The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF

of diverse cultures. In this manner, all other peoples, and notjust the small and weak ones, will lose their identity, theirsoul, and will become no more than twenty-first-centurycolonies—zombies or caricatures modeled after the culturalnorms of a new imperialism that, in addition to ruling overthe planet with its capital, military might, and scientificknowledge, will impose on others its language and its waysof thinking, believing, enjoying, and dreaming.This nightmare or negative utopia of a world that, thanks toglobalization, is losing its linguistic and cultural diversity andis being culturally appropriated by the United States, is not theexclusive domain of left-wing politicians nostalgic for Marx, Mao,or Che Guevara. This delirium of persecution—spurred by hatredand rancor toward the North American giant—is also apparentin developed countries and nations of high culture and is sharedamong political sectors of the left, center, and right.The most notorious case is that of France, where we see frequentgovernment campaigns in defense of a French “cultural identity”supposedly threatened by globalization. A vast array of intellectualsand politicians is alarmed by the possibility that the soil thatproduced Montaigne, Descartes, Racine, and Baudelaire—and acountry that was long the arbiter of fashion in clothing, thought,art, dining, and in all domains of the spirit—can be invaded byMcDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, rock, rap,Hollywood movies, blue jeans, sneakers, and T-shirts. This fearhas resulted, for instance, in massive French subsidies for the localfilm industry and demands for quotas requiring theaters to showa certain number of national films and limit the importationof movies from the United States. This fear is also the reasonwhy municipalities issued severe directives penalizing with highfines any publicity announcements that littered with Anglicismsthe language of Molière. (Although, judging by the view of apedestrian on the streets of Paris, the directives were not quiterespected.) This is the reason why José Bové, the farmer-cumcrusaderagainst la malbouffe (lousy food), has become no lessthan a popular hero in France. And with his recent sentencingto three months in prison, his popularity has likely increased.115