Excellent article, re: Do we need cultural policing to reinforce our heritage? Or do we need to build our own sense of self-respect and self-worth without being swept away by the market? Folks, You won't find reality on the tube; you have allowed your Soul to be smothered by illusions. The Taxpayer ultimately pays the penalty of excessive imports vs. exports by virtue of defaulted taxpayer-backed, or bailed-out, bank loans to the importer; your enjoyment in buying low-price imports is an illusion. Don't be a pawn of the international bankster cartel; look for a major economic adjustment because of all the credit you have run up buying what you WANT, instead of buying what you NEED. Bard ************************ Reality is the illusion we create from the lack of truth. ************************ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rodrigo Cesar Banhara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Rodrigo Cesar Banhara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2000 9:00 AM Subject: [Strait_Truth] Fwd: IMAGE MERCHNATS AND CULTURE MAFIAS > ==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== > >Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 01:25:08 +0530 > >From: ncas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: John Samuel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Bina Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: IMAGE MERCHNATS AND CULTURE MAFIAS > > Dear Friends: > > Attached herewith is the latest column "Straight-Talk" [Who cares about > reality? The images is all] by John Samuel which was published in > Humanscape in March 2000, which may be of interest to you. > > Kindly acknowledge the same. > > Thaking you, > > Yours sincerely > > Balram Khandare > For NCAS Team. > > ############################################################################ ############################ > > IMAGE MERCHANTS AND CULTURE MAFIAS > > by *John Samuel > > > ############################################################################ ############################ > > INTRODUCTION: > In Indonesia, devout Muslim women named Gayatri or Laxmi read the > Bhagvad Gita . In India too, Muslims and Hindus have > shared a culture of co-existence and assimilation. But reality is > buried. The image that the cultural mafia markets, legitimises and uses > to subvert societies and cultures would have us believe that all Muslims > are fundamentalists, all Christians are out to convert the world, and > all Hindus are fanatics > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ > What is Ganesha doing in the drawing room of a devout Muslim? How come > Muslim women who pray to Allah five times a day are named Parvati, > Laxmi, Gayatri or Devi? Is this a social aberration? No, it's the norm > in thousands of Muslim households in Indonesia. > > In one of several Muslim homes I visited during my recent trip to > Indonesia, I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of the Bhagvad > Gita. The volume was not just sitting on a shelf, it was being > assiduously studied, with paragraphs underlined, and notes in the > margin. > > Back in Pune, I live near an important Muslim shrine -- of Sadal Baba. > Every day I notice that it's not just Muslim devotees who visit this > shrine, but Hindus as well. The annual festival transcends the > traditional boundaries of both religions. Likewise, in my village in > Kerala I grew up on legends surrounding the ancient Syrian Christian > church as much as legends about the Devi of the ancient local temple. > > This is the reality. The reality of co-existence, reconciliation and > assimilation. But increasingly such realities are being rendered almost > invisible. What matters most is the image. An image that is > constructed, marketed, legitimised and used to subvert society and > culture. Cultural policing is a strategy used by most chauvinistic and > fanatical elements across the world. We hear a lot of criticism about > bulldozing market globalisation. But knee-jerk cultural reactions are > equally dangerous and counterproductive, and yet this is not a > phenomenon that is being discussed. > > Bulldozing market capitalism and knee-jerk cultural relativism feed into > each other in paradoxical ways. One significant aspect of the > information and media revolution is the predominance of images in > determining reality. There was a time when reality shaped the image. > Reality found expression in innumerable creative ways and was > transformed into powerful images and metaphors in poetry, plays, > painting, art and architecture. Now the process seems to have been > reversed. Images are increasingly shaping our sense and sensibilities. > And images are being used to interpret and influence reality rather than > the other way around. In the image-saturated streets of the globalised > economies, poetry is dead and buried. There are few novels depicting the > nuances of living people. Instead, there is a proliferation of images of > the future, coalescing into science fiction. > Playgrounds are deserted because children no longer want to run around > getting their legs and hands dirty. They prefer simulated football > matches and motorcycle races in a cybercafe. Markets thrive on images. > So when an Indian writer gets a Booker Prize, the