A demigod?

Language does not merely report the world...[it] creates worlds...Language creates, distorts, carries, discloses, hides, allows, oppresses, enriches, enthralls. For good or ill, language itself is something of a demigod. (Ken Wilber, The Marriage of Sense and Soul)

Barbie's Butt

You can study globalization and read Barbie’s butt at the same time. That is what Jennifer Tang reported today in a column appearing in the South Bend Tribune. The first Barbies had “Made in Japan” on their bottoms. Then it became “Made in Hong Kong,” then “Made in the Philippines” or Malaysia or Thailand. Now you know, it’s “Made in China.” Barbie kept moving. Tang cleverly says, “To see a developing nation disappear from Barbie’s rump is a reliable indicator that it is no longer “behind.” “Who knows,” she asks, “which country will appear next on Barbie’s butt? Would it be irony to find it saying “Made in USA”?