Position in World vs. Perception of Cultures

As Americans, I think our position in the world causes us to be terribly ill-informed of situations in other nations and how the United States is perceived by these other nations. For our views on other cultures, we rely on news outlets and sources that can be biased and not give us adequate coverage of how situations really are. As a first-world country, we seem to feel compelled to get involved in every foreign affair possible as a mediator and problem-solver, and because of this I think Americans look down on other cultures and view our own as superior. We believe that all cultures should be like ours, and because of this we end up making some situations worse than they already are. Overall, our position in the world gives us an unwarranted a sense of superiority over other nations and cultures which comes as a result of lack of accurate knowledge. The example we read about the "McDonaldization" of the world through United States corporate ideals gives this idea backing in that the company believes that it needs to spread the mentioned “fast food culture” throughout the world. The idea is summed up in the picture of the security guard in Beijing, China under the “I’m Lovin’ It” umbrella in the book. The guard had the American fast food culture forced upon him, and he is quite obviously not “Lovin’” his job.