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In lugnet.loc.au, Bruce Schlickbernd writes:
>
> Ummmmm, I was indicating that while the rest of the world screams about
> Americanization and Cultural Imperialism (Don't Buy Our Stuff if that's a
> problem, so kindly blame yourselves - gosh, it's enough to turn me into a
> Libertarian) other cultures affect us (U.S.), too. America is perhaps the
> weirdest country on the planet since it's mostly borrowings from other
> cultures.
The dominant economic power of the time will be subject to 'osmosis',the flow
is always both ways. People of surrounding/less economically strong countries
will always attempt to migrate to the stronger culture, while the goods flow
out. The immigrants in the dominant country will then attempt to maintain a
purer 'cultural identity' (compared to the ones back home who have changed
due to the flowback) and battle it out with their own second-generation.
> >
> > And, of course, calling it "Americanization" makes it an easy target for • local
> > conservative nationalists (witness France). It's much harder to admit one's • own
> > people's complicity in its creation and advancement.
It's been happening since the Romans and long before (no doubt).
>
> I love the french: great food, great painters, great thinkers, great • scientists
> but what a nation of whiners! Ah, gotta add that: great wine.
Nationalists are whiners wherever you are.
> >
> > By the way, for the .au folks, have you heard any of these awful "Outback
> > Steakhouse" commercials they have up here in the eastern US? The supposed
> > "essence" of Australia--Paul Hogan, wallabies, and Men at Work, mostly--has • been
> > canned and parleyed into a good-sized STOW-restaurant (STOW=Stuff* Tacked On
> > Walls) empire up here. It's depressing, and IIRC it was started by an • Australian
> > emigre catering to US myths about Australia. Perhaps it's indicative that • there
> > aren't any in Australia, but there's one in Guam and a bunch on the Pacific
> > Rim--and they have a partnership with NASCAR, a US stock-car racing syndicate
> > usually associated with country bumpkins.
>
> Outback is Out West, too.
>
> >
> > http://www.outback.com
> >
> > I weep for the future.
>
> Why? This is annoying stuff, hardly something to weep over.
Let it wash over you, you can't stem the tide.
pete.w
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Pax Americana
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| (...) What they said. I wasn't saying that Bruce wasn't saying what I said. (Did that make sense? Probably not, but it's bedtime for me.) This is one of the debates around imperialism of any kind--the host culture is affected, and in ways specific (...) (25 years ago, 4-May-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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