urn:wd:wdlabs.com:atom1:twilight Your Home For Snappy Repartee 應龍 urn:wd:wdlabs.com:atom1:twilight:20051207.0931 2005-12-07T14:31:00 2005-12-07T14:31:00 2005-12-07T14:31:00 <BLOCKQUOTE> <B>Boss</B>: I need you to do Ted's job and your own job until we hire someone.<BR/> <B>Dilbert</B>: If I do well, you'll make me do two jobs forever. If I do poorly, I'll get no raise.<BR/> <B>Boss</B>: I can't promise anything, but there might be some verbal praise down the road.</BLOCKQUOTE> This is why I gotta get out of here! Goodbye <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_America">Corporate America</A>! <BR/><BR/> Someone mentioned Corporate America in their journal recently, and it got me to wondering about Corporate Australia. The term doesn't really exist, because I don't think corporations own Australia to the same degree that they own America. <BR/><BR/> Recently, I was reading about <A HREF="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_9">Star Trek: Deep Space 9</A>. I kept reading that the creators of the show felt that the <A HREF="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ferengi">Ferengi</A> were the most "human" characters in the show. I've been thinking about this though, and I realized that the key word in the Ferengi's vocabulary is "opportunity." If I were to characterize the monetary and social philosophy of the US and Europe, by distilling the ideas as much as possible, I would use the word "opportunity" for the US and "lifestyle" for Europe. (I think Australia lives somewhere between those two extremes). I think that in reality, the Ferengi are the most <I>American</I> characters in the show, and I think the way American TV producers and writers equate human values with American values is a troubling sign of <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cultural_imperialism">cultural imperialism</A>.