A short
note on Americanization from an
Irish point of view:
I appreciate
Michalak's point that many people are mourning the actual change of
culture more than the specific
americanization of it, but it is also important to remember that while cultures do change, one must retain some form of individual culture specific to one's
nation. The problem with americanization as we see it here is not that it is changing our culture alone, but that it is
smothering the culture of a large part of the world, from
Hollywood movies and
Friends changing our conception of how to socially interact, to American
megacorporations influencing tastes and economies (and in the case of
fast-food giants like
McDonald's and
Coca-Cola, the
diets and
health of entire continents).
People who
oppose americanization and
globalisation are usually opposed to this
unification of cultures, and the subsequent loss of
national identity, rather than the effect it is having on their country alone.
Conversely, Americanization can be seen as a beneficial change; for example the recent/on-going '
liberation' of
Iraq (I am not here to argue for or against this
war, it is said and done and a convenient example so I shall
reference it). Were it not for the power of Americanization, Iraq would still be in the hands of
Saddam Hussein, and so it can be argued that the subsequent introduction of
democracy to Iraq was a benifical cultural change.
There are also many people throughout the
world who welcome americanization, finding it an exciting
prospect to have a cultural change in their own '
back-yard', and who enjoy the products that the corporations bring them.
Americanization, given the
power and
influence of
America in the present day, is an unavoidable
fact of life.
Television, shopping centres/malls and
politics are streaming into our homes and affecting our personal lives on a constant basis, slowly influencing cultures all over the world,
for better or worse.
Go about your daily business, and if you are against americanization; don't buy
coke.