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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".
In the report it says : "Rinzy has hooked up this secluded society to 45 cable television channels, featuring everything from the BBC to Baywatch, all for about $5 a month: the price of a bag of red chillies."
Is that the cost of a bag of red chillies in the United States ? How much buying power is $5 in Bhutan ? So these people get to watch adverts for cars/food/luxuries that they will not be able to purchase.
Are you happy with US "culture" as it is today? By that term I do not mean real US culture (there is some), but the jokingly termed "culture" many non-US people label for things like Disney, Coke, WWF, etc.
Travelling around the US you see that such companies have had, what I believe, to be a very negative effect. Everywhere you go it all looks the same, tastes the same, hears the same (same music industry manufactured "pop"), etc. Local and regional flavour is lost. This is great if you like Taco Bell, only drinking Coke and listening to Britney. But there is a lot more to life than that!
Why is it popular in other countries? Well, 2 reasons:
1) The *good* thing about the US - **freedom**. You live a very privelidged life compared to many people of the world. Many people of the world see the US and freedom as being very related things. So when they are given a bit of freedom they have previously lacked, they gravitate towards such things. Think as a teenager and how you behaved once given freedom from parents.
2) This is a not so good thing about the US - **money**. Consider the situation in Bhutan as an example. At the moment there are local (very small) companies that make soft drinks - these won't be copies of Coke, etc., but will be genuine different soft drinks you've never experienced. As Bhutan opens itself up, Coca Cola will move in and either set up a new company to manufacture their drinks, or buy existing ones. People will buy their drinks first of all because of #1 above - it's new, it's cool, etc. Within a very short time, there will be no local soft drinks made. The reason for this will *not* be because Coke is better and people only want it. It will be because the Coca Cola company have the financial muscle to completely control the soft drinks industry of that country. This is not good.
#2 applies to things much more than soft drinks, TV, etc. When you're talking about 3rd world countries and things like agricultural seed supplies and strictly controlled genetically engineered crops, this can have a very bad effect. It's very realistic for companies akin to Monsanto to completely control who areas of agricultural production in these kinds of countries.
So if you believe "raionalism" is #2 above, and this is a good thing, you can surely extrapolate this to meaning there will eventually be only 1 of anything in the world - a single soft drink we all only buy, a single type of car, etc. I don't think this will be a nice place to live.
Left uncontrolled, #2 will eventually remove much of the choice and freedom in the world, thereby harming the greatest thing about the US, #1.
I guess there should be a distinction made between american culture and american "culture" as used by michael. Yes, you americans have a great culture; excellent writers, great artists and original musicians. Too bad that the stuff that actually gets exported the most is "culture": coke, disney and the worst of hollywood.
I've been reading some of the comments and all I have to say is this: don't short change yourself or your culture, be aware of the things that have real value and give these to the world.
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"The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
Just like I've seen the culture of a small Alaskan village cease due to the introduction of T.V. So will the culture of Bhutan. This letter to the editor is very convincing on that point.
When I was young, we were Alaskans. We had our own culture and music both the old (native alaskans) and the new Russians and Americans had forged a unique identity that was Alaskan. Then TV came. By the time I left High School you could see the changes.
My point is well illustrated by this story:
I graduated high school in 1992, the kids from our class did the Christmas dance theme on some cute "Stairway to Heaven" or other schmaltzy thing. The kids that were class of 1994 did "Christmas in da 'Hood". The '94 kids had gang violence in their classrooms. Kids bringing guns to school (with the intent of shooting other kids and not to show off their new hunting rifle), weapons, and grafiti became problems.
The ironic thing was that the younger classes were smaller ours was the largest graduating class.
I remember all the Rappers and the oppressed gansta' types sulking about the remote and wild wilderness of one of the remotest places on earth. Some people run away to the untouched beauty of Alaska to escape inner-city grime. How ironic that an aspiring young rap-star would be cursed with living in a place where there was hardly any crime and the government paid you to live there.
If religion is the opiate of the masses, then television is the crystal-meth of the glue huffing, crack-smoking, I-got-the-munchies masses.
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and our culture is mostly tolerant on issues.
;)
Yes, I've seen that on Ricky Lake and Jenny Jones.
"Oh no, you're not normal! We have to change/brainwash you so you can fit in with the rest!"
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
Lately, I like to consider watching television and/or movies, the same as most people think of the consumption of alcoholic beverages. It's fine to do it socially, while in the company of friends or family, but taking in too much (especially while you're only by yourself), is not good for you.
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In which society is propaganda most important, in a dictatorship or a democracy?
For more on this subject, read Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent, which explains how the seven media filters make sure nothing nasty (like, for instance, the truth) reaches the public. It's a quite heavy book to read, but very interesting.
Also, for brilliant US political satire comics, something I discovered yesterday: This Modern World, by Tom Tomorrow. (I don't think the penguin is related to Linux though.)
Yeah, right past the "tolerant" americans holding their picket signs, their list from the Nuremberg Files, and their tote bag full of weapons which has "choose life" printed on the outside.
if i want to have a gay marraige, I can go to vermont or new mexico.
We're so "tolerant" that 4% of our state governments allow gay marriage. And then there's always the issue of dealing with our "tolerant" neo-nazis, Aaron McKinneys, and "tolerant" churches and conservative groups?
if i want to claim glaucoma and smoke a fat tasty spliff, I go to Cali (id rather fly to amsterdam, but whatev).
I'll agree a lot of people are tolerant to light drug use, but my problem with it is that as long as it's widespread and illegal, it makes a lot of people arrestable for something the majority of the public accepts.
Funny that you dont realize how much of a role intolerance plays in the two international issues you addressed. If im living in Israel and Im Palestinian, you bet your ass I'll be seeing some intolerance. If im a Catholic living in the wrong Neghborhood in Belfast, you bet your ass I'll be seeing some intolerance. But if I'm any of these living in any neighborhood in the U.S. I'll bet your ass that no one will give a flying fuck.
You're mostly correct as far as extent, but your colorfully metaphored assertion that there is complete racial apathy here in the USA is a little bit inaccurate. For example, what about a black family living in an all-white community in a southern state, or a young married couple moving into a community of mostly retirees? While in most cases, we've reached the point where physical violence is rare between these groups, there is certianly at least a small degree of intolerance.
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I had to explain this to my wife one time.
She's from Thailand (Bangkok), and they get their share of American tourists. Her stereotypical idea of an American, based on her experiences, is that of a loud-mouthed, demanding person that's always smacking gum and throwing money around. Once she moved here to the US she saw things alot differently.
The problem with foreign perception of Americans is that about the only Americans that travel and make it overseas are rich jackasses. They treat people like shit here and going overseas doesn't magically change that. So other countries get the worst upper-crust nimrods and the rest of us nice folks take the rap for them. I think if most foreigners that hate Americans actually come visit Texas or some other state for a year, they'll learn what Americans are really like.