Brad McCormick replied:
> > - the decay of our cultural diversity due to Americanization of culture
>
> Tis much a shame we export Coca-cola instead of our watches.
It is not cultural imperialism to export a small niche product that
does not even dominate the target market. (Coca-Cola, OTOH, does
dominate the beverage market [not only with the drink named Coca-Cola],
and this drink sells not because it's best, but due to most aggressive
marketing and business practices, and because it is addictive.)
No, cultural imperialism is a different thing:
Turn on the radio -- you hear US music.
Watch TV or cinema -- you see a US movie or US news.
Walk on the street -- you see ads with English slogans and people wearing
blue jeans.
Go downtown -- you end up in a jazz festival.
Escape out in the green -- you end up in a "Country&Western" party or
"US car meeting", complete with buffalo horns and US flags.
Etc. ........ ad nauseam!
Brad, can you imagine this the other way 'round ?
> > - the decay of our direct democracy due to Americanization of the media
>
> I believe that 200 years ago there was more democracy in America.
> Today Americans can still be on their local school boards and
> zoning commissions, so all is not lost.
You conveniently clipped my parenthesis:
> > (merger-mania, corporate dependencies)
What I meant is that direct democracy can't work when the information
which the decisions are based on is biased and lacks diversity.
> I believe that 200 years ago there was more democracy in America.
If you think democracy in Switzerland began only after 1776, read books
like "Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons __1470-1620__" by US historian
Randolph C. Head ("The Freestate of the Three Leagues in the Grisons,
a rural confederation in the Swiss Alps, was one of the most unusual
political entities in early modern Europe. In the _sixteenth_ century,
its inhabitants enjoyed popular sovereignty and remarkable local
autonomy").
> > - the decay of our environment due to Americanization of consumerism (e.g.
> > SUVs instead of energy-efficient cars)
>
> Are Europeans really "falling for" these automabominations?
They are, due to aggressive advertizing of those SUVs (advertizing is
Americanized too), _and_ due to the "arms race" induced by SUVs: many
people don't dare to use small, light cars anymore, because they fear
being crushed by the SUVs ! So they buy stronger cars, so others must
buy even stronger cars yet. That's a classic case of "rat-race to the
bottom"... (With the irony that SUVs are not safe for their _own_
occupants either! Just great in crushing others. -- Like the USA,
so to speak...)
> I found a magnificent picture of the reverse side of
> The Great Seal of The United States, yesterday. What
> a shame it's not more true to life:
>
> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/cgi-bin/vuImag3.pl?i=150
Where did you find this picture?
----
Arthur Cordell replied:
> You make it seem that Americanization is an exogenous force. It isn't.
> The people seem to want it.
That's the big PR myth. If people would really want it, then it wouldn't
take a multi-billion PR industry to push it down their throats, including
the decades-long activities of the CIA (see e.g. Frances Saunders' book
"The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters" or
Reinhold Wagnleitner's "Here, There, and Everywhere: The Foreign Politics
of American Popular Culture").
The people "seem to want" Micro$oft too!
Chris
