Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Going Beyond Propaganda
I finally saw that piece of propaganda called Fahrenheit 9/11 and I must say that I was very moved by it. Unlike many people, I did hear of most of the stories mentioned in the film such as the Florida recount fiasco and the Afghan/Unocal pipeline. I would say that much of what was said is exaggerated but not all.
Of course, I have also heard the stories of how Michael Moore is a phony and that he had many untruths in his film, but that does not deter the shear emotional impact that he shows. I’ve seen his previous works like Roger and Me about how General Motors virtually killed off his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and Bowling for Columbine, where he tells about America’s gun culture.
I would say that I’m a minor fan of his even though his style isn’t much to my liking. Michael Moore is an expert at ambushing his subjects such as the chairman of GM (the “Roger” in Roger and Me) and a doddering Charlton Heston, the president of the National Rifle Association at that time. In both cases, he actually made me feel a bit sympathetic towards them, but then again, weren’t these “victims” just as pompous as Moore is accused of being? And, in a way, don’t they deserve being tweaked just a bit?
All in all, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a very moving and emotional film, especially when Moore shows the reactions of a mother whose son was just killed in Iraq. One other scene, with a touch of humor, showed a number of congressmen running away from Moore when he attempts to recruit their children for the war. Still more interesting was the scene when he was filming the Saudi embassy and a couple of Secret Service agents came up questioning his presence there. When I saw that, I had to ask, “Is this America?”
Michael Moore has said some silly things since the release of his film, and he has deservedly been criticized for it. However, there was one controversial statement that I must agree with, although in a slightly modified form. Moore had recently said to a London audience that Americans are stupid because they don’t follow foreign issues. I would agree with this except, instead of “stupid”, I would use “ignorant” – and, unfortunately, the statistics agree.
Year after year, we always hear of how American high school students don’t even have a general knowledge of history, geography and other related subjects. An example of “general knowledge” would be knowing in what century the U.S. Civil War was fought. (The mid-Nineteenth Century, in case you were wondering.)
Even many adults don’t have a working knowledge of these subjects. Shortly after the first war against Iraq, I gave a geography quiz where most people couldn’t answer more than half the questions. Some didn’t even know where the Persian Gulf was even though we had just fought a war there!
With this dearth of knowledge in what many seem to believe to be trivial subjects, is it any surprise that most people would believe rumors about a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein – even though both sides hated each other’s guts? (One was secular while the other was militantly Islamic.) Before 9/11, this country could ignore such ignorance. However, now, we no longer have that luxury. It’s because of this ignorance and because of the nature of American culture that the United States cannot even attempt to become an empire – something that Prof. Niall Ferguson, “Mr. Empire-builder”, has now come to accept.
American culture is built around business. I’m not saying this as a criticism. It’s just a fact. When Americans are usually involved in foreign affairs, it’s most often in the business realm through multinationals. Now, with globalization and out-sourcing, this has become even more truer than ever.
Even those who would seem to be headed for a career in the Foreign Service or some other international government work end up working for a multinational. I had a classmate in college who spoke 10 languages fluently. She was learning an 11th (Mandarin Chinese) when I met her. Her part-time job was working as a translator for the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. The last I heard, she was a vice president in international banking at Citibank.
In the United States, this story is typical. Americans are a business-oriented people. The only empire they might have in mind is a corporate empire. As I said, this isn’t a criticism. It’s just who we are. Government service is seen as either demeaning or a notch on a resume. Unless something drastically happens, this won’t change any time soon. Even 9/11 couldn’t completely change this.
The recent 9/11 Commission Report stated that the United States has a long-term ideological battle on its hands against a militant form of Islam. The report says that to fight this enemy, the nation must not just use military weapons alone but all of its resources from education to intelligence.
In order to do this, the government needs the minds of just those people who are working for multinationals. So far, these people haven’t heeded that call. They don’t seem to have the sense of urgency that was prevalent in the fight against Communism. Yet, heed they must.
Before the war against Iraq started last year, I was in India and met a young Indian Muslim. I had met him in a previous visit. He was quite friendly, and he’s still polite and cordial with me. So, in his polite and cordial way, he asked me why America hates Muslims. I tried to convince him otherwise, but this didn’t seem to help. Mind you, this was before the invasion of Iraq. I wonder what he thinks of America now, and will he be as polite and cordial as I remember him?
The day of the invasion of Iraq, another Muslim, a colleague at my work who happens to be Egyptian, was livid. He is also a very cordial and polite person, but he was very angry at the invasion. When we got to talk, he told me in no uncertain terms that no Arab would ever let foreigners run their country. Throughout the war from the invasion to the present, his words still haunt me as a warning.
