I just love it when my musical influences can actually be put to practical use. Last semester, during Sociology 101 finals, I gaffed at the question asking how many Americans are in prison. I couldn't remember the answer from my text, so I started singing The Prison Song by System Of A Down in my head to get the answer. Then comes this line from the song: "Nearly two million Americans are incarcerated in the prison system of the US". I wrote that down, and after the paper I confirmed that answer in my text. SOAD gave me an A!
Anyway, while the topic of cultural imperialism came up in class, this song came up in my head: Amerika by Rammstein. It sings of the effects and influence of Americanization. Such an awesome song!
The song is in German, yeah. So here are the English lyrics:
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
When I'm dancing, I want to lead,
even if you all are spinning alone,
let's exercise a little control.
I'll show you how it's done right.
We form a nice round (circle),
freedom is playing on all the fiddles,
music is coming out of the White House,
and near Paris stands Mickey Mouse.
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
I know steps that are very useful,
and I'll protect you from missteps,
and anyone who doesn't want to dance in the end,
just doesn't know that he has to dance!
We form a nice round (circle),
I'll show you the right direction,
to Africa goes Santa Claus,
and near Paris stands Mickey Mouse.
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
We're all living in America,
Coca-Cola, Wonderbra,
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
This is not a love song,
this is not a love song.
I don't sing my mother tongue,
No, this is not a love song.
We're all living in America,
Amerika is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
We're all living in America,
Coca-Cola, sometimes WAR,
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
---
In any case, the music video says it all. So damn cool!
Anyway, it's things like this that make us wonder if the Americanization of the world is a good thing. On one hand, America has given us McDonald's, Coca Cola, Hollywood, Nike, Levi's, all of which I'm sure most people are grateful for. America is a major investor in other countries including our own, and their expansive industries, coupled with the effects of globalisation, have brought a plethora of goods and services to almost every country in the world.
However, has their influence spread too far, such that local industries have suffered due to them? It seems possible; these days, majority of the youth would much rather go to a McDonald's or some other American fast food joint for lunch than a local coffee shop. Need I add the fact that Elvis and America popularised fast food in popular culture such that it grew from a fad to an essential part of life.
Their hold on the world is only growing steadily. Some countries are willing to submit to American imperialism in exchange for relief, money and such, but most countries would refuse to submit so openly, mainly due to the backlash from the population, who might see this as a deterioration of their culture. However, through the influence of American movies, music and popular culture, the masses have been unwittingly Americanized, and the subsequent growth of pro-American sentiments amongst the population is reflected in the governments' increased readiness to adopt certain aspects of American culture. Slowly, but surely.
America's growing influence has granted them a great deal of socioeconomic status perks, due to them benefiting from their companies' successes. Such money and power has made then the sole superpower in the world, with the ability to make decisions that even contradict the interests of the UN, as can be seen in the Iraq War. Such decisions have made many cuntries unhappy with America during the Bush Administration, and yet they cannot deny the importance of America's economic influence. It would seem in the end that we cannot live without the "wonders" America has given us, and have no choice but to munch on our Big Macs while enjoying the view of our diverse range of cultures falling one by one to American culture.
So: What are your views on Americanization? Is it a godsend, a scourge to the global community, or a necessary evil?
Anyway, while the topic of cultural imperialism came up in class, this song came up in my head: Amerika by Rammstein. It sings of the effects and influence of Americanization. Such an awesome song!
The song is in German, yeah. So here are the English lyrics:
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
When I'm dancing, I want to lead,
even if you all are spinning alone,
let's exercise a little control.
I'll show you how it's done right.
We form a nice round (circle),
freedom is playing on all the fiddles,
music is coming out of the White House,
and near Paris stands Mickey Mouse.
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
I know steps that are very useful,
and I'll protect you from missteps,
and anyone who doesn't want to dance in the end,
just doesn't know that he has to dance!
