Originally posted by Muzrub:
To hate an entire people..... I dont hate an entire people but I dislike Americans who totally deny that American culture can have adverse effects or American business practices (Foriegn Business practices) can have adverse effects on other nations.
I've got news for you, we exported the "American Business Model" along with everything else, and it became quite popular. <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> Whatever adverse business practices you're talking about, they are now being done by non-American companies all over the world. The US is not unique, or especially evil, in that regard either.
I dont believe that American products are any better than ours in anyway.
I never said they were.
I do dislike the buying of Australian companies changes to our products using American terms or brand names.
You think you're the only one with that problem? Has it ever occurred to you that lots of people around the world would find *American* companies as good buys? A big chunk of what you call the American business community is run by non-Americans, Britain, Japan, and Germany is in the top 5 I believe.
I dont really see the need for me to wander the streets with wearing a message board warning everyone that the end is nigh.
Which proves my point. If all or most Australians felt as you do, you wouldn't be alone in your demonsrations.
(competing with tariffs and subsidies is still a problem though- but we have covered that before too .... and dont say it Ed- I am not avoiding the issue <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> ).
Don't forget there are countries worse than we are when it comes to tariffs.
But the fact remains a cultural invasion is under way and I am one of a very large number of Australians who are aware of it.
I'm back to my earlier point again. Bitching about this to Americans in the WIR forum is an absolute waste of energy. The word "invasion" is the wrong moniker anyway, because no force is being used. Whatever is making it into Australia is getting there because Australians are buying these foreign products and their government is allowing these products in, or Australian companies are being bought out by outsiders which is, last I heard, perfectly legitimate and normal in the Western capitalistic world, just as American companies are being bought by British, Japanese, Germans, etc.
Its the attitude of people such a Brick who believe that no such problem exists that annoys me greatly.
Yea, Brick is adding extra spice to his comments on purpose just to get you to blow up and say something you might later regret, like you "disliking" all Americans for what he, one individual, says. I would prefer it if Brick would take his show to the ArtWar forum, but what he said does not take you off the hook for what you said.
As for "hate" versus "dislike", in to many situations "dislike" is just the politically correct way of saying "hate".
Think about it Muzrub, do you really think bringing up this issue here in this forum is going to accomplish anything good? We Americans know about the resentment of American culture in the rest of the world, but you act as if there was some kind of switch that can turn it on and off. Well, there isn't. There is no conspiricy in the US to destroy other countries' cultures. Our culture that's creeping in isn't doing so because we've got some top secret economic plan of attack to sneak it into your country, its getting in because some Australians somewhere in your country *want* it to. There can't be supply without demand.
[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Ed Cogburn ]</p>
