Local and Global

I still feel that America and England are still major influences on other cultures primarily because of the media and transnational corporations. To me, there still seems to be this idea that individuals strive to live like the Americans and British despite the fact that the Nordic countries rate much higher on social attainment and overall wellbeing. For example, I don’t think there is a single person who doesn’t about the royal family in England whereas who knows about the royalty in other countries? I also feel there is still a major push around the world to learn English whereas the prevalence of bilingual speakers in the U.S. is not as common.

It’s great that the media is starting to globalize the local and that several segments of the economy are operating under many languages. But, I don’t think this is to bring people together and to promote other cultures, as it is a business move to bring in more revenue.

Because of globalization, I believe more and more people are becoming accepting of other cultures, however, I feel that a lot of cultures have become commercialized. For example, third world countries commercialize their culture for tourist packages to attract foreigners. In one documentary that I watched in the past, one country was selling burkas to tourists, and they would try them on “pretending” they were part of the local culture. There was no respect as if it were a mask. Globalization and consumption allow us to become "the other" or act like we are part of another culture by consuming their products and attire.