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Peter White wrote:
> 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.
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
to the culture it encounters. Brokering happens. *How* those cultural artefacts
get categorised is another matter, however--it's important that in the British
home, for example, people tried to exoticise with accoutrements like Oriental rugs,
strange plants, and the like, while in the Empire itself colonists tried to create
the "essential British home." It was really sort of...weird.
> > > 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).
Just who *were* the Romans? All those people didn't come from Italia! ;)
Probably the object lessons in the Roman case are the Greek and Christian ones.
> > > 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.
Yeah, but I can still weep, if only as hyperbole. ;)
best
LFB
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Pax Americana
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| (...) 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 (...) (25 years ago, 4-May-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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