The Jessaverse | Change and Exchange

What I don’t understand is that so many people are opposed to globalisation and its effects. They clamour to “Keep the jobs here!” and “No intervention!” The thing is that in our post-Cold-War world, we are inevitably connected to each other through the United Nations, international trade, the internet, and through our shared experiences. Once globalisation came about, it was impossible to curtail its effects. It is impossible for one country to stay isolated from the rest of the world; what happens in another country will eventually affect us in some way. Isolationists tend to be obscurantists who are closed to most other cultures and other forms of experience. Also, I find that our globalised culture is an enlightening experience. In the old days, it was far more difficult to listen to a foreign composition or communicate with someone halfway around the world. Nowadays all that is feasible with a mere click of the mouse. Sometimes I take it for granted, but today it seems so staggering that I can speak to people from countries other than my own and listen to music that is not from my native country — and obtain it so easily. I just sat and thought about it, and I thought, “Amazing.” At this very moment in time, I am a Europeanised American sitting in Germany, listening to a Swedish group, posting on this site, with readers from Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia, and drawing pictures with a Japanese flair. I couldn’t have things better in this aspect.

But there are some downsides to globalisation, especially the American cultural hegemony that seems to be engulfing the world at the moment. Cultural exchange is excellent; I approve of it, but America seems to be taking over everything culturally, and traditional cultural aspects seem to suffer because of it. I am tired of the world becoming one big America. I like GLOBALISATION, not AMERICANISM. I see it all the time here in Germany. Certain advertisements are in English, and apparently some kids around here speak phony English to sound “cool.” And the thing is, it’s not British English that’s being spread around; it’s American English. I don’t think those ads should be banned, but I think they definitely highlight the pervasiveness of Americanism in Europe. Writing standards are starting to adhere to American rules, a big shift from the state of things in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. People clamour to go to America, and there is nothing they want more than to be Americans. I don’t get it. I seriously don’t get it. America has a better social situation than some lesser-developed countries, but right now, there is such a cultural and political upheaval by the conservatives that anyone who divagates from the norm wouldn’t be quite welcome in “average” America.

Keep globalisation, but tone the Americanism down.

Many of you are familiar with the fact that a lot of my posts seem to be virulently anti-conservative. Although I like most people and try my hardest to get along with everyone despite their political views, I have a hard time dealing with social conservatives (I have more patience for economic conservatives). They seem to be so intolerant and opposed to social progress; if something is new, it is automatically bad. That is what makes me so mad about them. They think that THEIR way of having a family is the only right way. They think THEIR way of politics is the only right way. It’s absolutely maddening. So many of them are homophobic and don’t want gays to get married just because their bigoted interpretation of Christianity says so. Hello, if you don’t want a gay marriage, then don’t freaking have one. There is no valid reason to oppose equal rights for all people — anything else is bigotry.

(I also have problems with liberals being bigoted towards those who don’t agree with them. I actually have a problem with bigotry in general. This post is mainly addressed towards conservatives because they are primarily the ones who are spreading bigotry across the nation right now.)

originally appeared as a livejournal entry, expanded and edited for the ‘verse

Last week, I was supposed to go into town for my psychologist appointment, but it just so happened that there was a mixup and she wasn’t there, so I just decided to wander around town and pick up something to eat. I was walking around with my paper cone full of fries (that really didn’t taste that great, by the way; I should’ve chosen another Imbisstube [an Imbisstube is a German snack bar] from which to get better fries) down the street, nonchalantly, until I came upon a few signboards decrying Bush’s government and mentioning Lyndon LaRouche. The guy at the stand noticed me and started talking to me (in German, until he started to accommodate me and started speaking English) about Bush conspiracy theories and his connection with the Nazis. He seemed to know more about US politics than most Americans, but he definitely seemed like a conspiracy theorist. He didn’t seem that bad, but I started reading some the literature when I was riding home on the bus, and I was like “What the fuck?” They seemed to be extremely far-left but with an emphasis on “classical” culture and anti-environmentalism. Hello, Lysenko! (I’m not saying that they agree with Lysenko agriculturally; I’m just saying that their scientific views are well…unscientific.) Anyway, I donated one Euro, so that I was able to read some of their literature. (I wouldn’t donate any more than that, I’ll tell you right now.) I also just now started looking up some of the LaRouche Movement views…I’ll tell you right now, I’ll stay as moderate as I am. I may be somewhat liberal, but I’m no conspiracy theorist.

It’s shocking how the LaRouchies are so anti-neocon, but seem to be so anti-progress in so many other things. This opposition to progress upsets me. As all readers of my blogs know, I have a big problem with social conservatism because of its negative stance towards progress.

(Sounds like another entry for me…Why I am not a Conservative!)