I said Berlusconi could be related to Rupert Murdoch, not to Neo-Nazi Joerg Haider... BTW, here's an interesting paper:
I don't think there's any other country in the world that has a concept analogous to un-American. People being un-French, un-Spanish, they would probably laugh if they even understood what we meant in those countries. Actually, it doesn't mean anything here either. Un-American doesn't mean anything, but that's precisely the point. Just like harmony doesn't mean anything.
Noam Chomsky, from Chronicles of Dissent, pp. 325-26
A MATTER OF WORDS
As this is a political Web site, I can't help but use political language in the various essays, rants, and other materials I've put up here. Everywhere but America, there is a general understanding of political language -- words like radical, reactionary, socialist, fascist, anarchist, libertarian and so forth have meanings and are readily understood by everyday people.
I think this is because in other countries, there is either a diversity of political opinion (represented by European parliamentary government systems) and/or there is strong enough social oppression that people really have to decide which side they're on -- they have to stake out their political beliefs and live or die by them.
In America, however, we find neither in evidence. Americans live in the freest society in the world, and at the same time, are the most propagandized people in the world, too. That may seem contradictory, but it's true. Noam Chomsky and others have written extensively about this -- namely, it is in free societies where you need so much thought control to occur, because in a free society, people have the means to actually effect change. So, the challenge for those in power is to keep people unaware of the need for change, and part of that involves the control of language and thought. I've alluded to that in my Buzzwords section, but it goes further and deeper than this.
Politics makes mainstream Americans uncomfortable. They like to bitch about Congress, or the President, and they think that makes them politically aware. But Americans are truly an apolitical people. It's the result of decades of propaganda by the corporate/government elites that run our society. Most Americans are unable to have an intelligent political discussion, because of this process.
[...]
I'm reminded of a discussion with a coworker, years ago (I was a teenager), and she dismissed an argument I'd made by saying, "but, that's socialism." She repeated that a few times, and to her, it clinched the argument -- socialism was presumptively bad. Had she ever read anything about socialism? No, she hadn't. Was she aware that this negative opinion wasn't her own? No.
This political ignorance occurs across the spectrum in America. It's not that Americans are idiots, because we're not. It's that billions of corporate dollars are spent annually to stupefy us. The net result of the propagandization of America is that political thought evaporates -- it becomes reduced to one or two banal, simplified abstractions. Socialism's bad. Anarchism won't work. Capitalism is good. America is the land of the free. Government is a necessary evil. People are basically bad. I'm sure you can insert your own examples of this, once you become aware of it.
What's more, so many of these propaganda ideas are actually unconscious -- they've become internalized in the individual, who grafts them onto their own meager political opinions. These ready-made answers spring forth when needed, and create the illusion that a person is informed.
That's the most insidious part of it all -- these same people don't realize that they're utterly ignorant of the topic at hand. Have they actually researched it or done any reading on it? No. Why should they? They know it's bad. They know all about it. So they dismiss it out of hand, without a moment's further thought.
If somebody was talking about computer programming, or flying an airplane, or brain surgery, would you spout off on that without any knowledge whatsoever? Perhaps you would, but you'd be an idiot if you did -- you would be ignorant of the topic. The one exception to this is the area of politics. Only here to people think they know what's what without actually bothering to read, ponder, and understand the ideas behind it.
And they don't even think about this paradox. Political ignorance is somehow an American virtue, and the result is that we live in an extraordinarily depoliticized society. I should add that not everybody is this way. Some people genuinely bother to explore the ideas the run our society, and think about them. But these people are definitely in the minority. I think it's safe to say that the majority of Americans are clueless about the nature of our society.
Now, that may sound snide or arrogant, but I don't leave it at that. I encourage people to take some time to actually learn about the various forms of government, to come to an understanding what politics is all about. Too often I hear Americans mutter the words "oh, that's politics" as if that has any meaning.
If the majority of Americans remain apolitical and disengaged and ignorant, then the elites that run our society have that much freer of a hand. They'll be happy to point out all sorts of boogeymen to keep you in line with their agenda, which usually revolves around securing more power and privilege for themselves.
[snip]
radio4all.org
Further recommended reading:
Subject 33609 |
