“The hamburger is a particular source of hatred of America. It is the single most concentrated, or should that be congealed, symbol of the entire complex that is America. Like the hamburger, the ideal of America has a number of separate ingredients: There is the government, the most powerful government on earth, or the sole hyperpower as we have termed it; there is the history of policy operated by successive American administrations and the consequences of these policies for countries and people beyond America; there is the enormous power of US corporations that can influence the policy of American government to favour their vested interest while remaining beyond the reach of any government control or make them accountable; then there are the concepts, philosophy and ethos characteristic of the American world-view- such things as individualism and belief in personal freedom- that are like the relishes that flavour the hamburger; and there are Americans themselves, with their particular belend of self-belief, seemingly lack of interest in the rest of the world, and certainty that their way of life is the biggest, boldest and best for everyone. Like the hamburger, this multi-dimensional America is reduced and experienced as a standardized, mass-produced, packaged brand. Each aspect of America may have its own distinctive character, and many, taken in isolation, have more good attributes than questionable or negative connotations. But, like the burger, the essence of America is that the individual aspects of its influence seldom occur in isolation. A true hamburger is a superabundant, multi-layered compound entity. It is the degree to which America proclaims and glories in powerful metaphor for the nation, and such a potent symbol and focus for criticism of America in the rest of the world. The hamburger is more that its ingredients- it is, indeed, a way of life.”- Ziaudin Sardar & Merryl Wyn Davies