book is marketed more > like a consumer product based on its image rather than on the merit of > the work. Images of huge advances and box-office hits determine the > reality of whether a novel is read, or a film > watched. > > Ironically, the construction and marketing of stereotypical images are > the strategies that are used by emerging cultural mafias across the > world. We call them cultural mafias because they use culture unethically > and unscrupulously as a means of amassing wealth and power to subjugate > peoples and society. > > So when you hear the word `Islam', it is the image of the Taliban or > Osama bin Laden that immediately comes to mind. Not images of the > liberal, tolerant and indigenous Muslims of Indonesia, a country with > one of the largest Muslim populations. When one hears the word `Hindu > nationalist', it is not the image of Vivekananda, Gandhi or Aurobindo > that is summoned. It is the vandalism and the hooliganism of a minority > of Hindu fanatics that comes to mind. The image of the Christian in > India is likewise slowly being constructed as someone with western > loyalty, out to convert anybody and everybody. > > These images are constructed over time to conceal reality and manipulate > middle class opinion in a way that would suit the needs of the cultural > mafia. The Islamic Taliban, the extreme right-wing Christian > fundamentalist, the Hindu fanatics and the ultra nationalist in Russia, > Germany and Austria are manifestations of an emerging global mafia > that seeks to subvert existing structures of power and legitimacy for > their own ends. > > The images are built around cultural stereotypes constructed around > selective images from history and the conservative social spectrum. We > all know that the majority of Muslims do not marry four times or > proclaim divorce at the drop of a hat. We know there have been very > tolerant Muslim rulers like Akbar and reformist leaders like Dara > Shukoh. But the images that are thrust upon us are based on biased > interpretations and selective image construction. Hence Saddam Hussain's > image in Iraq is of a courageous saviour; but according to the western > media he is synonymous with evil. Both images are based on the > construction of stereotypes and sweeping generalizations. There are many > Jews who are successful bankers but that does not mean all Jews are > bankers or moneylenders. > > Manipulative image construction can have very dangerous political > consequences. The consequence of stereotyping is abundant in history: > the stereotyping of the Jews as exploiters in pre-Hitlerite Germany, the > socio-political dissents as imperialist agents in the Soviet Union, the > leftist sympathies as anti-American, and the stereotyping of > intellectuals as anti-national and anti-poor during the Cultural > Revolution in China. Such politically manipulative steriotypes left > behind unspeakable legacy of tragedies in human history. > > The 20th century is witness to the fact that all stereotypes tend to be > lies that lead to untold misery and wretched years filled with dead > bodies and destruction. Though Hitler and Stalin had a different > rhetoric and logic, at the end of the day there seemed to be little > difference between the two. The ordinary people of Germany had a bitter > taste of the consequences of such manipulative images and the people of > Russia are still suffering the unintended byproduct of Stalinism. > > The image-building industry is not, however, part of any grand > conspiracy. It seems to emerge partly from the insecurity and paranoia > of the middle classes in different countries, and partly from the > tendency to present news and views as consumer products packaged with > striking images and sensational coverage. Television thrives on images. > Each channel uses image marketing to compete with the others. Thus > trivial and insignificant personalized images like that of Princess > Diana's romancing or the Clinton-Monica Lewinsky thriller ended up as > global preoccupations. People got the same kind of thrills watching the > bombing of Iraq as they did watching images of a boxing championship or > World Cup cricket. All of a sudden Osama bin Laden became the metaphor > for Islam and the Taliban the benchmark of Islamic puritanism. The new > Christian missionaries have become more concerned with marketing images > of Christianity rather than taking the cross in their real lives. Their > enthusiasm to save the world from sin was more visible on television > channel than in real life experience or action. When the marketing > managers of established churches sell salvation like soap or fast food, > they are basically creating and marketing images of salvation rather > than spreading the real message. Highly visible marketing without any > real consequences create backlashes in the form of knee-jerk cultural > reactions and cultural glorification. No wonder the prevalent image of > the Christian is beginning to be that of the overzealous southern > Baptist out to save and convert the dark continent of Asia. > > And yet the reality is that most Hindus are preoccupied with survival > issues -- better food, shelter and social amenities. As are Muslims, > Christians, Jews and Buddhists. Every Christian is not