This Fleeting World

88 This Fleeting World
and radio became more common even in Third World countries, the cultural
norms and consumerist values of the most industrialized countries
became commonplace throughout the world.
Coca-Cola Culture and the Backlash
The influence of the United States was particularly pervasive as consumer
goods such as Coca-Cola and U.S. styles in clothing, music, sports, and
entertainment became familiar throughout the world. Yet, Western influences
have also generated a powerful, and sometimes violent, backlash
as governments and citizens in other parts of the world have tried, with
varying degrees of success, to defend traditional, and often deeply held,
cultural and religious values. The emergence of new forms of radical anti-
Westernism is merely one reflection of growing resistance to Western
values.
Increasing global inequalities fueled resistance to Western values. In
1960 the wealthiest 20 percent of the world’s population earned about
thirty times as much as the poorest 20 percent; in 1991 the wealthiest 20
percent earned sixty-one times as much. The successes of the most highly
industrialized countries threw a harsh spotlight on the poverty of less industrialized
regions, highlighting inequalities in income and in access to
Worth Debating
In 1999, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan became the last nation
in the world to introduce television to its people. Many in this remote
Buddhist country feared what television would do to its culture and
its citizens—especially since this would be the first mass exposure to
Western culture. The country’s prime minister felt that watching the
news on the BBC and CNN would expose Bhutanese people to the
working of democracy. But with forty-six channels added, they were
exposed to a lot more than democracy in action. By 2002, Bhutan
saw its first wave of crime, with drug offenses, thefts, and murders.
Would Bhutan have been better off if that first satellite dish had never
arrived? Is ignorance of the wider world sometimes bliss?