I have travelled this world much more extensively than either Obama or Romney, and I still do. I find everywhere, even in areas of conflict and economic difficulty, the vast majority of people are friendly, even kind, and have very similar aspirations, across cultures, to personal development and emotional fulfilment.
The striking thing about tonight’s US Presidential “foreign policy” debate, is when it did occasionally discuss foreign policy, the world out there was discussed not as a place of vast potential, but as a deeply disturbing place full of foreigners who are, apparently, all evil except the Israelis, who are perfect.
The vast benefits from cooperation and trade with “abroad” were not mentioned once that I noticed (though I confess the thing was so awful my attention wandered occasionally). Europe apparently doesn’t exist, other than Greece which is nothing more than a terrible warning of the dangers of not being right wing enough.
The correct attitude to all these foreigners that God so unfortunately and inexplicably placed on this planet, is apparently to maintain incredibly large armed forces, murder people with drones (they were both very enthusiastic on this one), place sanctions on them and declare them “currency manipulators”. The only surprising note was that both agreed that they could not kill everyone in Iran.
But “We can’t just kill our way out of this mess” was spoken with regret, rather than as an affirmation of the possibilities of cooperation instead. What a grim and joyless world view. Maybe I had better not step out of this hotel into Africa this morning; those Islamists might get me.
@Herbie (you’ll probably know)
CHAPTER I – ORGANIZING CHAOS
THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.
They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons-a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million-who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.
(1928)
— Guess who? —
I am one like you, who has traveled extensively. One thing I find is that everywhere, people know the difference between the US government and the American people. But to listen to the main stream media news, you’d think that all people hate Americans and there is an Islamist with a knife around every corner. So anyone in the US has this phobia about other countries. I traveled to Jordan, some of the friendliest people I have ever met, and the most common questions I got from friends back home were “Weren’t you scared?” or “Did people look at you a lot?” or even “I bet you were glad to get home safely”
My common response nowadays is “The only country I’d be afraid to go to is Israel. But I’d love to go to Palestine” Of course the response is a look of utter confusion.
No.
At least part of the problem lies in the US education system which does not, in the majority of States, teach Geography at all! The premise being that the US is all that matters. Indeed the basic US education seems only enough to equip the majority to carry out “grunt” jobs and not think above their status! After all you don’t want the majority of the population to actually question their government! Blind “patriotism” will do. Fly the US flag everywhere and don’t bother to think just accept what you are told by your leaders.
Add to this the fact that only a small percentage of Americans travel outside of their country and its easy to tell lies about the rest of the world.
If the majority of the US population was better educated then the world would be a lot better place!
@JimmyGiro
“No.”
i.e. You read “moral relativism” somewhere, like the sound, and repeated it.
Felix
That’s the propaganda guy, Bernays. I’ve mentioned him before.
There is s difference between controlling people through PR and myths etc and controlling them by force. The neocon agenda is very heavy in the use of force at home. This is more likely to lead to Hegelian moments than not.
I suspect that Strauss wouldn’t be too happy at how his philosophy has been put into practice.
As yet another seasoned traveller who reads Craig’s blog, I remember once being in Vancouver, BC – less than an hour’s easy drive north of the USA/Canada border and seeing a very nervous and confused American couple. They were on their first foreign trip and really struggling. Because they couldn’t grasp the idea of currencies other than the US$, they were paying for everything in greenbacks instead of Canadian dollars, and consequently losing about 25% of their purchasing power. Yet there were currency exchange booths and banks all around.
Yes, it was pitiful to watch, but it was a reflection of how even so called ‘middle class’ Americans are kept in ignorance of the world outside their borders by their education system and MSM. And this was in the early 1990’s, long before 9/11.
These are the sort of likeable, decent but severely uninformed/misinformed people who are going to elect their nation’s Commander In Chief next month.
Should we therefore be afraid, or rather take comfort from the idea that Republicans and Democrats are like Pepsi and Coke?
