“We don’t do Mc Donald’s”: America and World Culture,
is the title of the web page Battle of Ideas 2009. This article address to
people from all over the world, because we are all affected by American culture!
The American culture is not everywhere welcome. The
Notre Dame University in London points out that many nations are suspicious of
American culture and was seen as “Coca-Colonization.” In Torino, a group tried
to remove Coca Cola from the city hall and countries like Canada and France
took measures to stop the influence of American culture. If we look back to our
chapter, we will find other measures that were taken to ban American culture
with the example of Coca Cola.
“For Le Monde Coca Cola threatened the
moral landscape of France. A Catholic newspaper warned that Coca Cola was the
avant-garde of an offensive aimed at economic colonization.” (Cambell, Neil, Alasdair
Kean, American Cultural Studies, page 314)
Another example is that many countries like France and
Spain do music quotas on radio.
Why do they do that?
Do they think that their own culture is endangered by
the Americans?
The answer is: YES!
Countries like France and Spain try to keep their own
culture, but they do not see the advantages which American culture brings with.
Every country has the possibility to benefit from America. We eat burgers and
drink Coca Cola, because the taste is good! We watch MTV and hear American
music, because we want to! America does not do Mc Donald’s. We do Mc Donald’s
by ourselves. We are not forced to use products from the American industry.
Using American products, does not mean that we are going to deny our own
culture! Many countries forget that their economic development was only
possible due to America. Without the Marshall Plan after World War II the
reconstruction and development of many countries had never been possible.
Another aspect is that America was seen as a country
with no past and no real culture.
(Page 314)
But is that true?
The American culture consists not only of Coca Cola
and Mc Donald’s. There are many artists like Leonard Bernstein or the engineer
Henry Ford who affected the lives of millions of people. We should not forget
that America saved many lives. While World War II many excellent people like
Marlene Dietrich or Albert Einstein immigrated to America, because of religious
and political persecution. They were disregarded and maltreated in their own
country. America did not refuse them and gave them the possibility to be free
and to realize themselves. All different nationalities in America are part of its culture, because they shared their knowledge, their experiences and their inspiration.
Every individual has a hand in American culture!
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