One of the most controversial issues today relates to increasing similarity between countries. Some individuals advocate for bringing convenience to the citizens, others believe that it restricts the uniqueness of countries and triggers cultural invasion. In this essay, I am going to examine both points of view and give my opinion on whether it is a positive or negative development.
Increasing similarity between countries can improve the accessibility of various goods and products, and hence bring convenience to the citizens. Due to rapid development of airway or marine transport, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of transporting goods from one country to another country is greatly enhanced, even if the product is as huge as a fridge or a TV. As a result, the rapid promotion of transportation means can facilitate goods trading worldwide, and improve the accessibility of goods. Since people could purchase a great variety of products from other countries, including Iphones, furniture, or necessities, it brings convenience to the citizens as they do not need to travel to get the stuff they need.
However, being able to buy the same products anywhere in the world indicates the reduction of uniqueness. Since you could find the same products anywhere in the world, which means that it is not necessary to travel to another country for a specific product or food that originates there. For instance, egg tart, the most traditional and iconic food in Hong Kong. It could reduce the willingness for travellers to visit Hong Kong as they are able to find egg tarts in other countries. As a result, due to increasing similarity, less exchanges or explorations would occur, thereby reducing the uniqueness of each country.
In addition, homogeneous culture can trigger cultural invasion. It is not uncommon to see franchised restaurants like Mcdonald’s and KFC located in most of the countries. These foreignized foods or products imported from other countries could gradually replace the domestic or local food. As more and more franchised goods are imported to every country, homogeneous culture exists. This could adversely affect the economic growth of local economies, including small-sized companies or domestic restaurants. Therefore, homogeneous culture could trigger cultural invasion, leading to shrinking opportunities for local economies.
In summary, although there are reasonable arguments for positive development of increasing similarity between countries. However, I firmly believe that homogeneous culture will reduce the uniqueness of a country and affect the local economies.