Jim on Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution

In her essay, “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution, Images of Technology and the Nature of Change”, Cynthia L. Selfe discusses the way that Americans use their rather unique point of view to use technology to once again claim world dominance over a world that they just do not understand, nor really care to.
Being a professor of English and related studies at Ohio State University as well as an author Selfe seems to have a very good grasp of how Americans think and act on the world around them. Being a teacher of English, she has come to realize the importance that educators can have on changing cultural views in this country.
In her essay Selfe tells of how Americans use their point of view and their technological dominance over the world to both force and of course sell the American idea to the rest of the world. Americans do this; yet seem to have a limited idea of who they are themselves.
Selfe writes about how the American people are using advertising to show the rest of the world and to show Americans themselves their technological advantage overall, and how the American way is really the best way. She uses three narratives to explain this, the first being the, “Global Village”, in which she points out that Americans fancy themselves as being the saviors of the world. Americans can do this because with knowing very little about the culture they are trying to make better, Americans can help fix problems with other cultures, by simply making them like Americans.
Americans have traditionally gone at other culture with the view that they are the best and no other way will do. Americans will pat themselves on the back, telling themselves that they have helped this or that culture with the American dream and not even see the damage they have done. When the very culture that the Americans have so-called helped, falls into deeper ruin than when Americans came to help, we look at how they did not appreciate American help. Americans never seem to look at how their ignorance of a culture may have contributed to the cultures down fall.
Selfe then brings in two more narratives, “Land of Equal Opportunity, Land of Difference”, and “The Un-Gendered Utopia, The Same Old Gendered Stuff”. In these narratives she tells of how the advertisers of technology use the antiquated American dream to sell their products and keep the people that have the dream believing in it. We use the good old days of the 1950’s, the glamour of days gone by, to keep us thinking that Americans have it all. In this way of thinking, Americans tell themselves the same lies as always; All are created equal and if you try, no one can fail in America. So do Americans really have the technological advantage? Like a student that has the latest laptop but plays games on it while in class, I think not.