Capitalism induced homogeneity across the world is inevitably leading to a future where different cultures and diversity in various parts of the world are set to merge into one — fueled by the unstoppable juggernaut of Globalization.
Increasingly, the big cities are starting to look and feel the same all over the world - tall skyscrapers, criss-crossing flyovers, fast-paced streamlined traffic, McDonald, Pizza Hut...the feel of the native culture of a country is getting pushed to smaller towns and villages which are still relatively untouched by forces of globalization ( Americanization ? ). But how long will those provinces, towns and villages be able to resist either ?! Just a matter of time before the same forces of scientific education, efficient techniques, productive business models, modern management principles, mechanization & automation override the ages old 'cultural' way of doing things 'inefficiently'. This will inevitably result in the behavior of people also getting 'rationalized' per force as they adapt to the scientific, efficient way of conducting business and lives. Accordingly, the attitudes and beliefs of societies - which is what Culture really is - will undergo a drastic blending in to a worldwide uniformity We already see a miniature replica of this in America - the melting pot of the world. No matter how strongly new immigrants hold on to their beliefs when they first come to America - a generation or two down the line - all adopt the American way ! If at all Culture is preserved, it will be in artificially preserved setups - where the old way of doing things could still be experienced as a commercially feasible tourist attraction — as can already be seen in many travel hot spots around the world.
This blending is unstoppable — and not necessarily bad. All people everywhere want the 'good life' and also the easiest and shortest cut to achieve it. Only the rational and scientific way provides it which, inevitably results in countries getting interlinked with the global economy and thereon the inescapable diluting and homogenizing of cultures. As human beings, it is difficult for most of us to adapt to change when it happens too rapidly — and an old world nostalgia tugs most of us when we feel overwhelmed by the modern rapid pace of life. There will be occasional reverts by some countries to close ranks and insulate themselves from the world but these will be temporary — in the sense that the isolation of Soviet Union lasted all of 80 years, Cuba half that and North Korea is set to open up in a decade or two maximum. In the long march of human history, decades are but a blink of the eye. That kind of close-down may not even be possible anymore due to the present day inter-connectedness of the world.
Humanity’s innate desire for growth ensures that the most free-spirited amongst us find a way to break free one way or the other — and carry the rest of the society along with into new territory. Eventually, Market economy will find ways to temper itself more to suit human nature which after all is not robotically rational but often quirky and unpredictable.
Meanwhile, what to do about all of it ?! Well...the bourgeois steamroller is not going to stop...the old Cambodian woman patiently hand-stitching a shawl over 2 months, the Laotian farmer plodding away with the bullock to till his small plot of land, the African tribal leader with his fancy headgear...will all be swept away by mechanization, efficiency and the 'rational' way.
Silver lining is that it won't happen overnight....so see it while you still can !
