Today, it is common knowledge that
Anti-Americanism is a pretty chic concept going around
Europe and other areas of the world. This sentiment increased as the new
Bush Administration came into office, and pretty much openly announced that things were going to change, and the US would be acting even more openly in its own self interest. This
anti-Americanism is pretty much due to the highly imbalanced economic and military influence of the
US over most of the world, especially
Europe.
The annoying thing about all of this is that the US is escallating the discomfort. A few weeks ago, on my drive home from work, there was is a highly conservative talk show host on one of the Boston area radio stations. His topic was George W. Bush's trip to Europe, and how the criticism he was under was not right. For about 10 minutes, this host was talking about how Europeans are not thankful as they should be to Americans, and how had it not been for good American farm boys sacrificing their lives, every square foot of Europe would have been under tyranny. He continued to say that had it not been for us, most Europeans would be goose stepping and buying bratwurst down at their markets.
There was nothing more irritating than hearing something as blatantly self centered as this radio broadcast. Why is it that so many Americans today honestly feel that Europe should still be throwing themselves at our feet in thanks for our deeds during the Second World War? Are the French still expecting our thanks for their help in the American Revolution? The war happened more than half a century ago! Things are different now. Governments are different, situations are different, and mentality is different. The only thing that has not managed to change is the American mentality.
How much credit do we want to continue taking? From the foreign perspective, it seems that yes, had it not been for the American effort, we would be German dominated. But now thanks to the American effort, instead of goose stepping around town we will be skipping around in cowboy hats going to McDonalds and being forced to watch Baseball. There is a segment in Jean Luc Godard's film Pierrot le Fou where the main character is describing a man on the moon, and the Americans and Russians both land there. The Russians immediatly force him to read the works of Marx and Lenin, while the Americans make him thank them first, then force him to drink Coca-Cola.
With the amount of anti-globalization voices being heard today, it is hard not to ignore that there are problems associated with the American dominance of the world economy. In the US, McDonalds is seen as nothing more than a restaurant chain where you can go and grab a quick meal. In the rest of the world, McDonalds is not seen in the same manner. It is seen as a very distinctly American institution that exports American culture. It's not about the food, it's about the culture and character that it brings with it.
With the situation today, I do not agree with the anti-globalization protesters. Being in central London during the May-Day protests this past year was frightening. Those protests are not really about anti-Globalization, but rather about venting anger over American Dominance. I'm a staunch believer in capitalism and international business, but there is a limit as to how much culture a nation can export without running into serious problems.