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Jihad vs Mcworld, the Ultimate Showdown

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Jihad vs Mcworld, the Ultimate Showdown
Jihad vs. Mcworld, the Ultimate Showdown

According to Benjamin Barber, the future of International Relations is dominated by a conflict between McWorld and Jihad. The world is being simultaneously pulled together by McWorld and apart by Jihad. McWorld is working towards globalization and commodification by using the forces of capitalism to create human needs. Jihad, on the other side, is a sort of retribalization, where humanity is being divided and subdivided into exclusive units. Through retribalizing, Jihad tries to create a tribal identity to which we bond and identify. This tribalism is breaking out as a reaction to McWorld. Was Barber 's Jihad vs. McWorld prescient of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center? In Jihad vs. McWorld, Barber speaks of "a confrontation between the forces of global market modernization and commercialization and a tribal, religious and ethnic reaction against them." This ideology became real to Americans on September 11. America has been throwing blows for centuries, in deciding that other countries need to be more democratic, by sending rifle totting soldiers off into war for its own selfish needs at all cost. In America 's attempts to create globalization for capitalistic gain, the back door of technology was left wide open. The terrorists represent jihadic warriors reacting to globalization, uniformity, and interdependence the concepts that America (McWorld) represents. These warriors operated effectively by manipulating and leveraging American transportation, international, financial, banking and credit card systems which are maintained by what else, technology. A fatal blow was dealt to America 's concepts of independence by reducing the World Trade Center, "the icon of American capitalism" to a pile of rubble. Why the world trade center? The World Trade Center is a symbol of McWorld 's capitalistic ideology. The concept of uniformity hit America right blow the belt, because now with everyone being alike,


Cited: Barber, Benjamin R., "Beyond Jihad vs. McWorld." The Nation 21 Jan. 2002. 16 Sept. 2005 Barber, Benjamin R., "Jihad vs. McWorld." Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 4th ed. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2003. 126-131. Friedman, Thomas L., "Revolution Is U.S." Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 4th ed. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2003. 132-137.
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