The concern is that the dominant cultures will take over.
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| Dr. Herbert Schiller |
The mass of his writings were devoted to two major trends: the private takeover of public space and public institutions at home, and U.S. corporate domination of cultural life abroad, especially in developing nations. His eight books and hundreds articles in both scholarly and popular journals made him a key figure both in communication research and in the public debate over the role of the media in modern society.
Communications and American Empire," Professor
Schiller has written a provocative but terrifying book. He explains in carefully documented terms how American communications technology facilitates our expanding influence in global affairs and how the military-industrial-governmental communications complex grows apace, answerable to no one in an unplanned market economy. Schiller warns,
"To believe that the commercial and informational connection points that join...economically feeble nations to the technologically powerful American economy are beneficial to both sides of the union is to undo Voltaire's good doctor Pangloss. If free trade is the mechanism by which a powerful economy penetrates and dominates a weaker one, the 'free flow of information,' the designated objective incidentally of UNESCO, is the channel through which life styles and value systems can be imposed on poor and vulnerable societies."
Thus the present nature of our communications complex is not significant solely for its effects on Americans, although this effect is enormous.
AND
MEDIA
IMPERIALISM
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| Actual Maxi Bodega in Chimaltenango. |
Irronically, Maxi Bodega is owned by Walmart Stores, Inc., the largest retailer in the world and one of the top five corporations in the world. Moreover, Maxi Bodega is just one of five different types of Walmart stores that operate in Guatemala. In addition, Club Co., Hiper Paiz, Supertiendas Paiz and Despensa Familiar are the four other internationally owned Walmart stores in the country.
In 1983, the first Sam’s Club members-warehouse store opened. The first Supercenter opened in 1988, featuring a complete grocery, and 36 departments of general merchandise. By 1989, there were 1,402 Walmart stores and 123 Sam’s Club locations. Employment had increased tenfold. Sales had grown from $1 billion in 1980, to $26 billion.
Today, 8,692 stores and club locations in 15 countries employ 2.1 million associates, serving more than 176 million customers a year.
To the left is an actual picture of an open market in the Santo Domingo Xenaco. There are many of these markets all over the city that sell anything from CDs to live chickens. This market happens to be in a local churchyard, a vast difference from the packed aisels of the Maxi.
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| Samuel Moore Walton, founder of Walmart |
The history of the Walmart Empire is not as old as some think. The domination of this world retailer did not start until 1962. In that year, Sam Walton and his wife put up 95 percent of their own money to open the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas.
It was not until a decade later that the store made much of an impact. In May 1971, Walmart stock experienced its first 100 percent split, at a market price of $47. At that time, the company operated in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma. In 1972, after being approved and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Walmart stock split 100 percent for a second time, with a market price of $47.50. The company grew to 276 stores in 11 stores by the end of the year. The company then expanded into three more states, entering Tennessee in 1973 and Kentucky and Mississippi in 1974. Even though the company grew overnight exponentially, it was not until the 1980s that the store came into it's own.
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| First Sam's Club, Midwest City, Oklahoma |
