While this is my first post, I’m hardly a new blogger and this is definitely not a new idea. This is the culmination of many discussions around the topics of globalization, culture, migrations and the impact that new technologies are having on them. So to all of you that beta-tested the concept, assume this space as yours and keep the energy flowing.
A very powerful catalyzer to finally kick-off this blog was the Mesh Conference in Toronto. It gave me the confidence that the times are good for new entrepreneurs and confirmed that this city is the most appropriate environment to seed this idea. There is a very active community of Web 2.0 enthusiasts that will certainly power the many faces of this project.
To define this project, I guess the easiest thing to do would be to quote the original email sent to my parents, but since we correspond in Spanish instead I provide a loose translation of the same:
“Over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about the processes of cultural coupling that we’re subject to as we find our way in a new community. Certainly, large global companies have accelerated many aspects of such integration by triggering massive migration all over the world. It would seem as if large corporations, in their quest to spread around the world, are functioning as the engine for a more powerful effect than their mundane mission: they are forcing the convergence of centuries of customs and cultural manifestations within the economic hubs they require, creating a new global culture. All the participants will have no remedy but to confront each other and transform themselves in the process.”
Global Culture should not be about MacDonalds and Starbucks in every little town around the world. It should be the opposite: being able to experience your own cultural heritage in the context of a foreign community. So if you come from Venezuela, where good coffee is a century-old tradition, you should be able to find the equivalent to your traditional coffee house wherever you go. If done well, becoming a global citizen should not require you to loose your cultural baggage.
Let the cultural mix begin.
[...] is how I started this blog over two years ago. Since then the idea of a global culture has continued to evolve and I [...]
[...] Today, a year ago, I started this blog. One hundred and fifty posts later I’m facing yet another “writer’s block”. As an exercise to get myself to start writing quickly (it is almost midnight), I try to remember the important events of the last year: certainly the highlight would have to be the arrival of my son. I have to admit that I almost dropped this blog a few weeks into it because I figured I wouldn’t have enough time, being a new parent; but felt a weird remorse thinking that I would set a poor example to my kid. It doesn’t matter that he is not among my readers, the fact is I kept going because of him. Before I knew, the research that went into writing this blog started to increase my awareness of the world around me, allowing me to craft new ideas of what the perfect future should look like. Now I realize that I was just trying to be a little bit more responsible for the sake of my family. [...]
[...] When I started posting for Global Culture I did it with a feeling that the task at hand was important, but without a predefined plan. I gave myself these first few months to debate the relevance of the concepts with those interested, to test some dark places and avoid some very common ones. The only thing I knew was that the learning process would be intense and would help me figure out what should come next. [...]
[...] Since I don’t drink coffee, it is hard for me to judge them on the quality of their product. And as hinted by my very first post I must have some sort of obsession with coffee: Global Culture should not be about MacDonalds and Starbucks in every little town around the world. It should be the opposite: being able to experience your own cultural heritage in the context of a foreign community. So if you come from Venezuela, where good coffee is a century-old tradition, you should be able to find the equivalent to your traditional coffee house wherever you go. If done well, becoming a global citizen should not require you to loose your cultural baggage. [...]
[...] First post: May 21st, 2006: the beginning. [...]