Fight terrorism: Go see a punk rock show
Posted 16 weeks 2 days ago byWe've got this featured on the redblue links, but it's still worth noting today's Washington Post op-ed arguing that Dallas -- yes, J.R. Ewing -- helped bring about the end of the Cold War:
The impact of "Dallas" on people's worldviews reminds us that the "vulgar" popular culture that left-wing highbrows and right-wing cultural conservatives love to hate is every bit as important as chin-stroking politics in fomenting real social change. Whether it's the junkie-rock band Velvet Underground inspiring anti-communist dissidents in Prague, or the movie "Titanic" inspiring subversive haircut styles in Taliban Afghanistan (the theocrats' Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice regularly rounded up would-be Leonardo DiCaprios), throwaway cultural products influence far-flung cultures in ways that are impossible to predict or control, even (or especially) by the artists themselves.
Just so. And it's still true today in our efforts to contain terrorism. It's true that Osama bin Laden's ideology was shaped, in part, by the writings of Sayyid Qutb, man who had actually lived in America in the late 1940s and was repelled by the vulgar modernity. But the bin Ladens and Qutbs of the world are probably outnumbered by all the secret satellite TV dishes in Teheran alone.
Freedom, then, is one of our best weapons: Not as an abstraction, but as a reality that is messily and even crassly lived. It might not put an end to terrorism, but it could well dry up support for terrorists among potential supporters. So fight terrorism: Go see a punk rock show and do some slam dancing.
Thoughts
Freedom: The terror fighter
Submitted on April 27th, 2008 by Jim LakelyIf I didn't know any better, Joel, I'd think you're endorsing the Bush Doctrine here. :-)
I've long said something to this effect: We'll have peace when there's an MTV Baghdad. No country with MTV, Starbucks, McDonalds and a red carpet premiere of the latest Tom Hanks movie can ever be our enemy.
And this reason, and the ones you outlined above, makes the point that we are in a cultural war with our Islamist enemies. And, yes, it's messy, but one we must win. Trouble is, too many in the West are embarrassed of their culture, and worship the pose of multiculturalism to the dismissal of the unique freedom culture of the West.