The process by which the cultural landscape is flattened by mass media and globalization.
Culture is effectively reduced to its lowest denominator. The same products and entertainment are pumped into every home, always following a similar formula that aims to colonize our minds. We end up with people from diverse backgrounds who more or less think and act alike.
This is often mistakenly referred to as ‘Westernization’. But it is not so much an expansion of Western culture and tradition as it is the creation of an entirely new ‘culture’ of its own, if we dare call it that. Significant contributions come from the West, yet Western societies themselves are influenced by this phenomenon in consequential ways. This leveling ultimately results in a loss of distinctive features.
The result is people who are less geographically isolated but only weakly bonded. People listen to the same popular music, watch the same movies, and generally witness history unfold together in real-time. But these are extremely superficial bonds that provide only an illusion of connection. They are far too shallow to build a culture upon. We might all learn to hate some overplayed pop song. And we might ogle the same dozen or so Hollywood actresses. We enjoy the same internet memes. But this is all very superficial and fleeting. It’s hardly the stuff of great cultural significance. It’s not like we faced the same hardships. We didn’t weather the blizzard of ’78 together or ride out Hurricane Ike. We certainly don’t stalk our meals together. It used to be that if you over-fished the lake or overgrazed the pasture the local community, and subsequent generations, suffered. But our fates are no longer intertwined. Now we go into an area like mercenaries, extract the resources and move on. Others bear the costs of decisions made in legislative bodies and board rooms half a world away. This all results in bonds that are extremely thin.
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