The Contamination of American Culture In 27 B.C., it was the Roman Empire who first inspired the idea of globalization by their attempt to spread their culture to neighboring regions, but sadly failed. Then centuries later, in the early twentieth century, Germany with Adolf Hitler aspired to expand their customs and cultures through horrible actions and horrid manners. Now, today America is taking their turn to contaminate the world with their beliefs and customs. Since the emerging global mainstream of the late twentieth to the early twenty first century, there has been constant questioning in regard to the United States’ dominance in the “cultural sphere.” American culture is simply contaminating other countries with its poisonous, yet addicting
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A proponent of Westernization would argue that American popular culture is not making the world less homogeneous, but more diverse. However, American culture is really “‘representing a challenge for cultural diversity’” through the “cultural imperialism” of America (Appiah). In “The Case for Contamination” from the New York Times Magazine, Appiah touches on the people’s concerns “that their identities are being threatened because the world, their world, is changing, and some do not like it.” For instance, in the “Euro Disney: American Cultural Imperialism” article, “many French citizens were against building Euro Disney because they thought it was a clear manifestation of American Cultural imperialism” or the worldwide spread of the dominance of American consumer culture. Similarly, like the American Disney World in France there is a Starbucks in the most sacred and holiest city of Mecca Islam in Saudi Arabia and a McDonald’s in the most populated country: China. It may seem as if these countries cannot quench their thirst for American culture, but they are actually choking on it. It is quite evident that people from other countries “fear that the values and images of Western mass culture, like some invasive weed, are threatening to choke out the world’s native flora” (Appiah). One cannot help but to see the signs of American/Western culture everywhere, and as a result is trying to work actively to preserve them because they value their own cultures first (Straughan). Conclusively, numerous cultures are slowly ceasing to exist due to the overwhelming influence of corporate and cultural
A proponent of Westernization would argue that American popular culture is not making the world less homogeneous, but more diverse. However, American culture is really “‘representing a challenge for cultural diversity’” through the “cultural imperialism” of America (Appiah). In “The Case for Contamination” from the New York Times Magazine, Appiah touches on the people’s concerns “that their identities are being threatened because the world, their world, is changing, and some do not like it.” For instance, in the “Euro Disney: American Cultural Imperialism” article, “many French citizens were against building Euro Disney because they thought it was a clear manifestation of American Cultural imperialism” or the worldwide spread of the dominance of American consumer culture. Similarly, like the American Disney World in France there is a Starbucks in the most sacred and holiest city of Mecca Islam in Saudi Arabia and a McDonald’s in the most populated country: China. It may seem as if these countries cannot quench their thirst for American culture, but they are actually choking on it. It is quite evident that people from other countries “fear that the values and images of Western mass culture, like some invasive weed, are threatening to choke out the world’s native flora” (Appiah). One cannot help but to see the signs of American/Western culture everywhere, and as a result is trying to work actively to preserve them because they value their own cultures first (Straughan). Conclusively, numerous cultures are slowly ceasing to exist due to the overwhelming influence of corporate and cultural