ABSTRACT
Multiculturalism notwithstanding, we are much more alike than different. How popular culture develops, functions, and changes is a part of that mystery. All the old tensions remain, and all the cultural traits and preferences remain in place. The Russians have left Egypt, the Americans Vietnam, and everyone wants to leave Bosnia. The Russians build a series of dams in Egypt, the Japanese a hydroelectric system in Sri Lanka. The Italians build Fiats for the Soviet Union, the Americans Fords for Brazil. The tendency to defend one’s local turf is a real universal principle at a time when political credos appear, flourish, then fall into oblivion. Nine-tenths of us as adults measure from four feet ten inches to six feet and weigh from 90 to 220 pounds.
