gLoBaLiZaTiOn

Growing up I heard every once and awhile the mention of the “seven wonders of the world”; big and glorious things that people could just look at and ponder the existence of such creations. However, it has been brought to my attention, that these seven wonders no longer exist in todays world. The seven wonders of the world until the present were-the hanging gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the Colossus at Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

All of the sites mentioned were once considered by people around the globe great things that nothing could be compared to. In todays world though, new things have met the criteria of amazement and have replaced these seven wonders. The only new criteria that has been given for choosing what is a “wonder of the world” is that it had to be built or dicovered before the year 2000.

About 200 different sites were nominated by people around the globe, and these were than brought down to 21 sites that a group of “professionals” deemed most wonderous. On July 7,2007 the new seven wonders will be announced by the organization that is running the voting. So far the only original seven world wonder that made it on the list was the pyramids in Egypt. On the new list (whole list at the bottom), sites range from the statue of liberty to Timbuktu city.

I dont agree with the placement of the Statue of Liberty and also the Eiffel Tower as world wonders. Compared to the original seven world wonders, these do not even compare. Yes, these are wonderful monuments that represent many ideas, but if one looks at these and than the Hanging Gardens or the Lighthouse, they just dont compare. However, one can argue that all of this is subjective and is dependent on the person looking at the site, but than criteria should be more strict, instead of just “discovered or built before 2000″ as to make it more objective.

With a new age upon us, many things are subject to change, as can be seen with the new seven world wonders. People have changed their mind on what they think in todays world can be seen as a wonder, but I dont think that they should be changed. If you look at the new list and compare it to the old seven wonders, it seems as if they arent even close in the spectacular nature of the original seven. And I dont believe that there is a need to change them,especially with options such as the Statue of Liberty for example, which I do like and think is great and a symbol of my country, but to see that and than for example the Statue of Zeus, there is a difference in the way it was built, the history and the appearance. But with time things must change, and I’m sure this is just one of the many things that will change throughout my lifetime.

List of 21 new world wonders to be voted upon:

1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece

2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain

3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia

4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico

5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

6 Colosseum, Rome

7 Easter Island Statues, Chile

8 Eiffel Tower, Paris

9 Great Wall, China

10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey

11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan

12 Kremlin/St.Basil’s, Moscow

13 Machu Picchu, Peru

14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany

15 Petra ancient city, Jordan

16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

17 Statue of Liberty, New York

18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom

19 Sydney Opera House, Australia

20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India

21 Timbuktu city, Mali