Globalization

I believe that at the root, western culture will always play a dominant role. But in regards to globalization, with the increase in mass media hopefully people can see that there are more ways to see the world and to understand it. We can see the negatives of the western culture in comparison to the others or we can see the benefits. I don't believe that any culture is fully bad, but how it is portrayed plays a large role. Now that we have graduated from just the use of newspapers, it's easier for other users around the world to be able to post their opinions and pieces online. I don't think we will ever be able to minimize the western power but we can garner a stronger voice in the smaller cultures.

I think what's interesting is how we chose to define "Western Culture". It is a bit monolithic, and I feel it can have a number of different meanings depending on the context. For examples, some discussions might be focused primarily on the United States' very prominent role in the world; others may talk about how many European countries are becoming more socially, economically, and environmentally progressive while the U.S. lags behind or is at least more conservative (particularly environmentally and in terms of societal values). In any case, I think it will be interesting to say where the conversation around America will head, especially in terms of cultural influence, with the election of Donald Trump, and the frankly scary rise in boldness of bigotry and white nationalism (that has already been gaining prominence in many European states).