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Global migrations across and within national boundaries constantly unsettle the glue that attaches persons to ideologies of soil and territory (1). |
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The 20th century ended in 1989, once the Wall came down. Afterward, from one continent to another, a strange blend of grotesquely primitive formations emerged, from Bosnian nightmares to warlord capitalism. Finally, they have come home to roost, even here in the United States – and back to the Middle East. At the same time, a genteel extreme emerged as well: the largest McDonald’s in the world in Moscow; suites for Korean high rollers in Las Vegas. The contrasts are staggering, and yet somehow ergonomic, for a world dominated increasingly by a new kind of corporate monopoly. Huge, newly enlarged (or even engorged) corporations are held together essentially by advertising campaigns and digital media – very much by an “easy-listening” model of power. (2) |
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At first the broadcasts were in B&W, but by the mid-70s the broadcasting schedule had so many imported color programs so people got interested in buying color TV sets. The Government, that owned the only Channel, used the Erase-On device to make all programs Black and White again. It made things socio-economically more equal. However, someone invented the Anti Erase-On, which put the color back on the screen, although it did not distribute the colors evenly. |
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1 Arjun Appadurai: Fear of Small Numbers, Duke University Press, 2006 |
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