We form a nice round (circle),
I'll show you the right direction,
to Africa goes Santa Claus,
and near Paris stands Mickey Mouse.
We're all living in America,
America is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
We're all living in America,
Coca-Cola, Wonderbra,
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
This is not a love song,
this is not a love song.
I don't sing my mother tongue,
No, this is not a love song.
We're all living in America,
Amerika is wunderbar.
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
We're all living in America,
Coca-Cola, sometimes WAR,
We're all living in America,
Amerika, Amerika.
---
In any case, the music video says it all. So damn cool!
Anyway, it's things like this that make us wonder if the Americanization of the world is a good thing. On one hand, America has given us McDonald's, Coca Cola, Hollywood, Nike, Levi's, all of which I'm sure most people are grateful for. America is a major investor in other countries including our own, and their expansive industries, coupled with the effects of globalisation, have brought a plethora of goods and services to almost every country in the world.
However, has their influence spread too far, such that local industries have suffered due to them? It seems possible; these days, majority of the youth would much rather go to a McDonald's or some other American fast food joint for lunch than a local coffee shop. Need I add the fact that Elvis and America popularised fast food in popular culture such that it grew from a fad to an essential part of life.
Their hold on the world is only growing steadily. Some countries are willing to submit to American imperialism in exchange for relief, money and such, but most countries would refuse to submit so openly, mainly due to the backlash from the population, who might see this as a deterioration of their culture. However, through the influence of American movies, music and popular culture, the masses have been unwittingly Americanized, and the subsequent growth of pro-American sentiments amongst the population is reflected in the governments' increased readiness to adopt certain aspects of American culture. Slowly, but surely.
America's growing influence has granted them a great deal of socioeconomic status perks, due to them benefiting from their companies' successes. Such money and power has made then the sole superpower in the world, with the ability to make decisions that even contradict the interests of the UN, as can be seen in the Iraq War. Such decisions have made many cuntries unhappy with America during the Bush Administration, and yet they cannot deny the importance of America's economic influence. It would seem in the end that we cannot live without the "wonders" America has given us, and have no choice but to munch on our Big Macs while enjoying the view of our diverse range of cultures falling one by one to American culture.
So: What are your views on Americanization? Is it a godsend, a scourge to the global community, or a necessary evil?
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America rocks! Nobody would be anywhere without us!
ReplyDeletehaha you really cracked me down with the System of a Down nonsense! What a laugh!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Americanisation really isn't all that bad. Given the proliferation of technology, it would be inevitable that a certain nation would become the 'ringmaster'. Now aren't you glad that nation wasn't Scotland(no offence, I just don't fancy skirts)?
Americanisation brought us the BigMac, but more so than that, it brought forth economic prosperity. In contrary to conspiracy-theories, I actually think that Americanisation was primary instigated for economic reasons, and not some 'world-domination' hoo-ha.
However, I do see that Americanisation does bring about a widening of income gaps and more peoples being subjected to unfair labor. But that has always been a prevelant issue in all markets, so I guess it's an inevitable thing.
Wait, I'm contradicting myself, am I? I suppose this means we can't really put a finger on this issue and judge with certainty.
It's difficult to argue this case since most of us have grown up with American culture being a huge influence in our lives as young children, so how can we determine what life would be like without Americanisation?
ReplyDeleteAmericans have so much reason to be proud of their country (of course they have tons of reasons to be ashamed, but let's not go there) - they've managed to influence people on a global scale. But the real question to ask is why are youths in other countries letting themselves be Americanised?
Take Japan as an example. Their country's identity is so strong that, although they do patronise American brands and food chains and so on, they are still Japanese through and through. Compare it to some people in Singapore who put on fake accents and dream of moving to New York.
