After the invention to cheaply print words on paper more than half a millennium ago, written ideas transformed the world. For the first few centuries, such exchange of ideas benefited the European world, where the printing began. Literacy became widespread.

The conquest of much of the non-European world by Europeans carried their languages to other regions. With the growth of the British empire in the nineteenth century and of American influence in the twentieth, English became a global language. Educated speakers of other languages often learned it as a second language.

Books and magazines circulated around the world, but the shipping of printed material increased the costs of purchase. The digital age overcame that cost. The inexpensive exchange of ideas opened up more interaction between Americans and the rest of the world, regardless of social class.

More Americans are reading international authors. Some works are translated. In other cases, the non-Americans write in English. Americans now read books and articles by Afghans, Australians, Indians, Iranians, Nigerians, Swedes, and scores more.

Americans may not realize how widely their ideas, their successes, and their failures are broadcast to the rest of the world. The political rhetoric of our politicians is instantly known all over the world. Any arrogance is scorned, any threat resented, and any hatred returned.