Jihad Vs. McWorld; Only One Will Stand
Dylan Tucker
5/08/02
I would like to examine the American corporate empire as it bumps heads with
the world of Islamic jihad, as is described in Benjamin Barber's book Jihad
Vs. McWorld. It is my understanding that these two struggling competitive
forces, while differing in many ways when it comes to goals and methods, are
also alike in many ways as well. Both operate under hierarchical power structures,
and both seem to slip around, if not directly stifle, true democracy. Both also
seek global domination of some sort, which further pits each group against the
other. Because of all of this, it is my opinion that it is eventually impossible
for both to coexist in a world only big enough for one of the two.
Let me begin by talking about the jihad, or the holy war being perpetuated by
Islamic fundamentalists. This group of people involved in Islamic jihad spans
over many countries and encompasses many smaller groups throughout the Arabic
world. For the purpose of this paper, when I am referring to the world of jihad,
I will be referring more toward those under the blanket of Al Queda, a large
organization of Islamic terrorists that is made up of many smaller fundamentalist
groups, one of which, being the Taliban. I refer more toward Al Qaeda, rather
than other Islamic jihad groups, such as the PLO and Hamas, because Al Qaeda
entertains more thoughts of globalization and world domination, as do the corporations
of McWorld, which I will be talking about.
These Al Qaeda fundamentalists are on a mission from God, or Allah, as they
see it. Their mission is to spread their way of life throughout the world, returning
Islam to its "fundamentals" in their eyes. As if their missionary
impulse isn't enough, many of them believe so strongly in this jihad, or holy
war, that they are willing to sacrifice human lives (their own as well as that
of others) in order to accomplish their purpose.
This is scary, not only because their vision of what is "good" differs
so much from the rest of the world, but because they are willing to use such
drastic and violent means to achieve this vision. These fundamentalists link
themselves to the past, a time of greater purity in their eyes, and they view
all types of modernism as evil and against Allah. It is only natural then, that
their archenemy be the ultra-modern corporate machine that is the American empire.
The American corporate empire, or McWorld, as Barber calls it, directly bumps
heads with the world of Al Qaeda and jihad. Their goals could be said to be
completely opposite to those of the Islamic fundamentalists. They value, not
a higher purpose or religious ideal, but simply cold, hard cash. The goal of
this corporate empire is to grow exponentially, and to make more and more money
while doing so. American-based businesses such as McDonalds' fast food chains
symbolize this attitude, which is why Barber chose the name "McWorld."
Indeed, McDonalds is a good example, because their corporate imperialism is
very apparent. Virtually every developed country has numerous McDonalds locations
at this point in time, peddling hamburgers, chicken nuggets, and American culture
to people all over the world.
One thing that these two rivals have in common is their lack of concern for
human life. Both are primarily concerned with their own goals, failing to take
other mind-states or points of view into account. Islamic fundamentalists see
only their holy war as important, putting nothing else above it. Loss of human
life along the way is seen as a necessary sacrifice. The American empire in
turn, sees life only in terms of their own profits, and places all value on
these profits above any and everything else. Here human life is also taken for
granted, using human beings as simply small, expendable parts or the larger
working corporate machine. It can also be said that both forces seek to avert
true democracy, and it can be a scary realization when one notices how much
each of these movements is alike in this respect.
Al Qaeda clearly has no respect for democracy. These are religious fundamentalists,
whose hierarchical religious structure almost forbids anything but dictatorship.
After all isn't Allah the ultimate dictator? He is as Jesus is to Christians,
and the whole concept of monotheistic religion revolves around dictatorship.
Rulers (such as the prophet Mohammed), kings, and of course Allah, are praised
and democratic rule ignored. Emphasis is placed on other values such as piety
and equality, instead of democracy.
These fundamentalists also reject democracy because they associate themselves
with an ancient era of authoritarian rule in the Middle East. They connect themselves
to times when there were great leaders, such as the prophet Mohammed, and all
good Muslims did their part to humbly serve under him. These are people who
have grown to operate as one larger entity, and are quite comfortable giving
up their individuality to become a part of it.
McWorld in turn, does everything in its power to stifle democracy as well. Just
as the very nature of the Islamic religion is hierarchical in structure, so
is the structure of the corporate business world. The few corporate CEO's call
the shots, while the masses of people under them operate as simply working pieces
of the larger machine, as I have previously stated. There is no respect for
democracy, only profit. Money is the only language that McWorld speaks, and
instead of letting governments operate democratically, they use this money to
slip around them.
In 2002 these huge global corporations have much more to do with deciding governmental
policy than "the people". Their political influence is so great that
it is almost immeasurable, making politics and big-business practically inseparable.
The main difference between Jihad and McWorld in this respect, is that McWorld
pushes a false image of democracy, while the other makes no attempt to even
appear democratic. The corporations of McWorld claim that they are simply offering
the world a choice (which seems very democratic), and if the people didn't want
Big Macs all over the world, then they wouldn't be in business. This sounds
very nice in theory, but what they are actually doing is moving in and conquering
foreign markets. Big Macs are not being "offered" to these foreign
markets, they are being pushed on them, and McWorld's "everyone has a choice"
story works as a public relations campaign, twisting (if not completely disguising)
the truth of the matter.
It is obvious now, that both movements at hand seek to erase, or at least avoid
and slip around democratic rule. They are shockingly similar in this respect.
