In Defense of Globalization

This article by Philippe Legrain really gave me a realer perspective of globalization. Before this, I really kind of had this view that America dominated the globalization scene although I never thought that this was a bad thing like others from different countries that we affect. Now that I actually see the facts that Legrain pointed out, I can definitely see that we really are more affected by globalization of other countries. I guess I always had that american view of life.

The Amazing SpiderAladdinMan

This is awesome! Admittedly, I have heard about this before. I don't read comic books, but love superheroes. Anyway, I just did not expect to see this in a textbook! This Indian Spiderman illustrates a good point. Anyway, culture is not completely inherited. You inherit the culture of your people and family but it would not be natural if you passed on the exact same culture you were given. The world would stand still. learning would not happen, advances would not be made. We would still be grunting and snorting and in loin cloths. I guess that doesn't relate to spiderman so much. Here's how I got there! I think that culture is inhereited or learned from the generation before. But as we live, learn, and grow throughout our lifetime, our outlook on life changes. Some things lose relevance, and new things are created and adopted as traditions. For instance: my parents used to have real christmas trees with real candles on them. These would often catch on fire. Nowadays we have both fake and real trees and they have electric lights on them. That is a tradition that has changed but is still sort of the same. On my tree, I have LED lights that use less electricity and produce less heat. A small change I know, but that may change again some day. Maybe in a few years we will have some reason mot to have christmas trees at all. Who knows? The thing I do know is that you are not bringing a real christmas tree into my house with flaming candles on it. I would like to live through the night. So, for my parents and me, super heroes are role models for little kids. They teach us important life lessons through their triumphs and shortfalls. Why should it be a bad thing for little kids in India to borrow a story from another country to teach them life lessons in an interesting and captivating way. Why shouldnt they pass those stories they enjoyed to their children if they are a good thing?

Learning from One Another

I really enjoyed this article for many reasons. It is to the point, short, and has a lot of interesting details and descriptions. In fact I really enjoyed reading about the description of Ladakh, "a remote patch of India perched high in the Himalayas". It truly seems so different from the world we live in here. Places such as this are very heavily rooted in their culture and are trying to keep it that way for the most part. It is interesting to me that "Ladkha is struggling to retain the best of traditional culture" so strongly when places like the U.S. allow culture to change so willingly. I feel that it is almost impossible for places such as Ladkha to keep their culture while at the same time make changes to their society. It seems that with new development, culture would change as well. As much as some people would like to deny, I feel that Western influence on Ladkha is a good thing. The article describes the downfalls of the underdeveloped society, and the amount of suffering families go through in the winter. Culture may be important, but the people of Ladkha could greatly benefit from Western ideals, and many lives could in turn be saved.

Legrain/Spiderman

I really liked Legrain’s article. I thought it was interesting how he said that America was forcing its culture on everyone else. I also liked how he showed how certain countries dominated certain areas of entertainment. I thought it was interesting how the United Kingdom’s box office hits were mostly American. On the other hand, America is not always the leader, especially in sports. Football does not appear to be as interesting to other countries as soccer. Adesnik’s article was also quite interesting where he compared Peter Parker with Pavitr Prabhakar. I thought the difference between Pavitr Prabhakar from Peter Parker was a good advertising technique to tailor to the Indian readers; however it appears man die hard Spiderman fans do not agree. The image of Pavitr Prabhakar was quite different than the Spiderman us Americans know. Who’s to say it is a bad thing though? I think Spiderman has globalized himself through Pavitr Prabhakar just like companies expand across the world. Even at Mc Donald’s the same burger we get in America is quite different in England and China.

Defending Globalization

I thought Phillipe Legrain's article, In Defense of Globalization was very interesting and persuasive. Legrain's arguments about globalization "free[ing] people from the tyranny of geography" while "cultural pessimists want to freeze things as they were," make very powerful ideas. I think Legrain's article really brought to light some thoughts about globalization that most people may overlook. Instead of making the issue of globalization such a black and white topic, Legrain points out that just because an individual explores other cultures, it does not take away from their cultural roots. There is a lot of convincing evidence and arguments for globalization and the ways that it has influenced many different cultures.

Spider-who?

I thought the Image of Spider-Man from India was interesting. What am I saying.. It's crazy! Clothing is very much associated with culture so I guess it is only appropriate to change the image of Spider-man for various cultures. Although this article was short it had a powerful message. It shows the large impact that various cultures have on each other. It's a mutual sharing of cultures. The Indian culture did not completely create a whole new spider-man, instead they merged the American spider-man with their own culture. A FUSION of cultures!

Ps the image looks totally hilarious.

Learning From One Another reading passage

Poytner describes an inspiring story of how the Ladakhi culture has deteriorized and has emerged because of globalization. He emphasizes that "we humans need cultural diversity as a storehouse of human resources, just as the Earth needs species diversity as a bank of genetic material we can draw on to meet new challenges." This quote really caught my eye because it's true. Globalization is all about cultural diversity and without it, no culture can form its own name without others to distinguish it. Other cultures give us "ways to live together in a world where religion, suburbanization, and social mobility are tearing us apart" and distinguish us for who we are. This was among my favorite reading for this week because I found it truly inspiring.