Michael Stephenson;
It is not at all infrequent a practice, the creditor just needs a court order to freeze assets. Only it more normally happens with planes at “First World” airports. Used to happen to Ghana Airways jets at Hethrow pretty often.
CIA Chiefs Face Arrest over Horrific Evidence of Bloody ‘Video-Game’ Sorties by Drone Pilots
By David Rose
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32820.htm
“A damning dossier assembled from exhaustive research into the strikes’ targets sets out in heart-breaking detail the deaths of teachers, students and Pakistani policemen. It also describes how bereaved relatives are forced to gather their loved ones’ dismembered body parts in the aftermath of strikes.”
“The dossier has been assembled by human rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar, who works for Pakistan’s Foundation for Fundamental Rights and the British human rights charity Reprieve.”
“Filed in two separate court cases, it is set to trigger a formal murder investigation by police into the roles of two US officials said to have ordered the strikes. They are Jonathan Banks, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Islamabad station, and John A. Rizzo, the CIA’s former chief lawyer.”
“In the first case, which has already been heard by a court in Islamabad, judgment is expected imminently. If the judge grants Mr Akbar’s petition, an international arrest warrant will be issued via Interpol against the two Americans.”
[Let’s hope so!!!].
“The second case is being heard in the city of Peshawar. In it, Mr Akbar and the families of drone victims who are civilians are seeking a ruling that further strikes in Pakistani airspace should be viewed as ‘acts of war’.”
‘I find everywhere, even in areas of conflict and economic difficulty, the vast majority of people are friendly, even kind, and have very similar aspirations, across cultures, to personal development and emotional fulfilment.’
Michael Palin, also much travelled, has just said almost exactly the same. He was launching a new book ‘Brazil’.
I hope that the series is not exploitative to enhance Palin’s bank balance. The book is £12.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19989037
PS Don’t buy it at Amazon. Go to a bookseller. Amazon are based in Luxembourg and pay no corporation tax on sales of £7bn. {http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-british-operation-corporation-tax}
“This explains everything you need to know about how “politics” works today.”
Herbie;
Have you checked his sourcing? His links frequently U-turn back to his own blog.
Herbie 23 Oct, 2012 – 2:47 pm
“There is s difference between controlling people through PR and myths etc and controlling them by force.”
The combination of propaganda and violence has been used, as it is today, for the last century or so.
“If the majority of the US population was better educated then the world would be a lot better place!”
Greg;
As with all things American, and human beings world-wide, all perception is selective. Perhaps Americans excel at narcissism, but we didn’t invent the malady. Education in the US K-12 has always been a joke for the masses, because they are widget factories. The average teacher is a product of the same system. Most had degrees in disciplines like History, or 18th century French poetry wherein the only option was to become an author, or a teacher, as an afterthought.
Because the pay is relatively low, it attracts middle-level performers who lack talent at making the subject live. IOW they don’t know how, or don’t have the one-on-one time to make the connection between the relevance of the subject, and the student’s life. The smarter kids see this and become bored, then tune out.
Does this, at all, sound familiar for your culture?
O/T Just came across this. Topical as he is chairman of the BBC Trust and is keeping a low profile at the moment.
‘that is the principal objection – or perception – how can Lord Patten simultaneously be Chairman of the BBC Trust and in receipt of an EU pension? He readily gave up jobs (with the Global Leadership Foundation, the International Crisis Group and Medical Aid to Palestine) which might have been perceived as a conflict of interests, but his EU pension of around +++£100,000 per annum+++ continues to be paid.
Lord Patten’s pension is conditional upon him doing nothing to harm the interests of the European Union. According to Article 213 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.’
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/if-andy-coulson-was-double-agent-so-is.html
Milord Patten’s other interests:
1: Directorships
Non-executive Director, Russell Reynolds Associates Inc (company research)
2: Remunerated employment, office, profession etc.
