“….it was the multicultural aspects of the developed [countries] that fostered this mutual distancing [state from state]. By creating a culture in which the international media and entertainment industry had more influence than the national political class of any state, the states of the twenty-first century had also created a powerful weapon that destabilised other societies and, even in their own societies, brought forth violent reactions that sought to restore the cultural values that were apparently being cast away. International communications at first made famines in faraway countries moving and tragic; eventually, these events seemed tiresome and inevitable. International communications initially made the prosperity and liberty of the developed states alluring; eventually these qualities came to seem vulgar and addictive. The national political class was powerless to either lead a state’s people toward compassion or insulate a state from cultural invasion. The fragmentation that then occurred in these developed states was only an inner reflection of the alienation their peoples felt toward the outer, foreign world; the contact with other cultures had reinforced the intractability of cultural differences and the felt need to avoid the frustration and danger of such encounters. ”
This book is great but just so heavy. It’s taken me a year to read and, if I’m honest, I couldn’t really tell you the salient points. Sometimes I had to re-read pages over two or three times as I found I was reading it without actually taking anything in! It’s not a light read. However, it is interesting. As a speaker, the guy is fantastic and his lectures must be some of the most interesting.
I’m nearly at the end and this is the most interesting part, where he describes the possible new world orders. The history that we’re living right now. The end of the Cold War was, in his view, the end of the ‘Long War’ that had started as the fight between Communism, Fascism and the rest (so, basically, the whole of the 20th century) from those who had a State Nation to those who had moved to be a Nation State (read the book to understand – or not).
Of course, we’re now into this new war between those countries that are moving from Nation State to Market State. The ideals upon which we base our society and organise our ‘countries’.
Above, he is describing one of the possible new world orders and trying to describe how it might develop. In my opinion, it will probably be a bit of a mixture of the three he describes but I thought the paragraph was interesting. Politics run by the media. Hmm, haven’t we already got that? I think one of the most prevalent phrases when the Government (in the UK and elsewhere) does anything is ‘knee-jerk reaction’, often based on the media interpretation of events or situations.
The most telling, IMHO, was the time that Princess Diana died. It seemed that we were in a very small minority of almost-unaffected people. The hysteria was totally whipped up by the media and the people just seemed to follow it blindly. I remember it was as if you were a pariah if you didn’t burst into tears for about a week afterwards. It’s a frightening thing. Watch ‘The Queen’ in a detached way and you’ll see what I mean.
And we’ve just had all the wringing of hands about the phone competitions and the bad portrayal of the Queen. Reaction: let’s not use the company that did this portrayal, let’s suspend a load of high level people at the BBC. Now, there’s a knee-jerk reaction. And, really, do enough of us really care? Does it really bother you if there was a winner of a ‘badge’ or something on Blue Peter, wasn’t actually one of the entrants? Do you think that your view of the Queen has changed because of some editing? No, I didn’t think so. So, why all the big hoo-ha? Because, as everyone should know, the media ARE the new politics, the new parliament and, therefore, we should have checks on them. But within a few days/weeks, the suspended people will be reinstated, a new code written that will pay lip-service to the changes suggested and the company that did the supposed hatchet-job on the Queen will, quietly, be inundated with work.
And I have no problem with those things happening. If people are too stupid to question the media in their own mind then they are, well, just too stupid. One cannot believe anything written, especially in the great British media. And now, every TV or radio broadcaster and every newspaper and magazine are trying to win your vote by proving that they are the ones that are the truth-sayers and in whom we can really trust.
Humph!
*Extract from Phillip Bobbitt – The Shield of Achilles, Chapter 25 – Possible Worlds.