Sifting through the results of a Google search for "entertainment industrial complex" yielded a relatively old, but shocking, article about how governments around the world are trying to protect their unique, indigenous, local film, music, literature, etc.--"cultural protectionism"--but the media/entertainment industries in the U.S. are purposefully using things like the WTO to destroy cultural diversity.

I am stunned, but I shouldn't be.

As someone who has read and thought a lot about cultural anthropology, cultural diversity, globalization, ethnocentrism, etc., I already knew that the dominant political and economic powers have been trying for some time now to Westernize and homogenize the globe and have little respect for things like indigenous rights, sacred landmarks, tradition, etc. But to hear that they directly, spitefully aim to destroy policies specifically designed to protect local, indigenous artisans, literature, etc. is a shocking reality check about how global capitalism may be more evil than even I have ever imagined.

A few sobering points from The Global Monoculture ‘Free Trade’ versus Culture and Democracy, especially the parts that I have bolded:

"There are no clear estimates of the number of artisans in the world, although some crafts groups believe it is the largest employer outside agriculture..."

"For many countries feeling the deadening and harmonizing impacts of economic globalization, protecting cultural diversity has become as important a fight as preserving biodiversity..."

"There is a growing sentiment in many parts of the world that culture is not just another product like steel or computer parts. Through funding programs, content regulations and other public policies, countries have encouraged their own artists and cultures and tried to maintain some space for their own intellectual creations..."

"Mass-produced products of popular culture are the biggest US export, according to the United Nations 1999 Human Development Report...."

"A huge, well-organized coalition links the US entertainment, media and information technology sectors in a "common front" to oppose cultural protectionism..."

"For many years, the US State Department has used a variety of trade remedies to strike down nation, state and local rules aimed at protecting indigenous cultures. In recent years, the battle has heated up as more countries adopt measures to support their own artists and cultural producers.

While it is true that these fights have shaped up more over film and TV than the live performing arts, the pressure to cut back on government funding for any cultural sector that does not totally pay its own way is growing in all countries. The messages are loud and clear: "Get big or die," and "Get a corporate sponsor or fold..."

"Current WTO trade law subjects culture to all the disciplines of the agreement. There have been seven complaints concerning culture lodged at the WTO since its inception. Of those resolved, all effectively limited the right of a state to protect its cultural industries..."

"The most significant was a 1997 ruling in which the US successfully forced Canada to abandon protections for its magazine industry...Former US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky triumphantly declared that the decision would serve as a useful weapon against other countries’ attempts to protect their film, books and broadcasting industries..."