Re: virus: Propaganda and Travel

Richard Aynesworthy (overload@fastmail.ca)
Fri, 16 Apr 1999 10:50:56 -0400 (EDT)

...hi folks. I'm new to this list - how's everybody doing? ...I've been lurking for a while, trying to get the feel of what's going on (very impressive for the most part, found some instructive stuff yesterday).
...anyhow, I just couldn't let this pass.

> No, we should withdraw, and let thousands be slaughtered and
> hundreds of thousands be deported and dispossessed, simply because
> we are not perfect and errorless warriors, therefore no better than
> the latest Hitler clone Europe has spawned!

...for a list devoted at least in part to a discussion of memetics, I've got to confess I'm a little bit apalled. Let's take a brief look at this whole Hitler comparison, shall we. The disputes in Kosovar go back hundreds of years and are based on complex interactions of ethnicity, religion and the territorial imperative. The comparison of Milosevic (sp?) to Hitler is specious and an obvious strawman, fostered by the military-entertainment complex to lend surface weight to the whole action. (anybody seen the latest TIME magazine - "the new face of evil"?)
...If the concern is really about preventing slaughter and disposession of civilians then why hasn't action been taken in areas where the same process has been going on for a much longer period of time? The answer is simple - Kosovo and surrounding regions are a historically unstable area of the world, the US has vested interests in maintaining both regional stability in the area and good relations with military/trade allies in the region (Turkey springs immediately to mind). In areas where US military/trade interests are unlikely to be affected by such actions ("ethnic cleansing" or whatever other glossy soundbite memetic tag you'd like to put on the event) - eg. Columbia, Laos - noone cares, a bline eye is turned and as long as the cash keeps flowing it'll stay that way.

At this point, I
> firmly am convinced that Milosevic is hunkering down in Belgrade
> bunkers whilst waging his propaganda war via the internet and CNN

...hmmm... how a dictatorial regime from a small central european country could launch a propaganda war over communications media developed in the land of his enemies, controlled by his enemies and sponsored by the industrial arm of the enemy economic system is a bit beyond me... care to explain?

> and instructing the Tiger Brigades to accelerate their genocide and
> forced relocation programs, and that nothing short of a ground war
> will deter him.

...well of course he is. It wouldn't make much sense for him to tell them to hold back now, would it.

The only way to deal with bullies is to royally
> and regally kick their ever-luvin' asses, for the force meme is the
> only one which will sway them.

...let's assume this is true. Any suggestions on how we should go about stopping the well-documented and extensive bullyboy tactics employed by the United States?
..."the force meme"... I don''t think Yoda would approve.

The longer we wait, the worse it'll
> be. Let's do it and get this behind us, rather than having it hang
> ahead of us like a Sword of Damocles.

...technically, the sword of Damocles hands above, not ahead, but I digress. Your metaphor is apt, but ill-applied - the lesson of the swordof Damocles is that a wise ruler must carefully balance a range of competing interests and agendas while maintaining a functional environment. The way to do this is not by selectively targeting atrocities inimical to governmental interests while pointedly ignoring others. Balance requires a clear and consistent application of principle, not a cynical application of force to serve selfish interests.

Sure, the medicine's bitter,
> in terms of lives lost and money spent, but we'll feel much better
> when the global body politic is free of this fascist disease

...granted that fascism is a current affliction of the "global body politic" (which is itself an artificial memetic construction designed to grant certain powerful bodies a facile means of excusing their self-serving actions). Bombs do not, have not and probably never will serve as an effective antidote. Fascism is not a physical complex, it is an ideological complex.

peace.

psypher



http://fastmail.ca Fastmail's Free web based email for Canadians