Polarized America

wolf · 06-23-2006, 09:30 AM

If Brazil didn't want a WalMart, they wouldn't have one. They wouldn't have a WalMart if WalMart didn't think it would be profitable for them to open a store in a foreign country.

That's the special kind of doom that means progress.

Pangloss62 · 06-23-2006, 10:19 AM

Brasil is a country, and as such it is only an idea with abstract boundaries shown on a map, as is any country. People have "wants," not countries. Sao Paulo alone has about 30 million people, and many of them desire cheap and plentiful products, enough for WalMart to open stores there. Many others deeply resent the Americanization of "their" Brasil, and boycott Coke, McDonalds, and WalMart. They put anti-McDonalds bumper stickers on their fuscas (VW Bugs) and drink ONLY Guarana.

But some Brasilians display a very paradoxical love/hate pattern of behavior when it comes to American culture, deriding McDonalds while listening to the latest American songs on their car radios. Most universally loathe W., but want to supersize their universally small cars up to an American SUV. That's why I used the "disease" analogy. American style consumerism is taking over the world despite its critics. "Doom" indeed.

06-23-2006, 09:30 AM	#1
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	If Brazil didn't want a WalMart, they wouldn't have one. They wouldn't have a WalMart if WalMart didn't think it would be profitable for them to open a store in a foreign country. That's the special kind of doom that means progress. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-23-2006, 10:19 AM	#2
Pangloss62 Lecturer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 768	What Brasil Wants Brasil is a country, and as such it is only an idea with abstract boundaries shown on a map, as is any country. People have "wants," not countries. Sao Paulo alone has about 30 million people, and many of them desire cheap and plentiful products, enough for WalMart to open stores there. Many others deeply resent the Americanization of "their" Brasil, and boycott Coke, McDonalds, and WalMart. They put anti-McDonalds bumper stickers on their fuscas (VW Bugs) and drink ONLY Guarana. But some Brasilians display a very paradoxical love/hate pattern of behavior when it comes to American culture, deriding McDonalds while listening to the latest American songs on their car radios. Most universally loathe W., but want to supersize their universally small cars up to an American SUV. That's why I used the "disease" analogy. American style consumerism is taking over the world despite its critics. "Doom" indeed. __________________ Things are never as good, or bad, as they seem.

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