American Centric Lifestyle - Whose Fault is it?

The world revolves around the United States. Bias aside, this is a fact. It does not mean that everyone follows us or believes in what we do, but their actions are dictated by us. This has been the case for 70 years since the end of World War II as our presence has continued to grow globally. 

I often hear about how Americans "do not see other sides of the picture" or its all "fake patriotism" or "other countries are good too." Can these complaints be true? Absolutely, but is it our fault? Hardly.

Watching videos in other languages explains this perfectly. Vlogs, politics, sports, and movies all have an American influence through the English language. English words are spoken with an American accent during the middle of what otherwise would be a sentence in Spanish, German, or Korean. These are "loan words" and they have become apart of every countries' vocabulary whether we like it or not.

Another area is food, specifically chain stores such as Starbucks, Five Guys, or McDonald's. These restaurants produce the exact same product in Paris, France as they would in Boise, Idaho. With that comes American words and products in which these countries do not push back but rather embrace. 

Fashion trends, celebrities, and technology all influence daily life as well. Walk down the street in Madrid to see American fashion trends or read comments on foreign social media pages and you will see the influence in terms of "slang." Again, this isn't forced but rather embraced and adopted voluntarily.

Dubai is the pillar for this concept. A modern city bustling with people from all over the country embracing a glamourous western lifestyle (aka American influenced) yet travel 30 minutes outside and you are quickly back in the deserts of the Middle East. It seems like you traveled a million miles in 30 minutes.

Everyone wants the advancements and changes minus any real cultural impact. And here in lies the issue with what American life is turning into for other countries. As our society, businesses, and sports becomes intertwined with social, political, and economic issues, it is impossible for other countries to embrace just the product. I am not arguing this is a good or bad thing; just reality. Can the NBA be adopted without the BLM movement? Chic-Fil-A without the outwardly Christian value system? Or how about Hollywood movies without their push for diversity and representation? Seems impossible to do.

The reason I call this an "issue" is because countries are starting to treat this as a problem for their way of life. Take France for example. American "wokeism" directly contradicts a major part of their daily life: their gendered language. It affects their food culture as Five Guys move in, media production such as movies and TV shows, and influences their politicians running for office who focus on social issues rather than economic problems. Emmanuel Marcon has called this issue "America's top export (wokeism)" and it's shaking up their daily life. Its not just France as well, this affects the world. 

Is this our fault? Not at all, no one is forcing this influence on other countries. This leaves the world with a choice to make: keep embracing America and all that includes or isolation. If the world wants to maintain its cultural values and social beliefs, the US influence will need to be cut off. If not, the world will become the US-lite.