标题: In 2,000 years, will the world remember Disney or Plato? [打印本页] 作者: 海豚宝贝 时间: 07-5-15 10:43 标题: In 2,000 years, will the world remember Disney or Plato? LONDON - Down in the mall, between the fast-food joint and the bagel[百吉饼] shop, a group of young people huddles[拥挤] in a flurry of baggy combat pants[短裤], skateboards[溜冰板], and slang. They size up a woman teetering[步履蹒跚的] past wearing DKNY, carrying Time magazine in one hand and a latte in the other. She brushes past a guy in a Yankees' baseball cap who is talking on his Motorola cell phone about the Martin Scorsese film he saw last night.
It's a standard American scene - only this isn't America, it's Britain. US culture is so pervasive, the scene could be played out in any one of dozens of cities. Budapest or Berlin, if not Bogota or Bordeaux. Even Manila or Moscow.
As the unrivaled[无敌的、至高无上的] global superpower, America exports its culture on an unprecedented scale. From music to media, film to fast food, language to literature and sport, the American idea is spreading inexorably[无情地、冷酷地], not unlike the influence of empires that preceded it.
The difference is that today's technology flings[投、掷] culture to every corner of the globe with blinding[令人眩目的] speed. If it took two millenniums for Plato's "Republic" to reach North America, the latest hit from Justin Timberlake can be found in Greek (and Japanese) stores within days. Sometimes, US ideals get transmitted - such as individual rights, freedom of speech, and respect for women - and local cultures are enriched. At other times, materialism or worse becomes the message and local traditions get crushed.
"The US has become the most powerful, significant world force in terms of cultural imperialism [and] expansion," says Ian Ralston, American studies director at Liverpool John Moores University. "The areas that particularly spring to mind are Hollywood, popular music, and even literature."
But what some call "McDomination" has created a backlash[后座、后冲] in certain cultures. And it's not clear whether fast food, Disney, or rock 'n' roll will change the world the way Homer or Shakespeare has.
作者: 农村人 时间: 10-2-3 04:30
Today US is falling and China seems advancing to the #1 position in the world.