What are the advantages and disadvantages of commercialization for an economy?

Interestingly enough, the word "commercialization" has
both positive and negative connotations.

An example of this
word in a positive connotation might be a small, at-home business which suddenly becomes
well known and expands to an amazing level. The owner, who has been struggling after
investing time, money, and energy for years, is finally realizing a dream. Money is
coming in, people recognize the product, and sales are booming. This business has been
commercialized, and it is a success.

At the same time, that
small, at-home business has lost something. There is no longer the personal touch or the
intimate working environment that the business once offered its customers and workers.
This is when the word "commercialized" might be used in a negative
connotation.

In the 1930s, the Appalachian mountain range
now known as the Smoky Mountain National Park was stunningly beautiful and full of all
kinds of flora and fauna as well as trees, of course. When the first lumber company came
in to cut and sell timber, no one was concerned about commercialization and the negative
effects of such a venture. 

The country was beginning to
clamor for lumber, and soon more than thirty lumber companies were working in the
Smokies. While they were doing a necessary thing by providing lumber for the country and
making money for themselves (advantages to commercializing this natural resource), they
were also on their way to killing the mountain range. Trees were being cut and not
replaced, plant, fish, and animal species were being decimated, and the greed for more
profit created an environment of violence (disadvantages to commercializing this natural
resource).

Fortunately, private citizens, the federal
government, and John Rockefeller managed to purchase the land and preserve it as a
national park. There are still vestiges of those lumber camps which can be seen once the
foliage falls in autumn, but most of the nearly extinct species have been replaced and
the forests have been restored.

Now another kind of
commercialization has been happening in the Smokies, the most visited national park in
the country. Hikers and campers pay for the opportunity to use the land but it is free
for visitors to drive through and enjoy as they wish. This national park, like the
others across the country, has managed to strike a balance between allowing some
commerce (advertising and making money through various means) while still maintaining
the integrity and resources of a beautiful and protected
place. 

This balance between the advantages and
disadvantages of commercializing a place, a business, or even a city (such as Hershey,
Pennsylvania, which has capitalized on its famous chocolate company) is difficult to
keep. The risk is going too far, and it happens all the time. For example, the
interstate system, while it made travel much easier for Americans, also created highly
commercialized strip malls for convenience which completely circumvented the small
businesses of many downtown areas in small towns all across the
country. 

Balance is the key, and balance is much easier to
talk about than to achieve.