CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnMassachusettsrnby Eugene NairettrnBeacon to the NationsrnA few months ago and despite my betterrnjudgment, I spent some time watchingrnthe NFL playoffs. Seeking rchcf fromrnrather than in work, I soon was remindedrnthat the tube is a conduit of malaise andrnof pop cultural propaganda. For everyrnglimpse of the tenacious gifts of DanrnMarino, there were hours of dumb talkrnand worse commercials whose gist wasrna kind of asinine “wc are the world” homogeneity.rnCzech nuns and Moroccanrnpimps talked earnestly of software.rnAT&T told me “to know no boundaries.”rnOne moment I was watching helmcted,rn300-pound sociopaths break dancing inrnthe end zone; then in a blare of electronicrnmusic they were replaced by a winsomclyrnhandsome brown youth leaningrnlazily against the rail of a coral. Was herndreaming?rnApparently not, though I wish I hadrnbeen. Intercut quickly with his happyrnFor Immediate ServicernCHRONICLESrnNEW SUBSCRIBERSrnTOLL FREE NUMBERrnChroniclesrn* 1-800-877-5459 *rnface were noisy, dusty scenes of paintedrnmagi gyrating to a digireedoo. Suddenly,rna Coke bottle fell out of the sky. They allrndrank of it. They danced happily together.rnIt was California 2001.rnBut I didn’t want to buy the worldrna Coke. I wanted to watch Marino.rn”That’s what the world wants today,” Irnmuttered scroogily. And then I rememberedrnMilan Kundera’s apposite commentsrnon attempts to legislate a nationrnof perfect harmony, “where every man isrna note in a magnificent fugue and anyonernwho refuses his note is a mere blackrndot, useless and meaningless, easilyrncaught and squashed between the fingersrnlike an insect.”rnThat of course is the standardized pliabilityrnto which the diversity-mongersrnand multinationals alike wish to reducernus: a world of grinning, fizz-guzzlingrnconsumers and consumerettes trappedrnin a never-ending Coke commercial.rnReal differences, distinct regions, nations,rncultures, and values will melt intorna global economy. Freedom will devolverninto a gospel of “choice”: Coke or Pepsi,rnMacburgers or Burger Crown, abortionrnor welfare. And anyone who refuses tornsing these notes will become a merernblack dot, easily caught and squashed byrnthe unisexual technocrats of the globalrnnanny-state.rnDiscomfort with such futures helpedrnmake the last elections a referendum onrnAmerican identity. We voted “no” tornsuch symptoms of social decay as RobertarnAchtenbcrg, Hillary Rodham, Oprah,rnO.J., and Janet Reno, the minister of justicernwho cared so much for those childrenrnat Waco she had to incineraternthem. The elections indicated growingrnawareness that we have gone badlyrnastray. But what is the way back?rnIn reflecting on our origins and contemporaryrndirection, we would do well torncontrast the misplaced smugness of weare-rnthc-world triumphalism with a formativernsermon from America’s earlyrnyears, John Winthrop’s “Model of ChristianrnCharity.” Let us look first at therntrend and next at what we might retrieve.rnEver since the Cairo populationrnconference, that fiesta of intrusive andrnintolerant do-gooders, liberal mediarnin tandem with multinationals toutingrnthe “global economy” have floated arnnoisome rationale for the appeal ofrnAmerican culture. We are the world.rnthey suggest, and the world loves us justrnas we are. And what arc we?rnThe departure of American troopsrnfrom Beriin last year, like the crumblingrnof the Wall, provided powerful images ofrna renewed world. But the glacier’s retreatrnreveals some foul detritus. In articles celebratingrnthe apparent triumph of our values,rnnewspapers in New York and Bostonrnquoted a Berlin teenager. “Just about everythingrnwe have that’s fun comes fromrnthe United States,” he said. “If it weren’trnfor the Americans we wouldn’t havernbaseball caps. We wouldn’t have mallsrnor fast food shops or skateboards. Lifernjust wouldn’t be as good.” Perhaps thisrnyoung fellow is a budding ironist, a masterrnof the deadpan put-on. Perhaps, likernso many today, he’s too far gone to knowrnwhat he’s saying. What is most troubling,rnhowever, was the glee with whichrnthe Northeast’s newspapers of recordrnhighlighted his comments.rnBoston is known for priggish arrogance,rnonce blue-nosed, now politicallyrncorrect. With liberal Democrats in thernWhite House, its major newspaper hasrntaken to cheering on the pop culturernwhich the Clintons incarnate: slob Willyrnand his Big Macs; tough Hilly foolingrnwith her hair.rnShortly before the elections, Boston’srnliberal daily followed the above-quotedrnnonsense with a front-page perspectivernon the global appeal of American values.rnIn Egypt, the writer assured us, “thernmost popular television program is ‘ThernBold and the Beautiful’ . . . Cairo boutiquesrnname themselves after the soap’srnmain characters—Brooke, Ridge, Thornrnand Storm.” Hold your nose; this is onlyrnthe beginning of the catalog. “In Amman,rnthe Jordanian capital, upscalernteenagers wear American baseball capsrnturned backwards, listen to rock ‘n’rnroll and watch American televisionrnshows In the tonier neighborhoods ofrnTehran, women are barely inside theirrnfront doors when their robes are abandonedrnto reveal miniskirts. Cigarettesrnare lit and homemade alcohol consumed.rnThe latest Hollywood films arernrented by door-to-door salesmen.”rnDon’t know whether to laugh or cry?rnWell, consider that such attitudes are notrnonly a left-wing phenomenon. Idolatersrnof the market carry these insidious notionsrnacross the thin membrane betweenrnliberals and money-Republicans. Thern38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn