Last year, an anti-globalization group called the Turning Point Project bought a series of advertisements in The New York Times. One of them began this way:
"A few decades ago, it was still possible to leave home and go somewhere else. The architecture was different. The landscape was different. The language, lifestyle, dress and values were different. That was a time when we could speak of cultural diversity. But with economic globalization, diversity is fast disappearing. The goal of the global economy is that all countries should be homogenized."
Is it? Take a quick tour around the world, and it might seem so. In Bangkok, cinemagoers are lining up to watch Gladiator, Traffic and The Wedding Planner. In Moscow, diners are crowding the city's 58 McDonald's restaurants to eat "Bolshoi Macs" and fries. In Buenos Aires, TV-watchers are ogling their way through Baywatch and giggling their way through Friends.
To groups such as the Turning Point Project, this is all the proof that's needed that globalization equals homogenization. To them, it is as clear as Evian water that as trade barriers fall, vulgar American culture will swamp the world, local customs, traditions and identities will wither and the world will become a duller, more uniform place.
Fortunately for all of us, that seems highly unlikely. Though no one can deny the power or reach of American mass culture, there is little evidence that globalization is killing off local identities or creating a "global monoculture." In many ways, the modern, wired world is more varied and more interesting than ever. As people and products and ideas move more freely around the world, they are mingling together to create an explosion of creativity and diversity.
At the end of the Second World War, the world counted about 50 nations. Today there are 188, each fiercely determined to protect its identity. That doesn't count the scores of ethnic and cultural communities struggling to assert themselves. Far from disappearing, these communities are blooming.
Consider Europe, where groups such as the Basques, the Catalans, the Bretons and the Scots are undergoing a cultural rebirth. The fact that much of Europe is a free-trade zone hasn't stopped them. In fact, they look to the free-trading European Union to protect their distinctiveness.
You don't have to look across the ocean to see an example of cultural vibrancy in the teeth of globalization. Look at what is happening right here at home. Canada is more exposed to American mass culture than any other place on Earth, yet Canadian culture has never been stronger. Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje have won legions of readers around the world. Canadian pop stars like Nelly Furtado, Alanis Morissette and Bryan Adams are international stars.
Canada's power to promote and protect its culture remains largely unaffected by globalization. More than a decade into free trade, Ottawa still requires radio stations to devote 35 per cent of their playlists to Canadian tunes and television networks to have 60 per cent Canadian content. Though other policies have come under scrutiny from our trading partners, our cultural umbrella is intact.
But the best way to fight cultural uniformity isn't to put up barriers to American culture. People have loved American-made entertainment since the days of Charlie Chaplin, and they love it partly because it is good. The best way is to offer an alternative. Countries around the world are doing just that.
Though Hollywood blockbusters such as Gladiator draw millions of viewers in India, they don't attract nearly the crowds that flock to the Indian movies pumped out by the Bombay-based movie industry known as Bollywood.
The same is true of Indian television. When media mogul Rupert Murdoch offered shows like Baywatch to Indian viewers through his Star-TV satellite service, they stayed away in droves and the service was a flop. Indian satellite services offering locally made, Hindi-language shows, by contrast, have been wildly popular - so popular that Indian-made shows are shown in the Middle East, in East Asia and around the world.
That is becoming typical. Though the foes of globalization complain endlessly that American culture pours out of Hollywood and inundates the world, what is remarkable is that so much flows in other directions. Brazil exports its racy television dramas to 130 countries. The Russians are mad about them, as are the Chinese, who can watch them, dubbed, in three Chinese dialects. The biggest cultural phenomenon among North American children in the past couple of years was the Pokemon fad, based on a cartoon show from Japan.
All this cultural mixing can't be bad. The most vibrant cultures are hybrids that absorb foreign influences and make them into something unique. One of the reasons American culture is so strong is that it was built by people who came to the United States from other places and brought their influences with them. So it may be with the wider world. If globalization ever creates a world culture, it will be a thing not of bland uniformity but of exhilarating variety.
Tomorrow: Globalization's promise.