Globalization

The city of Zacatecas is about 45 minutes away from Fresnillo and is the state capital. It has many attractions, including touristy shops, the official immigration office, and American stores like Burger King, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart.

I'm sitting in Starbucks, currently, having been working on a paper that I'm rewriting for grad school applications. There's a distinct feeling of displacement, as I work on a paper that I originally wrote a year and a half ago, listening to "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan, Iron and Wine, and other mellow music, and enjoying fancy coffee that has the same name here as it is in the States (though in both places I really have no idea what they are). I look up from my paper and the people around me are speaking Spanish. It's like a little island of American culture, displaced here, floating in the middle of this arid Mexican state.

So what are the effects of globalization? It's comforting to me to be able to be in a recognizable place, with the Starbucks paintings on the walls and the soothing earth-toned paint and furniture. What does it mean culturally? To have such a huge cultural giant so close to this nation, with a migrating population bringing it back home, and with easy access to American television shows and music: it's changing Mexican culture, but how? What will it mean for Mexicans? And what does it mean economically? Starbucks is a huge corporation, Wal-Mart even bigger. If these companies can elbow their way here, taking out national competition, what effect does that have on the nation at large?