Intro to the American Century
Historians, looking back on the 20th Century and the early years of the 21st will see them largely as the "American Era". No other nation has so influenced global culture, politics and trends.
The US did not set out, at the dawn of the 20th Century, to influence the world...but its involvement in WWI and the disasterous consequences of a return to isolationist policies in the interwar period helped give rise to Nazi Germany...after the Second World War, the US decided to remain on a global scene...
For the next 45 years, America stood toe-to-toe with the Russian Bear and faced it down with every weapon in its arsenal...the Bear fell....not to the Broadsword of tanks and rockets...but to a thousand razor cuts of Blue-Jeans, Hollywood and Rock-n-Roll...
Because of the immense American productive capacity, American goods, and indeed, American models of industry soon became pervaisive world wide....some of our former foes (such as Japan and Germany) took these models, and adding their own blend of craftsmenship and industriousness, soon were rivaling or surpassing American manufacturers at their own game...
The sheer world-wide acceptance of American music and entertainment has influenced language and culture in ways that no one could have anticipated 100 years ago...go into any back country village in almost any country of the world, and you will find Hard-Rock Cafe t-shirts and Levi's, or find a radio playing some American rock music...
Some people would call this effect, globalization...and to a certain extent, that is what it is...but truly, it represents an Americanization of the world...
I am not going to sit here and say that this a great thing...because, as a historian, I find much value in our roots...however diverse they are...but I am not going to say that it is an evil thing either...while there is much to dislike, or even hate about modern American pop-culture...it has had the affect of bringing people into close contact with other from all over the world, especially through the Internet/World Wide Web, which is largely an American invention (although not Al Gore's!!!)
In a future ramble I will look more into the influence of the US on world affairs throughout the 20th Century
That's all for now...Take care and God Bless America!!!
The US did not set out, at the dawn of the 20th Century, to influence the world...but its involvement in WWI and the disasterous consequences of a return to isolationist policies in the interwar period helped give rise to Nazi Germany...after the Second World War, the US decided to remain on a global scene...
For the next 45 years, America stood toe-to-toe with the Russian Bear and faced it down with every weapon in its arsenal...the Bear fell....not to the Broadsword of tanks and rockets...but to a thousand razor cuts of Blue-Jeans, Hollywood and Rock-n-Roll...
Because of the immense American productive capacity, American goods, and indeed, American models of industry soon became pervaisive world wide....some of our former foes (such as Japan and Germany) took these models, and adding their own blend of craftsmenship and industriousness, soon were rivaling or surpassing American manufacturers at their own game...
The sheer world-wide acceptance of American music and entertainment has influenced language and culture in ways that no one could have anticipated 100 years ago...go into any back country village in almost any country of the world, and you will find Hard-Rock Cafe t-shirts and Levi's, or find a radio playing some American rock music...
Some people would call this effect, globalization...and to a certain extent, that is what it is...but truly, it represents an Americanization of the world...
I am not going to sit here and say that this a great thing...because, as a historian, I find much value in our roots...however diverse they are...but I am not going to say that it is an evil thing either...while there is much to dislike, or even hate about modern American pop-culture...it has had the affect of bringing people into close contact with other from all over the world, especially through the Internet/World Wide Web, which is largely an American invention (although not Al Gore's!!!)
In a future ramble I will look more into the influence of the US on world affairs throughout the 20th Century
That's all for now...Take care and God Bless America!!!
posted by Mik at 10:18 PM
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