Well, so much for that argument I’ve been making about an active attempt to win the viral meme war…
On the bright side, though, at least now we won’t have to hear about how the US hegemon is marinating the world with its pro-capitalist, materialist propaganda. Instead, all we’ll have to do is put up with those same carpers noting (correctly, if this turns out to be the case, and if we have no alternative to VOA planned, which is a matter of some dispute) that we simply cannot win the war with bombs alone—that we need to win the hearts and minds of our enemies.
By marinating them in propaganda (though, admittedly, the carpers would prefer that propaganda be of the self-flagellating and apologetic kind, the very stuff that emboldens terrorists in the first place by projecting weakness. But, y’know—beggers can’t be choosers…)
(h/t to Leon H)
****
—And speaking of losing the viral meme war (which comes down to losing the battle over how groups are defined and criticized, and who counts as authentic members and critics of those groups and their actions: in short, universality vs. strong relativism), tireless Canadian superblogger Kate McMillan points me to this bit of Canadian identity politics rising to a head up in reindeer country, which she sets up in an email thus:
Winnipeg is a Manitoba city population somewhere short of a million. Murder capital of Canada, big innercity Indian population. Just thought you might want to see how effective all the local, provincial, federal cultural programs (and massive federal government spending in Indian affairs) has been in solving their perpetual poverty and crime problems.
(Remember that in Canada, status Indians have racial identity cards which come with entitlements like free post secondary education. Benevolent apartheid.)
Or in other words, government sponsored entitlement programs that are dependent for their force on grievance politics or special “Otherness” fail even under snowy, beaverglutted conditions.
Shocking.
For more, see also, Sigmund Carl and Alfred, and Alexandra at All Things Beautiful, who has related thoughts: “Is There Any Difference Between Exquisitely Refined Multicultural Sensitivity And Shari’a?”
Hmmm.
Almost right. Replace “marinate” with “urinate” and, by Jove, I think you’ve got it!
Such programs only “fail” if you believe their packagingâ€â€that they have ends beyond the perpetuation of secured voting blocs and the enrichment of the securers.
They don’t fail.
The diarist at Redstate completely misses the point of VoA. English-broadcast VoA in countries that do not speak English is retarded. The diarist implies that VoA is being shut down world-wide, which is not the case. VoA is focussing on local-language broadcasts and has been moving that direction for the last 15 years.
English is the second language of the world. And it’s the first language of international business. It’s not retarded, it’s smart.
Beck, I’d argue this the same way I was arguing against Nishizono’s proposal to flood the Muslim world with US-originating Islamic-themed manga and US-sponsored (or at least explicitly US-sanctioned) discussions among Muslim thinkers and theologians, etc. That is, I’d argue not against the idea but against its efficacy:
Why would they listen? If part of the problem we face is that American cultural dominance and perceived cultural imperialism is a big contributor to anti-American sentiment, isn’t English-language broadcasting of American propaganda (I’ve got nothing against propaganda in this context, btw) just one more straw on this camel’s back? I completely agree that any non-English-speaker trying to decide what second language to pursue would be well served by choosing English, but first you have to overcome that person’s reluctance to embrace anything about the U.S. And that requires that s/he hear the message without the added effort of mentally translating it.
TW: The average guy listening to VoA is by definition a lot more likely to speak his own language than English, still.
…racial identity cards?
Yikes.
jamie, everyone loves to argue.
look at this place.
this is a process–the cartoons represent two cultures rubbing up against each other and abrading off the rough edges.
it will happen eventually, unless all the idiots calling for the “War of Civilizations” get their Kral’nezac.
i just think there are helpful ways we could speed it up.
umm..the process is called the evolution of culture. Actually, my friend razib said
Islam is not a fixed parameter in time or space–it is changing.
i just think if we can be clever we can help it change faster.
wow gold