Matthew Good 4:16:03
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2003 4:50 am
Ya know? He's right.
From Nation of Cool
Racial stereotyping is subtly becoming the new weapon of choice.
Abu Abbas was captured recently in Iraq. A member of the Palestinian Liberation Front responsible for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, Abbas has openly denounced the attacks on September 11th, among others. But the United States government will use his capture to try and form a link between the Iraqi state and groups that can be sold to the American public as “terrorist threats”. To your average American it matters little which organization has done what and which are affiliated. To most they are simply lumped into a single category. And that category has become “Arab Terrorist”. It’s no different than saying that all white men are probable terrorists because of Oklahoma City. The same logic applies. That’s not to say that the actions of terrorists are justifiable, quite the contrary, there are ways to achieve the change sought without resorting to violence at all. The point is that any example that can be served up to the general public to justify what’s going on in the Middle East will be used, no matter how vague its real connection to past events might be.
I made the mistake of wandering onto the Metro and adding my two cents to a debate about whether the war in Iraq is a good thing or not, one that I will not make again. Despite arguments to the contrary, it’s amazing how people regurgitate mainstream information. How they try and find new and interesting ways to spin narrow-minded views without calling into question what has brought all of this on. How they do their best to reinvent it so that it seems as plausible and black and white as can be. Racial stereotyping has become commonplace. In the United States right now a healthy segment of the population actually believes that Iraq had something to do with September 11th. In the United States right now many believe that the people of Afghanistan are free and that things are looking up in that country. Most obviously aren’t aware that the Taliban is not completely gone and that there is militant opposition to the current government in Kabul. Out of sight, out of mind as they say. Or at least off of television anyway.
Yet when it comes to even the slightest hint of American stereotyping by others Americans get extremely angry. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because they feel they are just and right and still believe that theirs is a nation that represents the pinnacle of freedom and all that it implies. Perhaps they simply don’t want to believe that their own government isn’t doing all of this purely for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps that is far worse a thought than all else. Perhaps we should stereotype Americans more often than we do. Members of our government run about like little girls worried that we’ve upset them while Americans call us traitors and cowards and so forth. Why not use it against them? Let’s call them arrogant to the point of nausea, ignorant of other peoples- nations- cultures, entirely self absorbed, self righteous, boisterous, and tacky to the furthest possible extreme, and the most militarily minded people in the world who are the only first world nation to still have the death penalty. Their love of guns and violence in general is unmatched by any other culture in the world. And yet…
Now, why do we seldom bother with such observations? Because we have manners and such pettiness is usually beneath us. We’ve no need for it. The majority of Canadians not only can name the capital of the United States but have a pretty good idea where it’s located. Ask your average yank what the capital of Canada is and the answers you’re likely to hear will stupefy.
It’s been officially announced that President Bush will not visit Canada as planned. There has been talk of rescheduling in the fall but most feel that he will wait until our current Prime Minister is out of office. Colin Powell said of the cancellation that the White House was still disappointed in the initial Canadian response to the war in Iraq.
Good.
People south of the border need to do their best to resist the sleeping pills that they’ve been slipped. None of this is as cut and dry as NBC or CNN makes it out to be. Once you come to the conclusion that your own government has a checkered past when it comes to foreign affairs then you must assume that not all of the information being presented to you is entirely accurate. And if you do choose to go to sleep and all of this gets out of hand you can only blame yourself for not at least voicing your opposition to it or the ill treatment of those that do want to exercise their rights and voice their opposition. Going along to get along is not something that works in a democracy. It is counter to its very principles. Perhaps that is why they seem to be failing these days.
Oil pipelines into Syria have been shut off. Guess who’s next. It’s just a matter of time until the laundry list of their “evil deeds” is released to the world. Can’t wait to read it.
From Nation of Cool
Racial stereotyping is subtly becoming the new weapon of choice.
Abu Abbas was captured recently in Iraq. A member of the Palestinian Liberation Front responsible for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, Abbas has openly denounced the attacks on September 11th, among others. But the United States government will use his capture to try and form a link between the Iraqi state and groups that can be sold to the American public as “terrorist threats”. To your average American it matters little which organization has done what and which are affiliated. To most they are simply lumped into a single category. And that category has become “Arab Terrorist”. It’s no different than saying that all white men are probable terrorists because of Oklahoma City. The same logic applies. That’s not to say that the actions of terrorists are justifiable, quite the contrary, there are ways to achieve the change sought without resorting to violence at all. The point is that any example that can be served up to the general public to justify what’s going on in the Middle East will be used, no matter how vague its real connection to past events might be.
I made the mistake of wandering onto the Metro and adding my two cents to a debate about whether the war in Iraq is a good thing or not, one that I will not make again. Despite arguments to the contrary, it’s amazing how people regurgitate mainstream information. How they try and find new and interesting ways to spin narrow-minded views without calling into question what has brought all of this on. How they do their best to reinvent it so that it seems as plausible and black and white as can be. Racial stereotyping has become commonplace. In the United States right now a healthy segment of the population actually believes that Iraq had something to do with September 11th. In the United States right now many believe that the people of Afghanistan are free and that things are looking up in that country. Most obviously aren’t aware that the Taliban is not completely gone and that there is militant opposition to the current government in Kabul. Out of sight, out of mind as they say. Or at least off of television anyway.
Yet when it comes to even the slightest hint of American stereotyping by others Americans get extremely angry. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because they feel they are just and right and still believe that theirs is a nation that represents the pinnacle of freedom and all that it implies. Perhaps they simply don’t want to believe that their own government isn’t doing all of this purely for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps that is far worse a thought than all else. Perhaps we should stereotype Americans more often than we do. Members of our government run about like little girls worried that we’ve upset them while Americans call us traitors and cowards and so forth. Why not use it against them? Let’s call them arrogant to the point of nausea, ignorant of other peoples- nations- cultures, entirely self absorbed, self righteous, boisterous, and tacky to the furthest possible extreme, and the most militarily minded people in the world who are the only first world nation to still have the death penalty. Their love of guns and violence in general is unmatched by any other culture in the world. And yet…
Now, why do we seldom bother with such observations? Because we have manners and such pettiness is usually beneath us. We’ve no need for it. The majority of Canadians not only can name the capital of the United States but have a pretty good idea where it’s located. Ask your average yank what the capital of Canada is and the answers you’re likely to hear will stupefy.
It’s been officially announced that President Bush will not visit Canada as planned. There has been talk of rescheduling in the fall but most feel that he will wait until our current Prime Minister is out of office. Colin Powell said of the cancellation that the White House was still disappointed in the initial Canadian response to the war in Iraq.
Good.
People south of the border need to do their best to resist the sleeping pills that they’ve been slipped. None of this is as cut and dry as NBC or CNN makes it out to be. Once you come to the conclusion that your own government has a checkered past when it comes to foreign affairs then you must assume that not all of the information being presented to you is entirely accurate. And if you do choose to go to sleep and all of this gets out of hand you can only blame yourself for not at least voicing your opposition to it or the ill treatment of those that do want to exercise their rights and voice their opposition. Going along to get along is not something that works in a democracy. It is counter to its very principles. Perhaps that is why they seem to be failing these days.
Oil pipelines into Syria have been shut off. Guess who’s next. It’s just a matter of time until the laundry list of their “evil deeds” is released to the world. Can’t wait to read it.
This recent touch of flu has severely limited the number of groin-punches I've been able to give to the blind recently.