War of the Words
War of the Words For those that have not traveled extensively
outside the borders of our country, the only link we have to the
outside world is the media. Media can be books, newspapers,
television, and even internet today. Each medium must be studied
carefully before taking the information as the "gospel truth".
Who is the author, where did they come from, and have they
themselves traveled outside the borders or are they on the
writings of others? Dr. Paul Harrison, Margaret Atwood, and
Postman would have you believe that their way of looking at the
world is the only way. Before we can examine a certain view on
the United States of America, we must first define a basic
belief of the world. Each of the three authors has a slightly
different view of how America is tearing itself apart and in
turn doing the same for the rest of the world. In the chapter
The Westernization of the World by Paul Harrison, he points out
the religious aspects of Pauline Christianity of Europe was the
beginning of creating sameness throughout the world. Instead of
settling in to the new worlds and assimilating into the culture
as the Dutch or Spanish, the Europeans squashed the difference
of each people, naming the Bible as the reason, and forced a
complete new way of life for the "newly enlightened" tribes.
Basically, the missionaries would enter a new land and in turn,
blanket the children with a new education, give the adults books
on their way of life, and start a new government in their
likeness. The color of the people's skin is the only difference
remaining and some began to be ashamed of how he/she looked. In
turn, they began to want to emulate the Europeans and force was
no longer needed. Harrison believes that racism, arrogance,
military superiority, social climbing and money, not religion is
the real reason for this behavior towards the new worlds (third
worlds). He states the results have become a world of where
traditions and differences are a thing of the past. The question
now before us starts to reason, if others want to be like the
American/Europeans template called the European road, are they
to blame? Margret Atwood, a fellow Pantheist also has a negative
view of the United States. She looks down on the country and her
nose from Canada. She spends time concentrating on our most
recent combined past of post world war II when she was a child.
Americans before that time were viewed as clumsy, lazy and
ignorant of the land. America's money was welcome at that time
in Canada and since there was great need having over extended
themselves in the war, many were happy to have it. Then things
changed for both the country and the writer. She explains that
her schooling, her recreation, and her entertainment began to be
American. Her education was pretty much the same as American
received at the time. Political, military and social leaders
were all from England. Atwood does not blame the Americans
outright for they way she was taught, but blamed the lack of
Canadian money and the abundance of American. Her vision is not
of being conquered by force or by religion, but by money. Her
claims that the reason Canadians were able to blend into new
societies better, was simply that no one from her country could
afford to bring the whole country with them, unlike the
Americans who take all of themselves where ever they go. So is
America the giant to blame for their influence on Canada?
Postman identifies entertainment to be the downfall of America.
By providing movies instead of books, a vacuum that haunted
holocaust Germany is forming. By making life so easy with new
technologies for themselves, Americans have again begun to be
lazy. Television is what is ruining the country because it is a
command center for all. Since each American every night tunes in
to the exact same ideas, they in turn do not have to think and
very few disagreements emerge. Debate is the bane that forms new
ideas and also new books. So books are not being read and in a
hideous circle, books are not being written. Society is
collapsing on itself and taking the rest of the world with it.
Postman also points out in irony that the very Bible that began
all these issues is the same that tells us television should not
exist. As television begins to influence the rest of the world
with satellites, everyone begins to wear blue jeans from the
same place, where their hair a certain way and all becomes one.
If television and movies are destroying America, is it America
place to stop the spread of this new mind numbing pandemic? The
answers are simple: no, no and no. Yes Europe is responsible for
pushing their way of life onto other cultures, but it is not now
America's responsibility to police the world now. America is
being to over extend itself as Canada did in the '40s. And yes a
vacuum is forming that needs to be filled with something besides
TV. But it is up to each individual to decide for themselves,
research their own culture and history in innovated ways
themselves, and then choose the lifestyle they each want to
live. In history, there have always been Mavericks that decide
that the way things are going now is not right; I am going to do
things differently. If America takes on the responsibility for
the rest of the world, it will collapse into itself. The writers
that wrote the articles descried above are showing others a
several different path, it is up to each person to turn off the
television, open a book by a non English writer, and book a
plane ticket to somewhere else.
Works Cited Verburg, Carol. Ourselves among Others. 4th ed.
Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2000.