Borat is far from the first person to make a name for himself by skewering Americans and American culture…but he is one of the best to do so in recent memory. But the whole Borat phenomenon is just comedy, it’s show business, and no one really takes what Hollywood does very seriously. But one thing people DO take seriously in this country is business. The business of America is business said one sage President (if I correctly recall my Roget’s, that is). And so when anti-Americanism starts to affect the country’s bottom line, well, folks start to take notice.
This piece in the Chicago Tribune takes a look at a relatively new movement of business people who are concerned that anti-American attitudes are causing American businesses to lose business overseas .And so they have taken action to try and turn things around. The problem is not just the perception of American businesses as purveyors of obesity-inducing, LCD garbage, the problem too is that Americans who travel abroad help promote stereotypes of Americans as bumbling ignoramuses with pre-Copernican views of self.
And so, to combat these problems, several business-folk founded the Business for Diplomatic Action, a group of educators, executives and citizens working to combat the spread of anti-American sentiment. As mentioned here a while back, the BDA extended its efforts to all Americans traveling abroad via its World Citizens Guide…basically just a series of booklets and pamphlets that offer a crash course in other nations’ histories, religions, traditions, peoples and language.
Personally, I think all you need to be an aware and thoughtful global citizen is an avid desire to travel, a nice book collection and a subscription to the New York Times. A couple of pamphlets are only for the worst off cases, IMHO. But I salute this group’s effort, none the lees, sine any press given to this topic helps make people aware that it’s important. And it is.