anti americanism

[che_phoenix]

ok, so i was reading up on how rome fell, when i realised that in a way the 'war on terrorism' is their downfall, like rome, bush is getting his own countrymen killed so that he can reep the rewards...

all we need is time?

as soon as the american public realises there president is doing, which will happen when they grow tired of the war and start attacking other countries, will they revolt?


-phoenix

[RJH-Music]

They may. It all depends on how soon they realize what they are doing to themselves. America is as we all know a very powerful country but with power obviously comes the wanting of more power. From what I have seen the US is always imposing its will upon others through the media, stereotypes etc.. Its all based on brainwashing. If the people can somehow escape the media hype and realize that the people over seas are just as much people as them than something should happen. I only hope that somebody will take it upon themselves to step up to the responsibility. I don't hope for america to fall but I do hope for change.

[Dyst]

If the people realized they are living on the death of so many as they are, they would most probably riot. The USA will never "fall", or at least not the way you mean it in closer times.

[che_phoenix]

ok, so all we need to do, to get a revolution in the united states is change the media?...

but to change the media, you need to have huge sums of cash, to pay them off, and have a high influence with multimedia corperations


i believe that the us of a will fall, but something big will happen first, something that kills a ton of mr bushs toy 'army men', which will be silenced by the media, and released slowly, which will put hear in the american people. this is why you need to gain controll of the media, inorder to make a revolution in america.

this is a catch 22 situation, because the media will put fear back into the american society, which will cause the american people to have faith in their 'president'

[RJH-Music]

I don't mean to destroy the media but to look past it. If a day ever comes were the people of america can see past what it is fed then things may change. Obviously to destroy the media as you stated would pretty much be a foolish endeavour. And I completely agree that one of the big things that the media is there for is to restore faith in the "president". The "president" needs media so if the people look past it then the "president" would be lost. Things would change. Im not saying this will ever happen but it sure would be something to see :)

[monkeydust]

If the people realized they are living on the death of so many as they are, they would most probably riot.

Which is why they will most probably not riot.

I think there's been some exaggeration of the media's impact in this thread. It's far from the case that the media's view shapes society's view; in fact, the reverse may more likely be the case.

However, the fact remains that a multitude of values, ideas and attitudes are present among a large number of Americans, derived from education, the media, politicians and, most importantly I think, cultural ideas informally passed through society (the view that being loyal to America is a good thing, is, for instance, seen in popular TV, films and so on).

Anyway, as far as I can see it, the US populace, at the moment is far too apathetic, patriotic and short-sighted to "riot" or "revolt" in any meaningful sense. This isn't, though, to say that they never will.

If it's gonna happen anywhere (which I doubt), it'll be somewhere in Western Europe - we're much more cynical.

[che_phoenix]

media shapes the way a majority of the americans think, and thats all it takes is 51% in a "democratic" country

media effects everything in the us of a

to create a revolution in a country run by fear, you need to controll the source of that fear, then use that source to put fear back into the people, fear that works towards your cause

this is a very western world idea. fear is an emotion, not a tool to use to control a country, i feel that we should use all the resources that our enemy uses, no matter what it is, from deadly weapons (NOT weapons of mass destruction) to media

"The monopoly capitalists - even while employing purely empirical methods - weave around art a complicated web which converts it into a willing tool. The superstructure of society ordains the type of art in which the artist has to be educated. Rebels are subdued by its machinery and only rare talents may create their own work. The rest become shameless hacks or are crushed." - Ernesto Che Guevara

why doesnt anyone use this 'tool' to further the cause of getting rid of american capitalism and imperialism and free the country of fear?

-phoenix

[NyChe21]

Absolutely correct. Although we may bash American politics and politicians, we must admit that the Founding Fathers did leave the public with certain ways to achieve concessions from the ruling class(which they were a part of and successfully attempted to keep it that way for 250 years). Change, in the view of the Founding Fathers must be allowed through peaceful means, that is the beauty of democracy (although I do admit that those avenues of change have gotten narrowed in modern capitalist America). I believe that the media has become a part of that revolution. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian revolutionary and thinker from the turn of the century believed that the revolution must start with a shift in popular culture. I would interpret media as part of that in the modern world, along with entertainment and music (we may bash Eminem but I do love Mosh). One problem that Che and the Fidelistas ran into was the attempt to create a Revolutionary Culture after the revolution and its leaders had gained power (only now would people have the guts to embrace Fidel as a strong political leader, in contrast to the relatively non-political Che, we'll discuss that on other boards). The American Revolution saw rebellion as an everyday possibility and when it came along, they embraced it enough to overcome (of course there were other factors like GUERILLA WARFARE!!! Wahoo!!!, not really). What I believe needs to happen is, like the protests in the 1950's and 1960's, the new protests of this revolution must be more innovative and ground shaking (kind of like guerilla warfare in a certain sense). That is the only way that we can grab the attention of the media, which will be able to be an avenue for OUR voice to frame discussions. This way, we can more easily create the revolutionary 'foci' that Che pursued in the Congo and fatefully in Bolivia. Make the Revolution popular, and we will FORCE those who can change things to listen.

[CommoditiesAretheOpiumofPeople]

Originally posted by RJH-[email protected] 2 2005, 07:53 PM
They may. It all depends on how soon they realize what they are doing to themselves. America is as we all know a very powerful country but with power obviously comes the wanting of more power. From what I have seen the US is always imposing its will upon others through the media, stereotypes etc.. Its all based on brainwashing. If the people can somehow escape the media hype and realize that the people over seas are just as much people as them than something should happen. I only hope that somebody will take it upon themselves to step up to the responsibility. I don't hope for america to fall but I do hope for change.
"America is as we all know a very powerful country but with power obviously comes the wanting of more power"
What the hell is with the notion of a country anyway?! America is just a landmass where lots of people live: some want power, others will be those posting ideas on these forums. Anti-Americanism is usually the defence of a few people who don't really know what they're talking about: Green Day ring any bells? Reserve your judgement until you've interviewed everyone in that country on their individual political ideals. If we should be opposed to ideals, let's not band together against 300 million Americans who we assume are all right-wing republicans (most actually didn't vote for Bush in 2000), but against the Bush and Cheney Administration.

[Ligeia]

well,I think anti-americanism is just an offensive position against the contemporary government and the followers but not against every single U.S.american.Thats obvious,isnt it?

[CommoditiesAretheOpiumofPeople]

True. but a lot of people seem to talk like all Americans are idiots, not just the administration which they never even supported in the first place. Theirs is just an example of capitalism taken to extremes, a textbook example of hierarchical society, not many people ever give credit to those in the states who oppose Bush and his buddies. You're right, although anti-americanism's spread through culture doesn't stop at just the outrage of Bush's wrongdoings but at the discrimination of millions more people. I'm just opposed to people not understanding something fully and making a conclusion based on what they know.