I love your writing.

I remember when I was in Panama doing peace corps type work, way down South along the Pan American hwy, back in the bush where the roads stopped. And they were there, too. Except there, in the morning, the trucks would come down the highway where they would be met by locals with coolers with homemade shoulder straps. They would buy a case of Coke off the truck, and then pack it back into the bush stopping at all the little villages, selling along the way.

The other curious consumer "luxury" item was Johnny Walker scotch. They advertised relentlessly on the AM stations that reached out back past the roads. I would climb up into an indigineous hut, platform floor, roof, no walls, and among the few belongings, a few very worn tools, a couple of old t shirts with US slogans printed on them, I would see that Johnny Walker bottle. Cost them a couple weeks wages, but they thought it showed attainment.

Also, occasionally I am struck by the fact that some of the logoed detritus of our society will still be packed in dirt after our civilization falls. Some of the plastics we use will last a hundred thousand years.

You rambled, so I rambled.

Mike

 

all ramblings are welcome.

its a horrible thought isn't it? after the human race is gone there will still be little plastic mickey mouse's, coke bottles and star wars paraphernalia lying about the place.

 

You sure said it, Michael: "As military and economic dominance the United States also has established cultural dominance."

America doesn't always have to send in the Marines. They can send in McDonald's...with the military threat always looming.

On a somewhat related tangent: In almost health food store I visit here in NYC, I meet a worker who came here from Nepal. Just about every single one of them is here temporarily and speaks wistfully of the day they can return home.

 

Michael is correct! The particularly virulent corporatism of the U.S is horrifying. I spend half my life avoiding it, and usually fail. 'Violent' cultural imperialism really gets my goat.

 

one thing tho, the locals aren't sitting about waiting for coke and pepsi to turn up. they are more bemused by it than anything else and figure that if some arsehole wants to walk up a mountain to stick up a sign then let him. they are not now sitting waitnig for the day that the dr pepper salesman turns up.

 

It always amuses me (or depending on my mood makes me want to do violence) when people trot out the old cliche "The US has never declared war on a country with a McDonalds". Yeah, might want to think about the implications of that...
Only a very slight tangent - my favourite music video of all time (at the moment anyway :-) ) is Rammstein's 'Amerika'. Genius; you need have no idea what they're singing, you still know exactly what they mean. Can't find a valid link, sorry.