Gilkeson 1
Adam Gilkeson
ENG 102
Argument Rough Draft
Prof. Zhao
The American Way
The American culture is adapting everywhere all over the world. For
example, Readers Digest, a U.S. based magazine offers their magazines in 19
different languages (Country Roads to Globalization). People in America shouldn’t
be worried about the outcome of the cultural imperialism that is going on, because it
is helping our economy. The people that should fear having American fast food,
clothing, and music should be those people living in those countries. Foreign
countries don’t have much of a say on this because having all these companies is
also good for those countries. The downside for those countries having American
owned corporations in their nation is that it brings a culture change. For example,
in China you can choose between noodle shops or go to a McDonalds. Many would
probably choose the McDonalds due to the fact that they always have clean facilities
and provide a good warming environment. If you were to go up to a Chinese citizen
and ask them if they know what a McDonalds is two decades ago, their response
would be McWho? If you ask people in China the same question today, they would
probably be able to point a McDonalds out in the distance; well at least a fast food
restaurant. The fact is that other nations admire the American culture and look at it
as being an elite country. The same thing is true when you look at America and how
they adapted to other cultures. Our whole nation depends on various cultures, and
Gilkeson 2
adapting to other ways of life. We have adapted those characteristics of other
countries just only in a different way. America ever since the numerous amounts of
immigrants entered the U.S. we have adapted to cultures over many years. In
contrast, eastern nations such as China haven’t been exposed to western nations
until the past few decades. Heidi Netz Rupke a graduate from American University
in Washington D.C., spent several years teaching in China and seeing rapid changes
in the country. According to her article “Country Roads” to Globalization, she says
that in the past twenty-five years China has progressed from a mainly peasant
society to an increasingly urban culture(Citation Needed). This means that the U.S.
has been trying to reach out to other nations. In other words we are emphasizing a
cultural imperialism on these various nations. The U.S. is not trying to take over the
world in this aspect; we are just trying to sell American products to keep making
more money. This is good and the goal is being accomplished, but we need to
realize that we can’t sell to everyone.
American music has had a huge impact on the Chinese culture
Go to 22 pg whatever on ebsco
In this situation we as Americans don’t need to be so focused on this cultural
imperialism. We need to focus on respect for other countries. Many countries out
there are frustrated with the way America is impacting their cultures. Canada called
together a meeting involving nineteen other countries discussing ways to ensure
Gilkeson 3
their cultural dependence from America (Jeffrey Garten). We need to be more
careful about other cultures and don’t need to influence them. It may be good for
the U.S. at the moment, but eventually once are culture is everywhere those
countries will realize something needs to be done to keep independence. In the
1990’s, France almost torpedoed the Uruguay Round of global trade negotiations,
because it wanted to limit the activities of U.S. entertainment companies (Jeffrey
Garten). Countries continue to get angry with the cultural impact America applies
on those nations. Mexico is considering legislation requiring that a certain
percentage of its media programming remain in the hands of its citizens. While
America is one of the most successful countries in the world, in comparison other
nations such as Mexico don’t have the income to compete with the U.S. We need to
realize that they have lower incomes and don’t need to be in their country
dominating unless it is absolutely helping their economies(Citation Needed).
Fast Food is another example of the cultural shift in various countries. In
China, the fast food industry is booming and Chinese citizens love it. However, the
downside to this is the fast food brings negative consequences to the table. The
prices for the food may be much greater, but the health risks add a whole other
debate. China has seen an increase of obesity in the past years. Every year China’s
obese population grows thirty to fifty percent (Ray Suarez). Once this issue
becomes popular among the media and other nations, it will ultimately be blamed
on the American fast food industry. If the U.S. can slow down their cultural
influence on other countries, it could result in less “hate” towards the U.S.