OCBob
VIPER POWERED
Yup, now that I'm back in school I have homework again hehehehe. For this online course there is an exam every week as well as a writing assignment. The topic for this week was to discuss the globalization of companies and products. This is what I just submitted. Notice how I found a way to talk about the truck hehehehehe.
*********************************************
Multi-national companies are everywhere that you look these days. Take a walk through a supermarket, many of the items for sale are from multi-nationals, and a surprising number are foreign made. Nothing showcases a culture more than the food that they eat, and it is quite obvious that America has become a mix of many cultures.
A close second to the food we eat is the clothes that we wear. Practically anywhere that you go in the world today you can find people wearing Levi’s and t-shirt. Traditional cultural dress has virtually become non-existent, with the exception of rituals and ceremonies.
Another area in which culture is defined is transportation, and nowhere is that more evident than in the United States. Our cars and motorcycles have become an extension of ourselves. Many of the vehicles that we drive today are produced by foreign manufacturers. or at least they have foreign names. It can be downright confusing at times, as the Toyota you are driving may have been built in the middle of Tennessee, while the American manufactured car you are driving may have been assembled in a foreign country. I owned a Dodge Ram SRT-10 Viper pickup truck. This truck virtually screamed USA. It was bright red, loud and fast. It would outrun Porsche cars. It got less than 10 mpg. It was a full size pickup truck, capable of carrying 6 passengers while pulling a ski-boat at 100 mph. And yet, it was assembled in Mexico with parts made around the globe.
I fear that as this homogenization continues we will lose our American identity. Most of the time it is impossible to tell the difference between a Toyota or a Dodge. They all look the same, generic. There may be no other American icon quite on par with Harley Davidson. Yet, the motorcycles being produced by the Japanese manufacturers today have begun to look and even sound like them. It wasn’t that long ago that there could be no mistaking the sound and sight of a big Harley cruiser ripping up the highway, but sadly those days are no more.
I don’t believe that protecting and keeping intact one’s culture is a bad thing, yet it often appears that we as Americans almost feel guilty about our cultural identity. I am not sure of the reason for that, especially considering that most of the rest of the world, developed and under developed, do all that they can to copy it.
In closing I will say that I believe it has become impossible to avoid foreign products in this day and age. We have become dependent on many products produced by foreign or multi-national corporations. And in turn, we have seen our manufacturing base decline greatly, which will only lead to much more foreign dependence. While not all bad, it can certainly lead to the weakening of our economy and national identity.
*********************************************
Multi-national companies are everywhere that you look these days. Take a walk through a supermarket, many of the items for sale are from multi-nationals, and a surprising number are foreign made. Nothing showcases a culture more than the food that they eat, and it is quite obvious that America has become a mix of many cultures.
A close second to the food we eat is the clothes that we wear. Practically anywhere that you go in the world today you can find people wearing Levi’s and t-shirt. Traditional cultural dress has virtually become non-existent, with the exception of rituals and ceremonies.
Another area in which culture is defined is transportation, and nowhere is that more evident than in the United States. Our cars and motorcycles have become an extension of ourselves. Many of the vehicles that we drive today are produced by foreign manufacturers. or at least they have foreign names. It can be downright confusing at times, as the Toyota you are driving may have been built in the middle of Tennessee, while the American manufactured car you are driving may have been assembled in a foreign country. I owned a Dodge Ram SRT-10 Viper pickup truck. This truck virtually screamed USA. It was bright red, loud and fast. It would outrun Porsche cars. It got less than 10 mpg. It was a full size pickup truck, capable of carrying 6 passengers while pulling a ski-boat at 100 mph. And yet, it was assembled in Mexico with parts made around the globe.
I fear that as this homogenization continues we will lose our American identity. Most of the time it is impossible to tell the difference between a Toyota or a Dodge. They all look the same, generic. There may be no other American icon quite on par with Harley Davidson. Yet, the motorcycles being produced by the Japanese manufacturers today have begun to look and even sound like them. It wasn’t that long ago that there could be no mistaking the sound and sight of a big Harley cruiser ripping up the highway, but sadly those days are no more.
I don’t believe that protecting and keeping intact one’s culture is a bad thing, yet it often appears that we as Americans almost feel guilty about our cultural identity. I am not sure of the reason for that, especially considering that most of the rest of the world, developed and under developed, do all that they can to copy it.
In closing I will say that I believe it has become impossible to avoid foreign products in this day and age. We have become dependent on many products produced by foreign or multi-national corporations. And in turn, we have seen our manufacturing base decline greatly, which will only lead to much more foreign dependence. While not all bad, it can certainly lead to the weakening of our economy and national identity.
