Sugarball Essay

"Sugarball" Essay The United States has always had a major influence in the developing countries of the world. The US has economic as well as symbolic importance to many of the third world countries. Even though this country positively affects other people in different places in the world, there are some aspects of our culture which can be considered to have a negative influence. The book "Sugarball," by Alan M. Klein discusses these topics in a descriptive manner. Klein describes the concepts of hegemony and resistance which basically refer to acceptance of American influence as opposed to others resisting our ways of life. The article titled "There"s No Such Thing as Eco-Tourism," by Anneli Rufus discusses basically the same idea of the varying influences America has on the culture and society of developing countries. In general, American culture and society have affected developing countries economically, symbolically, positively, and negatively. In certain situations, the United States has both positive and negative economic importance to the developing countries of the world. In "Sugarball", Klein discusses how this country affects the Dominican Republic economically in terms of baseball. "To any of the tens of thousands of gifted players in the Dominican Republic, baseball is an opportunity to escape a life of poverty" (Klein 1). The US influence in the DR is positive for certain individuals because American baseball gives them a chance to become economically successful. However, these figures are misleading because only a small percentage of Dominican ballplayers actually make it to be highly successful. The Dominican ballplayers do "become highly skilled and incredibly well paid... (and) Dominican ballplayers frequently retire as very rich men" (Klein 56). Again, this only applies to a small percentage of the Dominican population; the DR still has the "lowest income per capita in the hemisphere" (9). But, "at times, salaries of all Dominican players in the...