When I think of the US as a world power, the first thing that comes into my head is our military. Our military, by far surpasses any and all others. My first experience with foreign military came in 2003 when I worked in military logistics along side of a few British troops. Overseas I was able to work with both Japanese and Korean military men. I was very surprised with each culture- I guess because I have gone through Marine Corps military training; I expected a lot more from them. I remember thinking- wow- there is NO comparison!
The US has a military presence in just about every country- we dominate the world when it comes to military. We have the largest in terms of size (manpower) and the best in terms of military equipment (weaponry and defense vehicles). Every year the US spends around $700 billion on our military- that does not even come a little bit close to ANY other country’s military expenditures. We have over 1000 military bases and/or insulations all over the world. 737 bases are in foreign countries, and I think since 9-11 that 9 or 10 new ones have been established abroad (I think J).
When you think about it- most of our bases are on “US soil” (I think we just kind of rent the land for the others) so that means that we own the land on which the bases are built- the US, or I guess you could say the Pentagon is the biggest land owner in the world- that right there to me is WORLD POWER- we own most of the world so in most cases we cannot help but Americanize the rest.
Some of our bases are for training purposes, permanent basing for communications or military intel, land, sea or air operations and some are merely used as stockage areas or staging areas- it really does not matter what type of base it is- they all (the ones abroad anyway) give the US a vital presence in other countries. It is kind of like “outa sight, outa mind”- no country can forget the US.
Chapter 8 goes into detail explaining the US’s resistance to globalization from other nations- I don’t think it should be called resistance though- it’s just that no other country has produced anything else that comes close to what we have so why would we except any type of globalization from anyone else? It would be like “dating DOWN” when you go from dating a hottie to dating a not so hottie. The US because of its extreme power does not abide by many UN policies – the International Criminal Court for example- since the Bush admin- we do not follow the order of the ICC because (in my opinion - thanks to Bush) we think that other countries may persecute our people unfairly in a way to kind of pick on us because we have lost any and all popularity or good standing we may of once had. I think we are just trying to preserve some sort of order among states- it is our job because we are the most powerful, we are trying to spread something good- democracy and we have the means to defend ourselves, our ideas, our values that we have spread abroad and we have the means to defend those who accept us. We offer protection- and I don’t agree that we only offer protection those who conform to our American ways- we offer protection for those who have ethical and just views toward all of humanity- that should be every country and every person but unfortunately it isn’t. I don’t think that some sort of compassion for others is too much to ask of those who we protect and help when they need us- it is for the good of all of us J
I am sorry- sometimes I am way too warm and fuzzy :)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
My first "posted" post!!!!
I have really enjoyed reading this book, it was very easy for me to read, I was able to read it very quickly and I found each chapter really interesting, especially my chapter- chapter 7.
One idea in the first chapter that I keep going back to is that globalization is a process and not a thing (p.6). I think that is why I believe that the idea of globalization could have began with the silk road as it could have begun (as some may think) after the second world war. It is a process that is continually evolving and changing – just as the world and its people do. Our global structure is ever changing; therefore globalization will be ever changing. Changes or events that take place are factors of globalization.
I think that from day one people have been trying to spread their ideas, values, traditions – maybe I should not even say “trying” because I think that these concepts of one’s everyday life are spread or shared unintentionally. It is just kind of like introducing something new to someone- they either like it and use it or they don’t. Everyone always thinks that their ideas and values are the best so they want to share them- like religion, that’s why we have preachers, to preach the supposed “right” word of god and to hopefully gain a few more followers, so could we then say that each world religion has or is globalizing?
I could go on and on – this book has me kind of hooked now on the subject of globalization- I have so many ideas and thoughts on the matter now and I don’t think that I have ever thought much about it. It is so interesting- I have been relating everything (since I read the book) to globalization- everything from my Chinese exchange student speaking to her parents on Skype to fast food and fashion. I have a ton of ideas for my paper, I just need to narrow it down to one topic- I think I will do either fashion or fast food though.
