Globalization

Over the past few weeks we have begun to address the idea of globalization in class. Globalization as we have discussed is the spreading of ideas, culture and economy, throughout the entire globe. As portrayed by this photo the United States has lead the way in globalization or at least the spreading of its specific culture and economy through large mulitnational corporations based in the U.S. As the flag portrays these corporations have become the face of our nation. When people all over the world think of the United States, the first things that come to mind are the flag ship companies of our economy which act in many ways as the diplomates of our culture to the rest of the world. This idea is a worrisome one. When I think of the America which from a young age I've been taught to love and respect, I tend to think of the rolling hills of the south east or the beautiful plains of the Texas land scape, not golden arches. Our culture has come to a point where it is now globally represented by fast food corporations and high tech companies which do most of their work outside of the United States to begin with. The day to day interaction that people from other nations have with American culture almost only consists of eating at restaurants similar to McDonalds and watching American television such as Family Guy. Our nation is seen as a factory of pop culture which is in most cases laughed at by others. Instead of our culture being correctly portrayed as a global leader in almost every field it is seen as a mass consumer machine which is only interested in maximizing profits. It has come to a point where the Pizza Hut in down town Kabul is the only representation of the United States other than the armored Humme-V sitting out side of it. We have reached a threshold where to the world we have become a laughing joke. Not only is our culture seen as absurd but us as well. We as a people are all seen as products of Super Size Me. The international community believes the general American public is not only over weight and glutinous but also severally uneducated. We are seen as products of our own pop culture creation which I believe is a wrongful representation of our generation. Though there are many who fit the mold, most are pushing the envelope of American culture and creating a new definition which we can all be proud of. Out of this recession will come a generation which knows what it means to earn a living, a generation armed with college degrees as well as a will to do well in the work place. We have a positive generation which will make a positive change to globalization. Slowly we must make it apparent that we are more than fast food and large companies, we are a nation with a rich and growing culture, one which should be shared with the world.