h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

G'day Mate! I am not an Aussie, but I am a fellow resident of the much maligned Southern Hemisphere. I live in South Africa. I just read your piece "The Death of Australian Culture" and I must say you have my sympathy. Here it is much the same story. America everywhere, we have to obey all the rules set by America, only we don't get any of the benefits of American citizenship. I wonder if Americans can ever understand just how ferociously their culture is being promoted in other countries. This to the great detriment of the variety of cultures that used to colour and pattern the globe. Truly, what is happening is a great catastrophe.

Here in SA we have 11 official languages, but only one gets spoken with any regularity: English. The native languages here are spoken and written less and less, because they are not "competitive". There is no future for cultures other than the American one. Imagine one day when the whole world is America: the same clothes everywhere, the same food everywhere, the same music everywhere, the same movies everywhere, the same language and slang everywhere. And everybody will be so empty-headed that nobody will even realise what has been lost. No!!! God forbid!!! This must not be allowed to happen!!!! Rather may we blow up the entire world than see that day!!!!!

Let those of us who support diversity and indigenous identity unite against American global-imperial-capital-empty-headonism!

Finally!

The internet is not the best place to find fellow anti-Americanisationists (?) because it is owned and controlled by those dominating yanks.

I don't have a problem with American culture in itself, but as you say, soon the whole world will be American... there's no fun in that! Having different cultures, different languages and different attitudes makes the world interesting.

Living in South Africa I imagine you have seen the effects of colonialism and imperialism first hand - not all good, dare I say it. Now America is repeating the old European effort, and we're all going to suffer.

Long live *different* cultures!

Yep, Rob, I am also not "Anti-America". I am only anti-Americanisation, anti-American-economic-imperialism. The "America" we are sold is not the real America anyway; it is an image of America and it is basically a few powerful companies pushing it, it is not the common folk of the USA. I don't think the common folk of the USA know or care much about what happens here, anyway; it is all about the interests of big busiiness, the mighty few.

Good or bad, I have been "colonised" so much already that I am doing most of my communication in a kind of b*****d American/British English, even though my mother tongue is Afrikaans. And like it or not I have now assimiliated so much of America, despite all my kicking and screaming, I am now probably quite thoroughly American at heart. I listen mostly to American and English (and Aussie - like Men At Work and Midnight Oil) music. Face it, nothing much happens in other cultures any more! My own has been cut down to a stump. If we want to develop native cultures, we must be prepared to work very, very hard to build something from nothing!

Colonialism and imperialism is just idiotic. By the way, do you think the British in Australia weren't guilty of anything? I can tellya one thing, at least there are still enough Africans left here to rule the country, there still is a shred of their traditions and original institutions left. Let's not get into "which country messed things up the most" contest! I tell you we aren't angels, and we have been very, very naughty. A lot of the chaos that we have now is because we have destroyed so much of the foundation of African culture that the new generation is without roots, disoriented, uncertain about where it has come from, where it is going and where it fits into the overall scheme of things. Nihilism is the scourge of the present, it is the reward we reap for having disrupted so many stable societies.

I think language is a good place to start with the support of "threatened" (i.e. non-American) cultures. The internet is a tool we can use. I would like to see the day where everybody on Earth can speak at least three languages - his/her mother tongue, an international language, and a special interest language of another "non-dominant" culture; the ease of communication made possible by modern systems can be a tremendous boost to cultural diversification. In such a setup, all languages can be safe. And all can have thriving literatures, thriving music, thriving everything - in a way, every one can be world-wide even while centred in a particular country.

I would like to see that article you wrote about AIDS in Africa: my email adress is [email protected].

See you around - I will be reading some of those renegade opinions of yours sometime soon!

I didn't mean to suggest that Australia didn't have problems of its own, merely that both Aus and S Africa have experience with the negative aspects of imperialism, and yet we are letting it happen again.

South Africa is probably in a better position when it comes to the after-effects of colonisation, at least emotionally. You have at least faced up to what happened and are trying to sort things out - many Australians don't want to admit what we did to the Aboriginal population. But as you said, let's not get into that...

I'll send you that report as soon as I can..

Cheers,
ROb