a proselytising > maniac any more than every Hindu is rabidly campaigning against > Valentines day. It is the power-seeking minority that builds these > stereotypical images and sells it through co-opted intellectuals ready > to sell even their soul for a price. > > The bulldozing tendency of the globalised market does create a cultural > paranoia among the middle classes across the world. This paranoia, based > on dominating images and symbols, creates social and political myths > based on half-truths. The regressive and politically frustrated elements > in each religious and cultural stream make use of the middle class > paranoia by further reinforcing cultural stereotypes and myths. Such > myths are by and large based on a glorification of the past and on > shifting all the blame for socio-economic inadequacies on the immediate > other. The media, which is more preoccupied with its market share than > long-term social responsibility, feeds the social tension by piling on > more and more sensational images for more and more buyers. This is how a > critical mass of social acceptance is achieved for such stereotyping. > The stereotyping of the image is aggressively marketed and then > legitimized by intellectuals and academicians who give a veneer of > intellectual sophistication to cultural mafias across the world. That > is why the Nazis made use of the work of Neitzsche and Heidegger. That > is why the erstwhile leftist intellectuals in India are increasingly > turning saffron. That is why erstwhile progressive editors are writing > articles > that legitimise stereotyped images: there's a ministerial chair in their > sights. The free-floating intellectuals and cultural activists are > social parasites that cling to the powerholders of the day. That is why > they glorify cultural essentialism and extreme forms of cultural > relativism. > > We need to make a distinction between cultural self-reliance and > cultural jingoism. Images of Valentines day are rooted in the logic of > the globalised marketing of the entertainment, greetings card and > fashion industries. It's all about unhindered profits. A knee-jerk > reaction to marketing of these images of modern romance is not a > solution to the bulldozing market logic. The same > cultural mafia which is busy wooing multinational corporations and their > markets on the one hand is on the other hand questioning everything > under the sun presumably because it has a foreign (read western) > origin. Instead of exposing the dangerous consequences of this > politico-cultural trapeze act, our intellectual and media parasites busy > themselves catching fish in these muddied waters. > > Zhirinovsky in Russia, Bin Laden in Afghanistan and their counterparts > in India are thriving because of short-term political consumerism and > the emerging cultural paranoia. The response to bulldozing globalisation > and knee-jerk cultural reaction should emerge out of new reform > movement, locally and globally, that revitalizes the liberating, > humanizing and eclectic streams of culture. A social, cultural and > political reform based on real life experiences rather than marketed > images and > consumerist culture. > > Culture is a double-edged sword. In the name of culture, women are > denied justice, in the name of culture untouchability is being > practiced, in the name of culture the black are seen as inferior and > human rights are denied. The worst atrocities in the world are committed > in the name of culture. There are vultures all over the world that > thrive on the destructive elements of culture. The entire social and > cultural practice of the world has evolved through mutual influence, > assimilation and reinforcement. That is why a Muslim child in Indonesia > knows more about the Ramayana than an Indian child who is forcefed a > dose of our glorified cultural past every now and then. That is why the > great Indian middle class is still bothered about its English accent. > That is why the Indian Constitution is considered as one of the best in > the world. That is why our politicians talk about cultural purity in a > parliament building constructed by the English colonialist. That is why > we are still talking about democracy on our television chatshows. > Culture is not an island. It is a bridge that connects people, nations > and humanity. Culture is a sense of belonging, not a denial of the > other's belonging. That is why we have to shake off our drawing-room > complacency to redeem > culture from the cultural mafia. Do we need cultural policing to > reinforce our heritage? Or do we need to build our own sense of > self-respect and self-worth without being swept away by the market? > > ________________________________ > *John Samuel writes on social change. He works with the National Centre > for Advocacy Studies, Pune > > > WE HAVE SHIFTED OUR OFFICE TO: > > National Centre for Advocacy Studies > Serenity Complex, > Ramnagar Colony, > Pashan, Pune 411 021 > Tel./Fax : 091-20-5898003 / 5898004 > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Website: http://www.ncasindia.org > > > PLEASE VISIT TO HUMANSCAPE SITE > > http://www.humanscapeindia.org > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. 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