graeme
our caricature thinking
Posted on: 09/06/2009 12:40
A recent article in Reader's Digest carries an article on the Russian AK 47, claiming it is the biggest killer in history - beating out the bubonic plague, AIDS, moslem terrorism etc. It's a good example of the silly thinking that runs loose in the educated world.
For openers, nobody knows how many people have been killed by the AK47, but without trying hard I can think of many, many disasters that beat it - like two world wars, the mass killings of Mao, Chiang Kai Shek, Stalin, the advent of urban bombing... These each run into tens of millions. Moslem terrorism runs, at best, into the tens of thousands (depending on when you start), and western terrorism -which isn't even mentioned - into the millions. The terror bombing of Cambodia by the US - alone - beats all the moslem terrorism that ever existed.
But, there it is, them evil moslems with their big noses is the problem.
That shows how the news media and the politicians can so easily affect our thinking. Indeed, it is not likely that one person in a thousand has any clear idea of what terrorism is.
And so we all run around screaming about a word we don't understand and associating it solely with furriners.
How's that for a blend of ignorance, prejudice, and caricature to stampede us all into a world war?
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Birthstone
Posted on: 09/06/2009 13:08
nice expansion on my pseudo-politics thread...
I wish I could share Chris Rock's stand-up bit on 'keepin it real' - his language & metaphors make me blush too much! but why is it that people think its cool to not get engaged, not know what's going on and then parrot back the crap that FOX news or Readers Digest or whatever else is spewing?
what a huge waste of time & possibility!!
Pilgrims Progress
Posted on: 09/06/2009 17:10
Seems to me that if we can land a man on the moon, it's high time we thought about investing in overcoming tribalism. "Them" and "us" type thinking contributes to conflict and wars world wide.
When I was six years old I used to watch double feature cowboy movies. The "goodies" wore white hats and rode white horses and the "baddies" wore black hats and rode black horses.
Fifty six years later nothing's changed.
Except I grew up.
Birthstone
Posted on: 09/06/2009 17:32
Glad to hear it Pilgrim. I think though, that the circle of "Us" is really settling into a very very small circle of powerful, very rich people who truly don't give a damn about everyone else. The rest of the world becomes their "THEM" no matter what lines are used. And it serves their purpose to have the rest of the world squabble and fight.
graeme
Posted on: 09/06/2009 17:34
re the cowboys, only very recently are a few of them black - and that's very few and very recent. In fact, something over 30% were black.
Pilgrims Progress
Posted on: 09/07/2009 00:48
graeme,
Just to clarify, I was referring to the colour of the cowboys's hats and horses - not their colour.
30% were black? That's amazing - from memory there was just "goodies", baddies" and Red Indians in the movies.
graeme
Posted on: 09/07/2009 09:00
oh, i knew your reference. But I had just learned the number, and ws dying to use it. I was reading up on the /Alamo, and was surprised to realize an important motive of the heroes like Davy Crockett was the preservation of slavery. The Americans in Texas had over 5000 slaves, and Jim Bowie was a slave trader. But Mexican law forbade slavery - so the men at the alamo were truly defending the American way.
Just more of the caricatures we are trained to think in.
Kappa
Posted on: 09/07/2009 09:53
I believe "us" versus "them" thinking is very easy to fall into anyway, with humans being what we are. Not that I don't think we can rise above it, but things like Fox News and other forms of extremely biased media make it easier. But it's not just certain people (them) who fall prey to "us/them" -- it is all of US. And that's hard to stomach, because, besides the "us/them" bias, most of us want to see ourselves as fair-minded.
I can't believe the Reader's Digest sometimes. I used to like reading the stories, but began to notice by the time I graduated from high school that there was a definite right-wing slant to them.
jesouhaite777
Posted on: 09/07/2009 10:19
That shows how the news media and the politicians can so easily affect our thinking.
Well not everyone is that gullible ....
I can't believe that people read RD jeeze ..... it's so obsolete
graeme
Posted on: 09/07/2009 13:47
Hey, RD is one of the best paying markets out there, and also very professional in its understanding of how to write and how to market. I love it. It has paid me very well indeed.
But, yeah, it can be painfully trivial and ploddingly right wing.
Pilgrims Progress
Posted on: 09/07/2009 16:46
I believe "us" versus "them" thinking is very easy to fall into anyway, with humans being what we are. Not that I don't think we can rise above it, but things like Fox News and other forms of extremely biased media make it easier. But it's not just certain people (them) who fall prey to "us/them" -- it is all of US. And that's hard to stomach, because, besides the "us/them" bias, most of us want to see ourselves as fair-minded.
Yes, Kappa, we do all fall prey to "us/them" thinking at times. Since many call centres have "moved" to India I plead guilty. Recently, overwhelmed with frustration at not being understood, I caught myself muttering, "I wish there was an Australian at the end of the line."
(Mind you, with our strange accent, the rest of the world might have a few problems.)