Let me tell you about my past: I live in Suburbia. My mum drove me everywhere, there are winding highways in traffic, and I have had the unfortunate of even getting into traffic at 7pm (!!!). I watch a lot of youtube, like sidetalk, and watch a lot of American TV, like CNN and HGTV and Food Network and FOX (not news). If you told someone this without telling them anything else, they would probably think I'm American, but I am not. I'm African.
Tiktoks about some very American issues should not be relatable to me, but they are, and most of them originate from the States. I would think, as I have asked around, that other people feel the same thing. It seems as if the world, at this point, works on the same wavelength. We watch the same stuff like the UCL or Love Island USA, or listen to the same American podcasts, or watch the same content from the US. I think this is because, and could only be possible because of the internet, there has been created a unique thing where all english-speaking people on the internet has created, essentially, their own culture, that revolves around the United States.
thoughts onThe United Nations of America
In the essay, I have called it the Anglopolis, because saying "english-speaking complimentary transnational online monoculture" multiple times over sounds like hell, and I will continue it here. The Anglopolis, essentially, developed from the fact that the United States controlled much of English-speaking media before internet got adopted across the world. As the internet grew, more Americans were there, and the familiar media from the US before the internet made it easier for people to allow the content from the United States to effectively dominate the internet, even if it may be worse than non-American media on the internet.
Essentially, the United States became a blank box compared to the rest of the world. Because the USA was so massive on the internet, to not interact with American media and institutions was to not use the internet. There is a lesser chance of a boycott of HBO because of US foreign policy compared to them boycotting the BBC for British foreign policy; although at this point, it seems like HBO is more tied to the American government than the BBC is. This makes the United States the base case for world media, which makes the USA so dominant. American companies use this soft power all the time, but the government cannot. If the federal government were to use this soft power, it would make the USA a discrete, bounded thing, and the Anglopolis' dominance works when the USA is not a discrete, bounded thing at all.
Well, if there is this culture that all English-speaking people on the internet are born into, which has much greater resources, one would ask why it has not been eroding local culture. Unlike Empire, the goal of the perpetuation of this culture is not to sustain this state bureaucracy, but for any company worldwide to have one big market to help it sell more stuff. As companies continuously want to make more money, they need a even greater market to sell. The internet, with its instant communication and purchasing, creates the perfect space for companies around the world to have the widest market possible to sell stuff. If it were to try and erode local culture, it would stop many of the emotional impulses that the Anglopolis conditions people for, like the universal reaction to family, romance and country. Ad agencies trying to internationalise their product don't create entirely new ads; they usually just dub them. The language may be different, but the effect is the same.
If this culture did not exist, then the internet would essentially be useless. The main question that should be asked is if we can help ourselves live with the existence of this culture. It seems like at one point, people use the media this culture produces and just lose themselves in it. It is important to recognise that in order to truly be in the Anglopolis, one must be able to be different and show their local culture. And that requires being off the internet, being yourself, getting into fandom, reading new things. The Anglopolis cannot do that for you, but being human can.
Hey! This is the first article that comes with a whole essay with it. After doing the Insanity article, I realised that I have so much to say but little a place for me to say it. So if you like the article or not or want more essays or not, give me feedback on my atabook! <3