ARE THEY ALL MENTALLY RETARDED? SINGAPORE IS AWESOME.
okay cheers chanderman!
i think Americanization - if that's really a word eventhough i saw in dictionary.com it is, is just a good form of marketing. most of what they have 'given' us is a remake of a good product. Take Nike for example, it is a originally a remake of design by Asics, a brand from Japan. Their original footwear designs are the same of that of Asics. They grew ambitious, branched out and start marketing it to their people, which is by far one of the largest populated nation. So consumed by a mass public, it became what u called Americanization. Any Originality or a "god-send"? Not a chance. :-)
ReplyDeleteAmericanization means that people in different continents and cultures would share one common culture that could bind everyone else. I think that a misconception prevails about globalization/americanization; people are submissive and will simply lap it all up. besides, people would only accept part of the american culture that it wants and not everything that the macdonald culture silently intends us to have.
ReplyDeleteYes, americanization will have an impact on one's culture to an extent, but it does not have the ability to penetrate a culture and wipe it out fully by replacing it with the american culture. In fact, what we have as a result of the process is that we get american culture spicing up the culture it has penetrated.
As such, i would not say that it is something bad. but it forces people to think and cultures to evolve with time.
i feel that America has influenced us greatly. from the tv shows to products, there's nothing in our life right now that is not influenced by America.
ReplyDeletethis is not entirely a good thing though. if changing too much of our culture to be like America, we'll lose our roots and culture that our older generations have been trying to preserve.
I agree with myspacebar. I do not think that Americanization has the ability to wipe out cultures although it is able to influence cultures to a certain extend.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I think the next big power in control might just be China.
Hey Russel!!
ReplyDeleteYou know what, when I was 13, I went here for prolonging my passport, and what was my frist impression about Sing?? Singapore=America. It might be funny, but that what a 13-year-old girl thought.
Singapore, I see, get so many western influences that give a big impact to the youngsters here.
Ya, I agree; MacD, for example, become a trend that people here always go there for having a quickbite while they're doing they stuff. It's different to Indonesia, we just eat there occasioanly, and not consider it as one of the places to study or do tasks.
I think americanization has it's pros and cons which are all listed by you. Whether or not it is good for one is for them to decide.
ReplyDeletei think that to decide whether it is good for one, it depends on the area which one is more concern with, or areas which one is more involved in. It could be politic, the food you eat, or just the culture.
i don't deny that americanization's influence on people in Singapore is very great. but i feel rather then focusing on the negative areas that americanization brings, we should focus on the good, and find solutions to change the bad.
shuheng
NECESSARY EVIL.
ReplyDeletethe americanisation brings forth the use of quantitative quality or qualitative quantity, but due to the combination and integration of both factors; there is a decrease in the quality/quantity of both.
my 2 cents
isaac
http://pitstophere.wordpress.com
Americanization is necessary, but it's quite sad that their monopoly is preventing other countries from advancing in those fields. They're way too ahead in too many fields for other countries to catch up.
ReplyDeleteRammstein rocks! Good song, man. And the message is clear, too: America is all around us, and it has offered u a great deal, but it is still slowly taking over our cultures. Soon, we are all going to become carbon copies of America, all looking to emulate them in every way. Not gonna happen now, but soon.
ReplyDeleteAdopting America's cultural aspects isn't the problem. It's a precursor of the real problem; we become so dependent on their economy and their trade and business that they effectively control our economy with their imports and trade.
ReplyDeleteI believe that is called neocolonialism, and that will lead to the assimilation of other smaller nations by America, if we are not careful.
Dude SOAD and Rammstein rock!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Americanization is a bad thing, and I'm not just saying that because I live in New York. Our economic and technological advances have brought about great progress to mankind, so it's only natural that people wanna be like us. It's not colonialism when the people choose to be like us. That's just a lifestyle choice, one that not everyone agrees with, but a choice nonetheless.
I feel that this song blows everything out of proportion. Americanization isn't that bad. Actually it's not even that major enough to cause any sociological problems. We're just adapting the good things, but our culture remains distinctly Singaporean, and nothing can take that away from us.
ReplyDelete