America: The Obnoxious Big Brother

Why is America so powerful? American imperialism, or our manifestation of military strength, is one possible explanation. We have military bases all over the world in foreign territories that don’t belong to us, such as Germany, Guam, and Iceland, but not one foreign country has a military base in the United States of America. American imperialism is so strong that it has forced American cultural, economical, and political views on to other countries. Rather than participating in globalization, we have created American Universalism. American Universalism is an imperialistic approach to globalization. While globalization is believed to be the interconnectedness of people and places resulting in cultural convergence, it is really American Universalism that is demonstrated through cultural superiority, greedy unilateral economic self-interests, and the push for democracy in foreign countries.
While many believe in globalization, or the sharing of cultures, people, and places, it is obvious that globalization is beat down by America’s cultural superiority which is represented through parts of American popular culture and Western clothing. Parts of America exist everywhere, but everywhere doesn’t exist in America. Todd Gitlin reminds us, “if there is a village, it speaks American. It wears jeans, drinks coke, eats at the golden arches, plays electric guitars, recognizes Mickey Mouse, James Dean, Bart Simpson, R2- D2, and Pamela Anderson” (Gitlin 825). These are all parts of American culture, yet you never hear about Japanese, Muslim, or Russian popular culture. Why is it that Madonna or Britney Spears are well known around the globe, but almost no one in America would be able to recall a well known pop singer from Japan? The reason why this happens is because Americans don’t want to share. Sharing of cultures doesn’t exist to Americans, because Americans are so consumed in themselves and so arrogant that if they shared pieces of others cultures, they would no longer be exceptional. In addition to popular culture, Western clothing is another example of America’s cultural superiority. For example, one can purchase a baseball hat anywhere around the world, but there is a slim chance that someone could purchase a hijad (a veil for an Islamic woman) in an American mall. Sharing involves two parties, and clearly America is one party that is not willing to participate. Consequently, American culture is classified as glamorous and unconventional, making it superior. Of course, we export our goods to other countries and import their goods and resources, but that is only for our own economic benefit.
Selfish unilateralist economic self-interests is probably one of the main reasons America hasn’t completely isolated itself from the rest of the world. Sadly, we only form alliances with some countries, or interfere in their political affairs, if they are beneficial to America economically. For instance, one of the main reasons we keep our troops in Iraq and parts of the Islamic world is because we are dependent on them for oil. We aren’t protecting them, but we are using them knowing that “basically all that the Islamic world has to offer is oil, and as technology opens up alternative sources of energy, even that will not amount to much” (D’Souza 772). Robert Gilpin would agree that we use many countries for the benefit of American economics, claiming that “since the end of the Cold War, economic cooperation among the U.S. and it’s allies has ended considerably and American foreign and economic policy has become more unilateral and self-centered” (Gilpin 11). In fact, the word compromise is unheard of by many Americans, subsequently resulting in the idea that “America is the greatest, freest, and most decent society in existence,” and therefore everyone should do things the American way (D’Souza 779). The notion that America is the best or that what’s good for America is good for everyone is a terrible misconception, especially when matters of economics are involved. Not only does America have unilateral economic self-interests, it is also ignorant of other countries polices and their form of government.
The push for democracy in foreign countries is another factor that is a part of American Universalism. After America’s triumphant victory in the Cold War, we tend to still feel like an ultimate superpower, and in some senses we are still powerful. We also pride ourselves on taking control of the political affairs of what we contend to be weak Third World countries, when in reality, “it is a trend among United States presidents that so-called Third World countries must be destabilized. America believes in solving problems not by negotiations but through military pressure” (Hertsgaard 788). If America learned how to mind their own business in foreign affairs, and was better capable of conducting negotiations once involved, and worked more towards compromising, ninety percent of the time military pressure could be avoided. The worst thing about the United States is that “it feels no obligation to obey international law; it often pushes other countries around, forcing on them policies and sometimes tyrannical leaders that serve only American interests” (Hertsgaard 785). Instead of respecting other countries’ different forms of government and negotiating situations until we come to an agreement, America pushes to reform other countries by forcing them to change their structure of government to a democracy. This is currently occurring in Iraq. We claim to be rebuilding their country by reforming the Iraqi government into a democracy. Who does democracy benefit? Who really wants democracy? It is the Americans that want democracy because it benefits them not only economically, but it makes it easier for them to manipulate other countries because it opens the door to American imperialism that is easily gained by our military pressures.
American Universalism is a combination of cultural superiority, greedy unilateral economic self-interests, and a push for democracy in foreign countries. Globalization will never exist as long as America continues its imperialistic ways. America is naturally dominant, and we hunger for power as much as other countries do, but there is line, and America has crossed it one too many times. Overall, America does mean well, but sometimes good intentions go wrong, and then Americans all over the nation wonder why we are hated so much. We only intend on doing well in other countries as long as it makes America better in some way, eventually resulting in American Universalism.

Works Cited
D’Souza, Dinesh. “America the Beautiful: What We’re Fighting For.” Rereading America:
Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Ed. Gary Colombo,
Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 772-779.
Gilpin, Robert and Jean Millis Gilpin. The Challenge of Global Capitalism. Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. 11-15.
Gitlin, Todd. “Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts
for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and
Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 824-826.
Hertsgaard, Mark. “The Oblivious Empire.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical
Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.
Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2007. 785-789