Ironically, it is precisely this similarity that makes it impossible for both
movements to succeed simultaneously. The lack of democracy on both sides prevents
any type of democratic agreement ever being reached. It is highly unlikely that
the leaders of both jihad and McWorld will, at any time in the near future,
sit down and take a vote on how and in what areas each will extend its influence.
The authoritarian nature of both groups prevents this. Instead what we are left
with is leaders on both sides. The one group of leaders is pitted against the
other, and the result can only be an "either or" situation.
This is also particularly true due to the fact that each group exhibits interest
in globalization. The aspirations of globalization on the part of McWorld are
very evident, and obvious. American corporations aim their sights at globalization
from day one, seeking to conquer foreign markets by pushing them American goods
and culture. In fact, the business plans for most corporations depend on expansion
and growth in order to maximize profits. What this means is, to continue making
money, a fast food chain, for example, must continue to open new locations.
Take McDonalds specifically: in order to continue profiting, the McDonalds corporation
must open ten new restaurants every week (this is just a guess; I don't know
the actual figure, although I read it once). If you look at it logically, there
is only so long McDonalds can keep opening ten restaurants per week within the
borders of the US. There is only so much space within this country, and if McDonalds
restaurants are opened up too close to each other the competition will drive
some of the individual restaurants out of business, thus bringing profits down.
It is only logical that, after an initial period of growth here in their home
country, American-based corporations such as McDonalds, turn their sights to
foreign markets for further expansion.
One major problem that the Islamic world has with the American corporate empire
is precisely this attempt to conquer the global marketplace, and the way American
corporations tend to go about it. American culture is callously sold across
the world, with little or no attempt to respect the native culture of the area
it is being imposed on. Sure, European McDonalds restaurants serve mayonnaise
with their french fries instead of ketchup, and those in India serve more chicken
products instead of beef (due to the sacredness of the cow in the Hindu religion),
but the fact remains, McDonalds is still McDonalds. I am confident in the fact
that I could walk into any McDonalds restaurant in the world, and, give or take
a few items and name changes, pretty much know the entire menu being offered.
It is usually the policy of these corporations to fill all low-level (as well
as some mid-range) positions of employment with locals to the specific area.
Still, all high-level employees and executives, who are making the real business
decisions, are always based back in America. As a result, this leaves all of
these American-based businesses very homogenized, with a distinctly American
feel. Native culture offers no big payoff for McWorld, so McWorld chooses to
ignore it. Maybe if the corporations of McWorld showed more respect, and paid
more attention to local culture and customs, then they wouldn't be so hated
by the rest of the world, particularly the Islamic nations.
The type of globalization practiced by followers of jihad, such as Al Qaeda,
is quite different than that of McWorld. The Arabic world has no large corporations
suited for moving in on foreign markets. They have no huge, corporate, profit-making
machine, as we do in this country. What they do have is a great number of devout
Muslim fundamentalists willing to go to war, and even die for their religion.
Only, their extreme form of religion is so infused with politics, that the two
are inseparable. It is taught to them that America is "the great devil",
and a natural enemy of Islam. This is taught with the rigidity of a religious,
not political, principle, and is thus seen as such. It is also taught to them
that all who die fighting a holy war, or jihad, for Allah, automatically receive
access to paradise in the afterlife, a place analogous to Christian heaven.
Put these two pieces of information together and you have Al Qaeda: an unofficial
army of Islamic fundamentalists willing to do whatever it takes to bring down
the great devil's unholy kingdom, and spread their extreme fundamentalist values
in its place.
Because of their lack of access to other means, their chosen tactic for globalization
is terrorism. Through terrorism groups such as Al Qaeda, and the Taliban under
them, have reached all over the world. Wherever America extends its corporate
reach, so can they extend their reach of terror. They have touched many nations
with their attacks on public monuments by terrorist attackers and suicide bombers.
Take, for example, the bombing of a US embassy in Africa a few years back, or,
the most obvious example, the events of September 11th, where this country was
hit with the worst terrorist attacks in its history. With these events the world
of jihad showed evidence of their goals of globalization, proving that they
had dedicated members within the borders of our own country, who were committed
to Islamic jihad enough to take action. Another example could be John Walker,
an American who, even in his upbringing in liberal California, was reached by
the message of Islamic jihad and persuaded to join the cause. It is clear that
Islamic fundamentalist groups, such as Al Queda, share McWorld's aspirations
of globalization.
One might say that the common interests of both Jihad and McWorld are much more dangerous than their opposing interests. This is because among the common interests of these two groups are crippling democracy and dominating the world. In these respects both sides seek to do the same thing, but the very nature of these things that they mutually seek to do, excludes both parties from being able to do so at the same time. The result of this deadly game can only be seen as a "win-lose" situation, where one group emerges triumphant and the other is defeated.
This brings me to my main point. With both of these drastically
opposing groups sharing anti-democratic goals, as well as ambition of world
domination, only one can remain standing when the conflict is over. The nature
of their goals makes it impossible for them to both do so. The only other plausible
scenario would be the intervention of a third party of some sort to put an end
to both Jihad and McWorld, but this doesn't appear to be very likely. What does
look likely is an enduring conflict and power struggle over control of the world
for the new millennium, eventually ending with either Islamic fundamentalists
or the American corporate empire in control. Not that I admire either side in
the conflict, but I personally hope that McWorld wins, only because I like my
women independent and veil-free.