Quote:
Originally posted by Faceman:
quote:
Originally posted by Oblivion437:
America wasn't better off following the release of Bowling for Columbine.
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I disagree.
Because BFC made us "bleeding heart liberal Europeans" realise that there are some "bleeding heart liberal" Americans" too, which greatly improved the opinion Europeans (especially intellectuals) had of the US.
Believe it or not, BFC was the base of a major opinion change in Europe. Many people now don't think badly about the US but only about the US government, which can be shrugged off easily in the near future when the government changes (be Bush reelected or not, it's only a matter of time). A lot of bad prejudice against the American people is gone and that's thanks to Mr. Moore and his movies. [/QUOTE]Touche.
Oblivion, it doesn't matter whether you think Moore is right or wrong, a nutter or not, the point is that in the US the tendency is
instinctively not to watch or even consider that some points raised might have credibility. This is unhealthy in the extreme as countless political philosophers have pointed out, perhaps the most noted that comes to mind being Mill.
As for your 'ignorant people across the ocean' comment, the European's are still willing to consider alternative points of view. Hence, "give us evidence that Saddam has WMD's and we'll help" for example. The American's in contrast, weren't willing to accept that he might not have any at all.
As for the comments about American's being false portrayed as ignorant by BFC, large swathes of the population are. Especially in the small, god-fearing towns that make up the bulk of middle America. My tutor for international relations has just come to the UK from teaching the same subject in America for several years, and he is amazed at how ignorant the average student he taught was about the rest of the world. It's hard for news from the next state to get on your TV in the US, let alone the rest of the world. When world news does appear, it's through blinkered and distorted eyes.
I would also like to consider myself as not being ignorant, having spent several months in America at various points in my life, and I have to say that the 'ignorant American' stereotype does seem to be accurate, and also that the 'bleeding heart liberal' seems to be the most informed type of American. I know schoolteachers who didn't realise that Britain was an island, but thought it was attached to mainland Europe. People think that Saddam masterminded September 11th because the government linked him to Al-Qaeda. People fall back on patriotism as a substitute for original thinking.
I just watched a news report which went to the hometown of Lynndie England and asked local residents what they thought, and their answers were apalling. Things like "well, people forget about the atrocities in World War Two" (which is relavent how?) and "this is them trying to show us as the bad guys. but we're not." It is this stubborn refusal to believe that the world view of the US as the 'bad guy' could be founded in some truth that is most damaging. All this taking place with the "patriotic shoe shop" (actual sign!!) in the background.
Sure, some people are indoctrinated to hate the US, obviously this isn't a valid viewpoint. But most Europeans
are well-educated and have easy access to unbiased media sources yet large amounts would view America as the 'bad guy'. Even if you don't accept that this number of people must be right, the big failure is when you don't even examine the validity of their views.
Instead, dissenting voices are branded taboo - witness the vicious backlash amongst some of the American public against the French for example. Also the portrayal of the Arabic world as being almost sub-human and who's protests against American actions are brushed aside as if they don't matter. Of course, what the average american has never been told is that there have been several hugely succesful Arabic and Islamic empires before America was a twinkle in a pilgrim's eye. Civilization was born there and they have a rich history. Just because their culture is so different, doesn't mean it's automatically inferior.
But i digress. BFC was good for America because it gave the rest of the world hope that there are some people inside America who may yet consider alternate views, understand the need for the US to consider others in its foreign policy and ultimately make the world a safer place.