Sugarball Essay

"Sugarball" Essay The United States has always had a major influence in the developing countries of the world. The US has economic as well as symbolic importance to many of the third world countries. Even though this country positively affects other people in different places in the world, there are some aspects of our culture which can be considered to have a negative influence. The book "Sugarball," by Alan M. Klein discusses these topics in a descriptive manner. Klein describes the concepts of hegemony and resistance which basically refer to acceptance of American influence as opposed to others resisting our ways of life. The article titled "There's No Such Thing as Eco-Tourism," by Anneli Rufus discusses basically the same idea of the varying influences America has on the culture and society of developing countries. In general, American culture and society have affected developing countries economically, symbolically, positively, and negatively. In certain situations, the United States has both positive and negative economic importance to the developing countries of the world. In "Sugarball", Klein discusses how this country affects the Dominican Republic economically in terms of baseball. "To any of the tens of thousands of gifted players in the Dominican Republic, baseball is an opportunity to escape a life of poverty" (Klein 1). The US influence in the DR is positive for certain individuals because American baseball gives them a chance to become economically successful. However, these figures are misleading because only a small percentage of Dominican ballplayers actually make it to be highly successful. The Dominican ballplayers do "become highly skilled and incredibly well paid... (and) Dominican ballplayers frequently retire as very rich men" (Klein 56). Again, this only applies to a small percentage of the Dominican population; the DR still has the "lowest income per capita in the hemisphere" (9). But, "at times, salaries of all Dominican players in the major leagues are added up, and the total is treated as if it were a major cultural achievement" (127). So in reality, the US hasn't improved the DR's economy to a high degree; basically, the elite ballplayers are the only Dominicans who receive substantial economic success as a result of US "domination." A hundred year involvement in the Dominican economy, by the US, has done limited good. "In the Dominican Republic, as in other third world countries, American companies are largely responsible for the continued underdevelopment" (108). Therefore, the US has a negative influence on the economies of many third world countries because we are there for our country to gain materialistic success as opposed to the countries we are "colonizing." In the essay "There's No Such Thing as Eco-Tourism" Anneli Rufus discusses similar issues about the economic importance of the US to the developing countries of the world. He discusses how "colonialism isn't dead" and how little the United States does to actually and deliberately improve the economies of third world countries. Rufus uses Lawrence Osborne's words to make the point that " '...global tourism...is the world's fastest-growing industry and one that pretty much defines and confines the economies of entire nations'" (Rufus 3). Even though the tourists visiting third world countries are Americans, that does not prove the US is doing anything moral to improve their economies. Basically, we are receiving joy from traveling to countries of the world in which its people live lives that are much harder than the lives we live here in America. When we travel to these countries we see people suffering from poverty and hardships which are much less prevalent here in the US. "Easy to think it's not corrupting or condescending or anachronistic but cool to collect snapshots of the other, trading smiles with strangers to brag about at dinner parties later: souvenirs" (1). Just because Americans are traveling to other countries and buying materials there, that doesn't mean we are providing direct economic aid to them; it's as if we are making fools out of the people of the third world countries by demonstrating how better off we are here in this country.

America is much more important symbolically than it is economically for third world countries. As previously discussed by Klein, America is often "responsible for the continued underdevelopment" of these third world countries (108). However, the United States plays a huge symbolic role in the lives of people all over the world. "The baseball institutions and practices of the United States indeed have a powerful influence in the Dominican Republic and other developing countries, as do its other sports and its films, fashions, and television"