Cross Contamination

Individuals are powerful beings, able to consume technology and adapt it to their needs. The current trend in America, going green, is being promoted and widely accepted. I remember when few people unplugged appliances not in use or let the shower run to avoid a cold one. Saving energy has not always been an "American thing"; with the size of the average home and gas tank of American made cars. We are accustomed to wastefulness. If an outsider said, "This is not American culture and we have a duty to preserve their authencity." Americans would feel invaded.

Change allows people to have more choices. In our country new knowledge allows us the ability to choose what we want to use and what we want to discard. Some members of the older generations throw up their hands saying "This stuff is cool, but I'm just too damn old to be bothered." But when our elders were young they did not have this same choice.

This change is only possible because of individuals. As I mentioned before, no one blindly consumes information. In terms of globalization, we mold outside medium to our liking. In the contamination article: Scholar Larry Strelitz interviewed students from KwaZulu-Natal to inspect this 'invasion' and it's affects. He found that different students took away different lessons which deflates the idea that globalization brain washes individuals.

We live by actionable information. We check the weather channel to decide our attire, we check travel websites to purchase the least expensive ticket, we check our email and day planners to remember what we have to do. Professor Blevens once spoke in class about farmers in the Congo who have to charge their cell phones in their cars because they have no electricity, but they use internet on their phone to receive information about issues concerning their crops. In this way technology is helping, not hindering or invading, their way of life.

I agree with Appiah that "Talk of authencity now just amounts to telling other people what they ought to value in their own traditions." Growing up, I often heard the statement "You act white." and I was always confused because I did not understand what 'acting white' or 'acting black' meant. As I matured I began to question those types of statements. Both blacks and whites would try and tell me, an African American female born and raised in this country, that I was not 'black enough'. White peers would say I should listen to more rap music or not speak as proper. I love being a member of the African dispora, but I define what being black means to me. There is too much classification, too many titles and labels in our societies.

Globilazation is a way to mix and match cultures, to evolve through the new knowledge received from other people. Once people are valued, instead of concentrating on cultures, globalization will be viewed differently.