I must ask, are we ready to confront the world and our real enemies? As long as we’re ignorant of the world, I must say no. We cannot afford to be so ignorant now, because it won’t be polite and cordial Muslims who’ll confront us but those who want to just cut our throats.
Of course, I have also heard the stories of how Michael Moore is a phony and that he had many untruths in his film, but that does not deter the shear emotional impact that he shows. I’ve seen his previous works like Roger and Me about how General Motors virtually killed off his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and Bowling for Columbine, where he tells about America’s gun culture.
I would say that I’m a minor fan of his even though his style isn’t much to my liking. Michael Moore is an expert at ambushing his subjects such as the chairman of GM (the “Roger” in Roger and Me) and a doddering Charlton Heston, the president of the National Rifle Association at that time. In both cases, he actually made me feel a bit sympathetic towards them, but then again, weren’t these “victims” just as pompous as Moore is accused of being? And, in a way, don’t they deserve being tweaked just a bit?
All in all, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a very moving and emotional film, especially when Moore shows the reactions of a mother whose son was just killed in Iraq. One other scene, with a touch of humor, showed a number of congressmen running away from Moore when he attempts to recruit their children for the war. Still more interesting was the scene when he was filming the Saudi embassy and a couple of Secret Service agents came up questioning his presence there. When I saw that, I had to ask, “Is this America?”
Michael Moore has said some silly things since the release of his film, and he has deservedly been criticized for it. However, there was one controversial statement that I must agree with, although in a slightly modified form. Moore had recently said to a London audience that Americans are stupid because they don’t follow foreign issues. I would agree with this except, instead of “stupid”, I would use “ignorant” – and, unfortunately, the statistics agree.
Year after year, we always hear of how American high school students don’t even have a general knowledge of history, geography and other related subjects. An example of “general knowledge” would be knowing in what century the U.S. Civil War was fought. (The mid-Nineteenth Century, in case you were wondering.)
Even many adults don’t have a working knowledge of these subjects. Shortly after the first war against Iraq, I gave a geography quiz where most people couldn’t answer more than half the questions. Some didn’t even know where the Persian Gulf was even though we had just fought a war there!
With this dearth of knowledge in what many seem to believe to be trivial subjects, is it any surprise that most people would believe rumors about a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein – even though both sides hated each other’s guts? (One was secular while the other was militantly Islamic.) Before 9/11, this country could ignore such ignorance. However, now, we no longer have that luxury. It’s because of this ignorance and because of the nature of American culture that the United States cannot even attempt to become an empire – something that Prof. Niall Ferguson, “Mr. Empire-builder”, has now come to accept.
American culture is built around business. I’m not saying this as a criticism. It’s just a fact. When Americans are usually involved in foreign affairs, it’s most often in the business realm through multinationals. Now, with globalization and out-sourcing, this has become even more truer than ever.
Even those who would seem to be headed for a career in the Foreign Service or some other international government work end up working for a multinational. I had a classmate in college who spoke 10 languages fluently. She was learning an 11th (Mandarin Chinese) when I met her. Her part-time job was working as a translator for the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. The last I heard, she was a vice president in international banking at Citibank.
In the United States, this story is typical. Americans are a business-oriented people. The only empire they might have in mind is a corporate empire. As I said, this isn’t a criticism. It’s just who we are. Government service is seen as either demeaning or a notch on a resume. Unless something drastically happens, this won’t change any time soon. Even 9/11 couldn’t completely change this.
The recent 9/11 Commission Report stated that the United States has a long-term ideological battle on its hands against a militant form of Islam. The report says that to fight this enemy, the nation must not just use military weapons alone but all of its resources from education to intelligence.
In order to do this, the government needs the minds of just those people who are working for multinationals. So far, these people haven’t heeded that call. They don’t seem to have the sense of urgency that was prevalent in the fight against Communism. Yet, heed they must.
Before the war against Iraq started last year, I was in India and met a young Indian Muslim. I had met him in a previous visit. He was quite friendly, and he’s still polite and cordial with me. So, in his polite and cordial way, he asked me why America hates Muslims. I tried to convince him otherwise, but this didn’t seem to help. Mind you, this was before the invasion of Iraq. I wonder what he thinks of America now, and will he be as polite and cordial as I remember him?
The day of the invasion of Iraq, another Muslim, a colleague at my work who happens to be Egyptian, was livid. He is also a very cordial and polite person, but he was very angry at the invasion. When we got to talk, he told me in no uncertain terms that no Arab would ever let foreigners run their country. Throughout the war from the invasion to the present, his words still haunt me as a warning.
I must ask, are we ready to confront the world and our real enemies? As long as we’re ignorant of the world, I must say no. We cannot afford to be so ignorant now, because it won’t be polite and cordial Muslims who’ll confront us but those who want to just cut our throats.
