The Multinational Society

            In Ishmael Reeds essay, the Multinational Society, he discusses pan-culturalism as it was thirty years ago. His thesis was not clear, but I noticed the most important statement at the end of the essay. It was a few sentences long, describing what North America should be, but the main point is “the world is here.” He talks about how cultures around the world all come together, and they are all involved with each other. In one section of his essay, he writes that “a day will come when it will be difficult to travel through some sections of the country without hearing commands in both English and Spanish.” This is true today. In most places you can go, you see, or hear, both English and Spanish. Even automated telephone calls give the option to pick a language. The pan-culturalism in our society is something that is becoming less noticed and more normal. Reed states that “blurring of cultural styles occurs in everyday life in the United States to a greater extent than anyone can imagine.” The mixing of cultures is happening everywhere and growing each day, and people might not even realize it. Since this essay was written in a point of view from thirty years ago, other cultures are more involved and prevalent in the United States now than they used to be. One example of this is Chinatown, as there are Chinatowns in many North American locations. There are also restaurants of all types of cultures in the United States, including Indian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, German, Greek, and many more. The United States is a place for every culture around the world, hence the statement “the world is here.”