Member, International Advisory Board of BP (energy)
Adviser, Hutchison Europe (telecomms, property, transport)
Member, European Advisory Board, Bridgepoint (private equity group)
Member, EDF Stakeholder Advisory Panel (electricity)
Occasional income from writing and speaking engagements
Chairman of the BBC Trust
10: Non-financial interests (b)
Member, Prime Minister’s Business Ambassador Network
Chancellor, Oxford University
Member, Board of Overseers, Sabanci University, Istanbul
Advisory Board Member, St Benedict’s School, London
10: Non-financial interests (e)
International Adviser, Praemium Imperiale, Japan Art Association
Co-chair, India-UK Roundtable
Co-chair, Italy-UK Annual Conference
Member of Advisory Council, The Hague Institute for Global Justice
PS Bridgepoint are one of the companies benefitting from the privatisation of the NHS.
Ben Franklin (Anti-intellectual Colonial American Savage version) 23 Oct, 2012 – 4:29 pm
“Does this, at all, sound familiar for your culture?”
Yes it does.
Except I disagree that low pay necessarily attracts the less capable. Most teachers I know are run into the ground by too large class sizes.
“the world out there was discussed not as a place of vast potential, but as a deeply disturbing place full of foreigners who are, apparently, all evil except the Israelis” — Craig
Which of course is what makes the USA such an appalling candidate for “running the world” (or should I say, “leading the ‘free’ world”?). They are extaordinarily insular, and have such a belief in their own exceptionalism that it precludes them from even *imagining* that other cultures might have something to offer them. They view said ‘furriners’ as people whose heads they can burst like melons at the push of a drone-control-button, and still sleep soundly at night without a bother.
(Not all Americans, no, but enough of them to worry the hell out of me.)
For now, there are still those who have seen up close and personal the horrendous effects of their wars on innocent foreigners (and on their military mates) – “vets” who suffer severe PTSD, and either kill themselves, or members of their families, when they get home. Or end up on the streets, or addicted, or in psychiatric institutions.
But taking personnel out of the theatres of war and using more and more drones will greatly reduce the numbers of such mental casualties and allow the USA to engage in multiple attacks/wars on (nothing more than) the level of video games.
Video games, plus “sufficient Big Macs and gasoline to burn in their tar-machines” – to quote Ben Franklin on the last thread.
But BF makes a big mistake in saying that people of “other countries worldwide” operate with the same mentality. (Which of the 192 countries does he have in mind exactly? Do they include the 120 countries that attended the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, for example?)
Quote:
“The CIA continues their disinformation campaigns with impunity because the population of America, as well as those in other countries worldwide, don’t really give a shit, as long as they have sufficient Big Macs and gasoline to burn in their tar-machines.”
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/10/cia-look-to-swamp-correa/#comment-373895
(I’m going to hit Submit, but in 3 mins I’ll be wishing for an Edit function)
“Except I disagree that low pay necessarily attracts the less capable. Most teachers I know are run into the ground by too large class sizes.” — Phil
A young relative of mine worked for a large bank in Europe, lived in a plush apartment, etc. He came back, retrained and re-qualified, and is now teaching – because he was always drawn to teaching, low pay or not. He is now 10 times happier than he was.
Mark Golding – Children of Conflict 23 Oct, 2012 – 2:16 pm
“In my book 9/11 was the kicker that let the ‘external enemy’ back out of the ‘sacred chest’”
The twin towers attack was just another event, albeit significant, in a narrative established before September 2011. I agree with Kingfelix in that I also suspect we would be pretty much where we are without it.
“Except I disagree that low pay necessarily attracts the less capable”
Yes. I didn’t mean to say that. I meant that the low pay discourages many of the gifted Teachers.
That’s not to say there aren’t committed Humans who enter the profession regardless of the pay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Escalante Born in Bolivia….
