The United States of Borg

By Kevyn Jacobs

We Are the United States of Borg.

You will be assimilated.

Resistance is futile.

We will assimilate your cultural and national distinctiveness into our own.

You will be made to serve the process of globalization.

You will adopt our values as your own.

You will go to work for the global mega-corporations which further the westernization of the world.

You will spend your income on our products.

You will drink Coca-Cola.

You will eat at McDonalds.

You will smoke Marlboro cigarettes.

You will drive Chevrolets.

You will wear western clothing.

You will listen to music by western artists.

You will watch video entertainment produced in Hollywood.

You will worship Mickey Mouse.

You will use Microsoft software.

Most importantly, you will speak English.

Resistance is futile.

We will co-opt your culture, so that we may draw off parts of you and make them into our own image.

We will adopt your language into the English language.

We will adopt foods from your culture and adapt them into our own diets.

Your culture will be assimilated.

Your culture will be westernized.

Those parts of your culture which cannot be westernized will be discarded.

You will re-make your economies into market economies.

You will remake your governments into democratic republics.

Your people will be allowed to retain their own individualities, but only insofar as it furthers the spread of the consumerist values collective.

You will be more concerned with individual freedoms than communal values, so as to further the cause of individual consumerism.

You will be detached from the natural world.

You will remodel your cities into American-style cities.

You will live in the suburbs.

The process is global.

The process is unstoppable.

You will be assimilated.

You will follow the example of previously assimilated nations.

The Borg nations of Europe.

Borgjapan.

BorgCanada.

You will join them.

We are the United States of Borg.

You will be assimilated.

Resistance is futile.

COMMENT FROM THE AUTHOR, KEVYN JACOBS: "I wrote this in response to what I saw as I traveled around the world as a Semester at Sea student. In country after country, I saw the globalization process taking place. The Americanization of the world. Traditional cultures are dying out as the world is homogenized into one common culture, a McDonald's culture, It reminded me of the way the Borg operate in Star Trek, and so I wrote this comparison. As is probably obvious, I have very mixed feelings about the process of globalization."

Assignment: Do you agree with the author's point of view? Are people and communities around the world becoming more and more alike, following "American" values and culture?

Discuss in a paragraph. You will be evaluated according to the following rubric.

The student…
5 /
  • explores the issue thoroughly.
  • shows a perceptive understanding of the issue with convincingly examples
  • writes persuasively

4 /
  • explores the issue clearly and competently
  • shows a sound understanding of the issue with accurate examples
  • writes clearly

3 /
  • explores the issue in a straightforward manner
  • discusses the issue generally with examples that are not always convincing
  • writes adequately

2 /
  • explores the issue incompletely or without depth.
  • shows a superficial understanding of the issue with unsupported assumptions and inappropriate or missing examples
  • uses writing that is unclear

1 /
  • explores the issue minimally.
  • shows a disjointed, inaccurate, or vague understanding of the issue with irrelevant or no examples
  • uses writing that is confused and hard to understand.