In 1938, however, Lenin's policies were reversed, Russian was adopted as the official language of the USSR, and national languages came under severe pressure. To mention but two examples, before World War II, Tartar and Kalmyk enjoyed the status of autonomous-republic languages. Professor Pennycook is not alone in giving prominence to Marxist analyses of society, many in academia take the view that Marx is just misunderstood. They missed the fact that people will work longer, harder, and better for themselves than for some abstract collective or common good. They did not grasp that workers, through their associations and behavior, are a dynamic market force moderating capitalism.
Many Westerners find it comforting to believe their culture is becoming the world's culture.
This ethnocentric mirage has two facets. One has been called the Coca-colonization thesis, the other has to do with modernization. Because certain elements of Western pop culture and consumer products are so widely accepted, it is tempting for some to conclude that the world is becoming Westernized. The ubiquitousness of Western music, fashions, fast food, technology, and CNN News seems evidence of fundamental sameness. The fact is that, beneath superficial similarities, profound differences in religion, language, customs, and traditions exist among the cultures of the world.