occasional cheer from the viewers that maintains international society. So we don't interact with globalisation processes on the world scale, but we do on a local scale. We choose what to eat on a daily basis , we choose which brand to buy, etc. We exert our free will in the necessary context. If this continues to occur, current levels of globalisation will be maintained and the status quo we find ourselves in will remain. To tip the scales, all we need is for a few more viewers to become players. Whether to accept new changes from other cultures or to reject them, it will at least make the game more interesting.
References:
Ayatollahy, H. (2008). The role of media in the threats and opportunities of globalisation for religion. Journal of Media and Religion, 7: 34-44. doi: 10.1080/1534842701838319
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