Get Ready for Sino-tization

You have no doubt heard of the dangers of the “McDonald-ization” of the world—the seemingly ubiquitous presence of the fast-food restaurant that has become a symbol of American culture.  A book that I’m reading by Don Carson points out that some people who are concerned about this phenomenon fail to notice that, almost wherever you go in the developed world, there are not only McDonalds (and KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc.), but there are also Chinese restaurants, Indian restaurants, Italian restaurants, French restaurants, German restaurants, Thai restaurants, etc.  No one seems to be overly concerned about threatened cultural imperialism from these countries.

As one who lives in a country with very little American influence, I’m probably not in the best position to comment on the seriousness of this threat.  I do know that people here must not feel too threatened, because at this time of the year there are lots of cybercafés inviting people to come in to apply for the annual American visa lottery, and there seems to be no shortage of applicants.  And in this country, even in this region of West Africa, where there is not a single McDonalds (or KFC or Pizza Hut…), and where even the efforts to imitate these come across as cheap imitations, there is no shortage of Chinese restaurants.  And they are not cheap knock-offs—they are really very good.

This morning I read an article from the English version of the Chinese People’s Daily which announced a new military cooperation between China and Togo.  Not only are there Chinese restaurants here, but there are Chinese supermarkets, a Chinese “dollar store,” and the traditional markets are crowded with Chinese goods.  There are over a billion Chinese and they need to find a market for their goods.  This announcement makes me wonder whether the agenda goes beyond economics.  Maybe America isn’t the only imperial threat.