The Culture Blockade

By James Ledbetter

This article appeared in the November 4, 2002 edition of The Nation.

October 17, 2002

The Bush Administration seems to be gunning to make history as the first great unilateralist government of the twenty-first century. But if the notion of going it alone appeals to the American public, it's partly because America routinely practices a less-noticed cultural unilateralism: If a work of art wasn't made in America, chances are Americans will never know about it.

Consider:

§ Approximately 92 percent of the US music market in the year 2000 consisted of music from domestic acts. That makes America the most insular music market in the world except for Pakistan. The inward listening trend survives even though most of the big labels--Sony, Universal and BMG--are now controlled by non-US companies.

Subscriber Login

4 ISSUES FREE

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

.

About James Ledbetter

James Ledbetter, deputy managing editor of CNN Money, is editor of Dispatches for the New York Tribune: Selected Journalism of Karl Marx (Penguin Classics). more...
Most Read

Issues »

Most Emailed

Issues »

Popular Topics

Blogs

» And Another Thing

Can you help "Nickie"? | Bringing the abortion debate down to earth
Katha Pollitt
Posted at 4:54 PM ET

» State of Change

Georgia Runoff is About More Than Filibusters | A Democratic win in this tough race would signal an important shift in southern politics.
John Nichols

» The Notion

DC to Delhi: Only Our Missiles -- Not Yours | What is Rice going to say to India: only DC not Delhi is allowed to bomb Pakistan?
Laura Flanders

» Act Now!

World AIDS Day | How to help in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
Peter Rothberg

» The Beat

Why Obama's Got "Complete Confidence" In Clinton | She won't bring the change his backers believed in. But Obama never really shared that belief.
John Nichols

» Editor's Cut

Robert Gates: Wrong Man for the Job | What we need after eight ruinous years is experience informed by good judgment.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

» The Dreyfuss Report

Obama's New Team at State, Defense, NSC | And some comments about why John Brennan didn't get the CIA job.
Robert Dreyfuss

» Passing Through

Forget GM's Plan -- Where's The Government's Plan? | Create a demand for green cars.
Jane Hamsher

» Capitolism

Is Personnel Policy? | How much do personnel choices reflect the Obama administration's policy direction
Christopher Hayes