Making Sense of a Fragmenting World

Terrorist alerts...the "axis of evil"...shifting geopolitical alliances. How can we make sense of it all?

by Gary Petty

Capitol Hill politics, U.S. relationships with Great Britain, France and Germany, radical Islam—the world seems more and more complicated. How can we make sense of it all, especially in the age of sound bites and television images that leave indelible impressions but give little or no historical or cultural context?

When examining the global community of the 21st century, it's apparent that two conflicting forces are in motion. One is the movement to unite the world into a global economy. The success of the interdependence of international corporations is evidenced here in the United States where labels that say "Made in China" or "Made in Japan" no longer shock us. We drive cars assembled in Mexico and wear clothing stitched in an Indonesian sweatshop. This is true in many other developed countries.

We're accustomed to images of poor children in Africa wearing athletic shoes with an American brand name, drinking Coca-Cola while toting a Russian-made AK-47. The power of companies to cross international boundaries was evidenced in that immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, MTV made inroads into new television markets in Eastern Europe.

Advocates of the global economy promote the concept that the quickest way to defeat socialism is to introduce its adherents to the glitter of packaged consumerism. The result is that U.S. fast-food chains see communist China as a giant mass of consumers ripe for an introduction to hamburgers and fries.

Others are more critical, seeing this global economy as an agency of a glib, shallow culture, promoting immediate if-it-itches-scratch-it consumerism promoted by creating brand names recognizable in Canada, Belgium, Japan, Egypt and everywhere in between.

In the view of those who promote the new world economy, megacorporations transcend national boundaries with an endless variety of products. Nations are seen as collections of customers—all the marketers have to do is devise the right advertising campaign for that specific market. If the consumer doesn't have a need for a particular product, advertising can create the illusion of a need. Actors in white smocks tell us what three out of four doctors, beer drinkers or housewives prefer, and that fabric softeners really can be "new and improved" every six months.

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn47/fragmentingworld.htm

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