cultural protectionism
The fine line that used to separate human beings from animals was the phenomenon of speech and imagination. But the great divide between the two was human ability to define and build a culture. What really is a culture? Culture in many forms is defined by language and behavior as key elements. In the words of Stevenson (1994), "Human beings could create and invent and influence their environment as well as respond to it. The collected experience, stored in language, was a culture". Cultures, just like the evolution of species, keep on evolving. Evolving cultures follow the same pattern as defined by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The strong and the fittest survive. There is a process of natural selection wherein the good influences get carried across while the bad wither away. But just like in living species, there is protectionism built into every culture. There is always a fear of external cultures eroding the value systems and behavior patterns of an existing culture (Stevenson, 1994)One can infer from the various chapter readings that in the benefit of mankind, cultures should freely diffuse without any opposition that is artificially induced by political bodies. The
The problem here is that the "infant industry" case only applies when a local producer can claim some comparative advantage, whereas at most times especially in a country like India, these local producers claim a comparative disadvantage relative to overseas competitors. cultural domination of the US media content in the world is in fact an "internationalization" as the US itself is a hybrid nation that is made up of a multitude of diverse nationalities. Miller says that "It is ludicrous to believe that Egypt or Arab countries banned Schindler's List" because of its presumed salacious content and sexual thrill". But in the 20th century, the world has seen the American culture take the center stage with its influence spreading all around the world. Closely related to the infant industry argument is the argument that says we wouldn't have a publishing/film/television/music/advertising industry without protectionism. As Stevenson puts it "The two trends of global communication in the 90s are a resurgence of demands for cultural identity and at the same time the emergence of the foundations of global culture. If we leave aside, for now, the argument about national identity, many of the arguments for cultural protectionism, have taken the same form as those for its economic first-cousin. The notion that each culture should be a sovereign political state grew out of the nationalism movement of the nineteenth century. It is clear from the article "Exporting America" by Paul Farhi that that American movie and TV culture has revolutionized the way people watch broadcast media in Hungary, India, Cuba, Greece, Russia and so many more countries of the world. Annette Insdorf, director of undergraduate film studies at Columbia University referring to Steven Speilberg's film about holocaust which won the academy award for the best picture said "They banned it because they feared it would evoke sympathy for Israel". America has been the symbolism of freedom and a perfect democracy in the post WWII world. The adaptation of the American culture and English as a form of a medium has been really profound. In the same light of consideration, US products enjoy the competitive advantage of being created in English, the first or second language of choice for almost the entire developed world and much of the developing world". Again one will point out that there are any number of industries a nation does not have that would thrive there instantly if only they banned imports but only at an enormous cost to the rest of the nation's economy. Moreover, the infant industry argument, on its own logic, should lead to a progressive lowering of import restrictions as the industry grows in maturity and strength.
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Acceptance Essays
