Response to A Fez of the Heart

The passage that I found most interesting is the one where the author described the contrasting attitudes between the old associate and the younger sales person to the Fez. Evidently, the young man was embarrassed by the fact that they were selling something as uncool as Fez; however, the associate from the older generation was apparently more attached to the old-fashioned hat. This strikes significantly as the confusion some young people in China are going through, where they are overly proud to claim themselves westernized and at times despise our own magnificent Chinese culture. This is a loss of self-identity in cultural invasion.

As the world becomes increasingly integrated, opportunities are more abundant for economic growth of countries. However, globalization also brings culture spreading, which can be both virtuous and vicious. As is illustrated by the development of tourism in the article, Pomegranate has gone through successful economic development as their tourism industry thrives. However, they also lose their own cultural identity and tradition in the process, as foreigners bring in social norms and values that are highly distinct from their own. To some extent, there exists a trade-off between economics and culture.

For the United Kingdom, London is one of the leading destinations for tourists. As the capital of the country, London has a significant number of historical buildings that are highly worth visiting. It also has a vitally developed cultural industry, specifically the WestEnd theaters, that attracts tourists from around the world.