SUNDAY REWIND | Culture clash… or propaganda?
By 
Shan-ul-Hai •
June 15, 2008
There’s a fact that I’ve always taken for granted; recently, I learned that it’s not common knowledge. It was always so obvious to me that I started to wonder why most people don’t know this.
Did you know that the Middle East is generally impressed with Western culture? People often think that the anti-American sentiment we always hear about implies an imminent culture clash in rapidly developing emirates like Dubai. In fact, a lot of the people in the developed part of the Middle East love the concept of our clothes, movies, and even cars (eek!). I can’t think of any logical reason why people in an oil-rich Sultanate would choose to drive a Ford/Shelby Mustang GT instead of the far-superior and equally-priced Nissan Skyline GT-R (or BMW M3 or Audi RS4) but for some reason, “American” is synonymous with “classy” there. Why don’t most Americans know this?
Don’t get confused… they hate our foreign policy and our Americocentrism. But Kuwait’s beachfront also has a popular restaurant called Big Al’s Steakhouse, right between the Applebee’s and the Ruby Tuesday (keep in mind that beachfront property is not cheap… there are much better Arab restaurants down the street, but they’re not nearly as popular). If you have an American passport or an American degree, you are a first-class citizen; my Pakistani passport, on the other hand, isn’t even good enough to get me a full-access visa despite the fact that I have connections there. How can they hate American foreign policy but like our culture?
Well, the answer is simple: most of the world is, unlike us, capable of distinguishing a country’s political policies from their individual people. In my birth country of Pakistan, for instance, most of the people resent the past British rule and India’s firmness with regard to Kashmir. Meanwhile, they have no problem moving to England or making friends with Indians. The reason is because we understand that our friends in India and England are not the ones who make those policies… and that those policies don’t directly affect us anyway.
So why is there growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the US? I have no qualms about hating Al-Qaeda or even Ahmadinejad. But why does the average American maintain a personal feud with the average Palestinian who wants nothing more than the right to go back home? Most Muslims are peaceful and don’t share the radical right-wing views. Most Arabs understand the difference between Bush’s failed policies and the average American’s blissful ignorance… why can’t most Americans understand the difference between Osama bin Laden’s belligerence and the average Arab’s benevolent neutrality?
Enter propaganda. If you can be convinced that all Arabs hate all Americans, it’s much easier to convince you to endorse a campaign against them.
Popularity: 22% [?]
| 3.2 |
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Wonderfully said…and you are so correct! It is not obvious that much of our news and entertainment is laced with ulterior motives. The propaganda is sometimes so subtle that even someone like me who is aware of those layers of manipulations can fall prey to quick assumptions (often incorrect) based solely on race or cultural affiliation.
I’m going to link to this in my blog. More people need to see this!
perhaps you are right … perhaps there is more neutrality in the middle east than hatred. But I think you are forgetting the fact that every country has liberals and conservatives. And liberals everywhere tend to NOT look down on foreign cultures … And there are a number of us, Americans, who don’t hate Islam or any religion for that matter.
But why does the average American maintain a personal feud with the average Palestinian who wants nothing more than the right to go back home?
I personally don’t think you understand the absurdity of this statement. Most Israelis just want to live in the country they’ve lived in for the past 60 yrs .. And they feel that Palestinians aren’t letting them do that … But why does Palestine not realize this?
Well, the answer is simple: most of the world is, unlike us, capable of distinguishing a country’s political policies from their individual people
Pakistanis and Indians move to the west not because they love these countries but because they have better opportunities there. They are willing to live wherever have the opportunity to succeed. Pakistanis and Indians become friends not because they don’t hate each other but b/c they have a much similar culture and can understand each other than say Whites or Blacks … Chinese would be more willing to mingle w/ Koreans and Japanese than South Asians in America simply b/c they understand each others’ culture better … They become friends not out of love but out of inevitability.
Contrary to what you portray, America is actually a great country in terms of recognizing other cultures and people … Simply consider how a South Asian immigrant maybe treated in the US compared to say Middle East. In America they are almost equals … while in majority of Middle East these immigrants are treated like slaves. In America, you can buy a house, you have religious freedom, your kids go to same schools as Americans … etc
Sadly, there are notable exceptions like Latinos and blacks etc … but time will hopefully change that …
Yeah, I realize that you can’t expect Israelis to just evacuate… it’s not a one-sided argument on either side. The Palestinians want to go home, the Israelis want to stay at home; I’m not taking a side, but I’m just saying that we should be able to sympathize with both plights.
I agree that America is great at “recognizing other cultures and people”… but I’ve also seen plenty of people in the US who can’t differentiate between a country’s individual people and their political policies. I haven’t noticed the same trend in other countries, but I’d like to see a study to support (or refute) that…
[…] wrote an interesting article on Globally Rational where he asks: So why is there growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the US? I have no qualms about […]
I just wanted to comment on your blog post, since I just gave you a pingback. In response, let me say that it amounts to a kind of narcissism on the part of less educated Americans. I go into that in greater detail on my blog. BTW-it is ironic that you reference being a citizen of the world since I just wrote a post tonight referencing that exact same quote by socrates.
But why does the average American maintain a personal feud with the average Palestinian who wants nothing more than the right to go back home?
I’m pretty sure that the average American has no idea where Palestine is, much less enough about it to have any kind of strong emotions.