2008 Woodie Awards
Brewery buyout a global wake-up call
Editorial Board
Issue date: 7/17/08 Section: Editorials
But there's still something wrong: The security is gone. The community is weakened. The soul of St. Louis, if just for a moment, seems to be diminished.
The traditions that A-B has established will remain, so long as they can be used to sell a product. But now, the focus will be driven by objective profit motives, not subjective community spirit.
In the United States, we are accustomed to believing in our ownership of the world around us. Remnants of patriotic, war-time propaganda-"America is the best country," "Nobody can stop the United States," "We have the right to take over what we can"-have been shaken by challenges of a globalized society, but the mindset behind them is still strident.
But this strikes closer to home for St. Louisans. This is a wake-up call.
The sale of our formerly impenetrable A-B to a foreign conglomerate strikes fear into our collective heart, but it also reminds us that there's a world out there filled with businessmen, doctors, teachers, factory-workers and students just as competent as we are, competing for the same chunks of the same economic pie.
We must be aware of what's going on, not just in St. Louis, but in the world. Our American birthright may not be the old boys' club it has always been for us, as SLU graduates in a flatter world. Whether we want it or not, we're part of a worldwide community, and we're tasting the fruits of our own globalization.
We're part of a brave new world and must become part of it to survive.
The traditions that A-B has established will remain, so long as they can be used to sell a product. But now, the focus will be driven by objective profit motives, not subjective community spirit.
In the United States, we are accustomed to believing in our ownership of the world around us. Remnants of patriotic, war-time propaganda-"America is the best country," "Nobody can stop the United States," "We have the right to take over what we can"-have been shaken by challenges of a globalized society, but the mindset behind them is still strident.
But this strikes closer to home for St. Louisans. This is a wake-up call.
The sale of our formerly impenetrable A-B to a foreign conglomerate strikes fear into our collective heart, but it also reminds us that there's a world out there filled with businessmen, doctors, teachers, factory-workers and students just as competent as we are, competing for the same chunks of the same economic pie.
We must be aware of what's going on, not just in St. Louis, but in the world. Our American birthright may not be the old boys' club it has always been for us, as SLU graduates in a flatter world. Whether we want it or not, we're part of a worldwide community, and we're tasting the fruits of our own globalization.
We're part of a brave new world and must become part of it to survive.
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