Slashdot Mirror
The Last Place
angela morgenstern writes "Buddhist Bhutan was the last place on earth to legalize television. Trading traditional practices for daytime soaps and WWF, many fear that western influence will trample the culture." A whole set of articles about the effect of American television on one of the most remote places on earth - it's official, there is no escape from American "culture".
I have only just got back from SEasia and could not find much to watch on their TV as they have their own programming that I found terrible. They have a good strong culture of their own and I think it will prevail. I had to resort to MTVasia and the BBC world. Even MTVasia is their own bubble pop rather than the stuff we are used to. As the tube moves into Bhutan I think it will be asian TV that goes with it and they will not get this expected burst of western "culture" when it arrives.
American "culture" ? is that an oxymoron ?
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Come on, what's so bad about our culture? Not all of us are the stereotyped fat slobs who stare at the TV all day. Our music is diverse, our people tend to work, and our culture is mostly tolerant on issues. And I like the fact that we are free to discuss issues concerning the government.
After realizing that I never watched TV anyway, and the kids were watching too much, I disconnected the cable.
Got internet for news, info, and entertainment. The kids now spend more time playing outside and reading. The only thing I really miss is sports (no big deal, as I hate all the local teams here in Maryland) and 24hr news (at least have the net).
Still have the TV (gotta watch DVDs and the kids still have the kiddie movies). But it mostly stays off now. It's nice.
Granted, instead of spending $40 a month on cable, I'm spending $100+ a month on DVDs.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Not that it's a bad thing ofcourse. A single world-culture and a single world language would be good for trade. I still own a TV and I watch it BTW and I think that a strong mind can use TV rather than be used by it.
I just don't hold any illusions that you can preserve a local culture under the constant wash of TV. It just is as it is. TV's unblinking eye serves us well in many ways. As it connects it also provides a common experience to all who are watching, the common experience causes common culture. Just how GNU/Linux has a culture formed about it, and TV shows tend to spawn sub-cultures too (ie: Star Trek, Star Wars, et al.).
So maybe I'm being a bit harsh with my last post. Still, it is sad to see the end of a culture. Just like it was sad to see the end of Amiga, OS2, or Novell.
[signature]
I think the problem with American culture is that it tends suck you in and forget about the others.
Let me give you an example. In the US there is a wine company that sells itself as Cabris, which is actually a region in France that is know to sell a good white wine. Well the American company took advantage of this to "con" people. The French region on the other hand has problems now because people get confused by the marketing message.
The problem of American culture is not the American's themselves, but the companies that take advantage of situations. Corporations in their quest for profits and bigger market share do not care a rat's butt about culture. Just more money. And in the past that has not been a problem. But now in a global economy that is a problem. Since it means some things will be lost, even though they should not be.
The American corporations are just too damm efficient at taking over the world. Result is hatred. Whenever you see people hating America, do you see people hating individual American's? Nope just icons, flag, McDonalds, jeans, etc.
I think that the challenge of this century will not be tech, or political, but social. This century will be the century when humanity is tested to see if we can truly live together! Or if we are doomed to be fighting each other. We have the technology to destroy each other and we have the means to live together.
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
"THIMPHU, Bhutan -- Microsoft's latest venture is a localized version of its dominant Windows operating system for the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. "
Is there a Bhutan-localized version of Red Hat?
That's a rhetorical question.
Which brings me nicely to my point: it is literally impossible for a capitalist culture to force itself on another culture. Capitalists can advertise products and services for sale but cannot force anyone to buy; the only people that eat at McDonalds, drink Starbucks, watch Disney and so forth are people who want to and are willing to pay with their own money.
If people don't want to buy, corporations will collapse and leave. The only people who complain aren't the ones freely spending their own money on what they enjoy. Rather, they are the self-proclaimed elite, those who don't offer anything that their people actually want, and can only survive where there is no competition. An example of this is the way the French taxpayer has to subsidise the production of French films, but with the money they are allowed to keep, they queue up to watch films from Hollywood.
Imperialism is something different. Imperialism is when one country conquers another with military force, forming an empire, and imposes its culture on the conquered. Imperial means "to do with an empire". Examples of imperialism are, for example, the conquests of eastern European countries and the imposition of Communism by the Soviets.
So I applaud the government and people of Bhutan - and the global corporations - for bringing freedom and choice to the most remote parts of the world.
I don't know, the Amish have been doing a pretty good job of preventing their culture from becoming "Americanized" as far as I can tell, and they live in America.
These fears aren't just about Bhutan. If anything, America faces as great a threat from the death of local culture as anywhere else. The only difference is that we delude ourselves into thinking that raking in money makes it all "okay."
Sure, we feel more comfortable when we travel when we can order the same extra value meal in in every time zone, but I can only echo the sentiments of Lisa on the variety of Americana:
Lisa: Wow, Dad and Bart have been everywhere! They've eaten submarine sandwiches, grinders, *and* hoagies.
Damn. I guess I've been taken in by the tentacles too. I guess it's okay as long as I can super-size.
----------
I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
After all, in his day, Shakespeare's plays were considered to be for the common people. I don't mean to equate The Fast and the Furious with Hamlet, but I think we are too fast to dismiss anything other than 'high culture'.
What Future?
First that is a very narrow minded attitude. This is the reason why people get annoyed at American attitudes. Yes people want some parts of the American dream. But there is nothing wrong with that. Just like how Americans want part of the European dream, by driving European vehicles or using Swiss Showers (which btw I have no idea ever existed and I live in Switzerland).
The problem is that many American corps have an in your face attitude, whereas other global companies are not quite that bad. Consider Nestle, which is the biggest producer of food globally and they produce an almost majority of the processed food consumed by Americans. Does the average American know that? Not likely because Nestle is very deversified and adjusts their food to local cultures. Then consider Walmart, which tries to do everything their way. It works in the US, partially Canada and partially Mexico, but they are getting their butt kicked in Europe. Consider the opposite case of Carrefour which is kicking Walmarts butt globally by respecting local cultures. Not all American corps do this. A prime example are the music labels and MTV. They adjust their content respective to each country. In India MTV is VERY different than MTV in America or MTV in Europe. MTV adjusts to local tastes and languages. Or even CNN. CNN Europe (CNN Spain, CNN Italy, CNN Germany) is not CNN America.
That is my point. There are ways to become a dominate company globally...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"