America has totally dominated and globalized both, some may disagree with me on the fashion part though.
On to chapter 7: Media globalization and cultural imperialism.
Our government promotes the free trade of audiovisual media, as does the European nations, but they argue that this free circulation does nothing but spread our ethics, or “Americanism” all over the world. In my opinion, we are a successful country, we make great movies so we can’t help but spread our ideas around through our movies- foreigners want to watch our movies. Maybe the European officials should put more money into their media corporations, and then maybe we would be watching their movies. One example that Pearson and Khullar use is that after WWI American media exposure was limited in the European countries and representatives lobbied for more exposure of domestic films. The European citizens didn’t want this- they wanted their American films back.
The flow of media has not always been from America to Europe. We all know that us Americans at one time took our culture, knowledge and traditions from Europe- it’s where we all started. Many people thought and still do think of the European way as socially and culturally correct, a home to the elite and rich. We were able to take from that society what we liked about it and leave behind the rest. America did that with European ideas and values as well as with European media. Films and music were imported and slowly America began making them better- they came up with the concept and we just made the concept better- bigger- easily available to Americans and then eventually to Europeans.
American made films continue to be successful throughout the world; Europe is still the biggest importer of American made media. It makes sense to me- who else has a Hollywood? Who else throws millions into their movies? Who else pays actors from all over the globe to star in their films? We are great at what we do, but we would never be the success that we are without the help of the influence of Europe.
One idea in the first chapter that I keep going back to is that globalization is a process and not a thing (p.6). I think that is why I believe that the idea of globalization could have began with the silk road as it could have begun (as some may think) after the second world war. It is a process that is continually evolving and changing – just as the world and its people do. Our global structure is ever changing; therefore globalization will be ever changing. Changes or events that take place are factors of globalization.
I think that from day one people have been trying to spread their ideas, values, traditions – maybe I should not even say “trying” because I think that these concepts of one’s everyday life are spread or shared unintentionally. It is just kind of like introducing something new to someone- they either like it and use it or they don’t. Everyone always thinks that their ideas and values are the best so they want to share them- like religion, that’s why we have preachers, to preach the supposed “right” word of god and to hopefully gain a few more followers, so could we then say that each world religion has or is globalizing?
I could go on and on – this book has me kind of hooked now on the subject of globalization- I have so many ideas and thoughts on the matter now and I don’t think that I have ever thought much about it. It is so interesting- I have been relating everything (since I read the book) to globalization- everything from my Chinese exchange student speaking to her parents on Skype to fast food and fashion. I have a ton of ideas for my paper, I just need to narrow it down to one topic- I think I will do either fashion or fast food though.
America has totally dominated and globalized both, some may disagree with me on the fashion part though.
On to chapter 7: Media globalization and cultural imperialism.
Our government promotes the free trade of audiovisual media, as does the European nations, but they argue that this free circulation does nothing but spread our ethics, or “Americanism” all over the world. In my opinion, we are a successful country, we make great movies so we can’t help but spread our ideas around through our movies- foreigners want to watch our movies. Maybe the European officials should put more money into their media corporations, and then maybe we would be watching their movies. One example that Pearson and Khullar use is that after WWI American media exposure was limited in the European countries and representatives lobbied for more exposure of domestic films. The European citizens didn’t want this- they wanted their American films back.
The flow of media has not always been from America to Europe. We all know that us Americans at one time took our culture, knowledge and traditions from Europe- it’s where we all started. Many people thought and still do think of the European way as socially and culturally correct, a home to the elite and rich. We were able to take from that society what we liked about it and leave behind the rest. America did that with European ideas and values as well as with European media. Films and music were imported and slowly America began making them better- they came up with the concept and we just made the concept better- bigger- easily available to Americans and then eventually to Europeans.
American made films continue to be successful throughout the world; Europe is still the biggest importer of American made media. It makes sense to me- who else has a Hollywood? Who else throws millions into their movies? Who else pays actors from all over the globe to star in their films? We are great at what we do, but we would never be the success that we are without the help of the influence of Europe.
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