But the vast majority are not from wealthy families, and must find a way to make a living. I’ve had many teachers who were more damaging, than instructive because they were not suited for the job,
Ooops typo – Above I meant 2001 not 2011
@Clark and @Jon,
I’ll revert to my Dreoilin handle very soon, if that’s ok, but with this same email address.
L8R
Nuid I see you have become a member of the Asteraceae family. Makes a nice change from reptiles and amphibians.
Ben Franklin (Anti-intellectual Colonial American Savage version) 23 Oct, 2012 – 5:06 pm
“I meant that the low pay discourages many of the gifted Teachers.”
Yes, that has to be true. However, I do not believe the pay is a significant factor in poor education compared to, say, resources and ever changing central dictates.
Recently I have spent time in one of the UK’s most academically successful schools. Of course it is fee paying. The teachers seem no more gifted than those in the state sector where many are from. The pay is only marginally above the state sector. However, class sizes average 15.
MODS!
My normal (daytime) IP’s being blocked by your spam filter. Through a proxy,can read but not write to Comments. Can you see what’s going on? It’s entirely possible that someone on my corporate server is actually originating spam, but the IP hasn’t been flagged on on spamhaus (or 73 similar sites), so it’s probably a glitch.
Cross post from medialens. I believe Mark and Clark were going on the march.
Lack of coverage of major anti-govt demonstration on 20 October
Posted by The Editors on October 23, 2012, 5:36 pm
Dear David,
Sent this yesterday to BBC’s Newswatch before I realised they only discuss their OWN coverage! Don’t know if the issue is of interest to you?
Best wishes,
Marcus
—– Original Message —–
From: Marcus Chown
To: [email protected]
Cc: Andy Coghlan
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 5:45 PM
Subject: Lack of coverage of major anti-govt demonstration on 20 October…
Dear Newswatch,
Hi. We are journalists on “New Scientist”.
We are astonished by the lack of press coverage of the TUC march, calling for the government to change tack on its austerity measures. 150,000 people marched past Downing Street on Saturday. Yet no Sunday national paper mentioned it on its front page. In fact, The Sunday Times ran merely a small photo and a caption on p 16. By contrast, there was good coverage in French papers such as Le Monde.
The worrying feature is that the Press appear not cover a peaceful demonstration but covers violent demonstrations. This utter lack of impact through the press appears to be a massive disincentive for people to protest lawfully, in large numbers and in good spirit about something they feel strongly about, and a tacit encouragement to those extremists who favour violent demonstrations.
Might this not be a subject that you might like to air?
Bests wishes,
Andy Coghlan
Marcus Chown
Makes a nice change from reptiles and amphibians.
Pffft. She may look nice but her sap’s insecticidal.
Phil;
” resources and ever changing central dictates.”
Yes. A big part of the problem, today is Boards/Supervisors and others justifying their jobs by diddling with the Three R’s. (New Math, New English)
Anecdotally, my son was in 3rd grade in the early 90’s and I pose a question to his teacher;
‘Why can he read, but can’t spell” answer; “We don’t worry about that much with Spellcheck, and all”
As to resources; another anecdote.
My mother was a Librarian in the Maryland school system in the mid-60’s. My dad was transferred to Wash DC in ’66 and my parents sought the best schools in the Beltway. They chose Maryland because they spent more per student than others. As a librarian, my mother was shocked at the poor use of those funds. She took me into the Media room where I saw dozens of film projectors, opaque projectors, not in use. It seems they had one of each for every classroom, so that it would always be available. That’s the kind of resourcing that gives Bureaucrats their pejorative status.
Phil; Forgot the issue of class size. You are absolutely right on that.
Mary, I never made it to the demo.
Komodo, thanks for your note on spam blocking. I changed the spam system this morning, the old one was getting creaky. Try searching for your blocked IP and let me know how you get on.
I’m not sure about its accuracy at the moment, so we might additionally use (or switch to) Spamhaus’ database.