(no subject)
I've come to the conclusion that my aimlessly and absolutely pointlessly incessant ramblings aren't worth anybody's time to read, so from now on, i am going to try to add some substance to waht i type. lol. from now on that is...for now i think ill ramble. ugh i feel like a piece of shit...well last nite was fun we went to trays house n spent tha entire nite playin video games lol n then got back home this mornin and kinda dozed offf...and how im up witha headache contemplating how much homewrk i have to do. o well ill get it done. so now... here is the result of kickin back, chillin to old school music, and thrwoin down wright style...
Ascending bikini insurgency
Me
An epiphany of Eric Hoffer, author of The True Believer, is that the oppressed and impoverished can be content with their miserable lot forever, just as long as none of them get a taste of wealth or luxury. After that happens, revolution is bound to follow because that taste is irresistable. Such patterns have been followed throught out history. It's remarkable to see that man can find pockets of comfort even in desolation, but depressing to know that hardship or subjugation alone is not enough to breed discontent. An outside force is always necessary. The export of Western culture to the stagnant middle east is on the road to planting just these kinds of seeds, but in the case of the Taliban the revolution had to be sped up a bit with guns and bombs. That's because ultra conservatism is a dangerous, but frequent reaction to cultural invasion.
Anti-globalists are right when they point out that the insinuation of western ideals has a contaminating effect on local cultures. If the local fare can't compete, then it doesn't take long before Coke and Madonna have quickly usurped positions once held by traditional offerings, especially among the young. Third world economies may also find themselves with an inability to match the price and finish of western goods as well, because their manufacturing base can't reach the bar set by firms with western financial backing and factory experience. This inevitably means little competition for land and labor when foreign firms want to start building their bottling plants locally, and so traditions are suppressed yet again. But anti-globalists are wrong if they think westernization is a tragedy anywhere but in the countries most likely to be overwhelmed by it.
In a flash of self doubt after the 9/11 attack, Americans felt thorns of guilt when-just for a moment-they considered that their Imperialistic ways brought all of that horror on themselves, and there was no-one but ourselves to blame. Both our interference with other nations' affairs, coupled with our ceaseless broadcast of western ideals and culture, had pissed off the wrong people, and now we got what we deserved. Without context, this could be true.
But strong countries with healthy cultures don't suffer from western assimilation. We don't see bin Ladens emerging from countries like Japan, France, Germany, or the Muslim-but-secular Turkey, despite the fact that American ideals and culture competes with those of each. We can't compare the tame sillyness of French language mandates with that September's violence, and finding Coca Cola on sale in an Indian supermarket is not a sign that tender coconut is on the way out.
As a product of human freedom, culture shouldn't be protected at the expense of human freedom, but man's natural resistance to change can, in its worst form, produce the mindset of religious fundamentalists who'd rather kill than see their neighbors chose western ideals over local ones. That's why the presense of female soldiers in Saudi Arabia spawned al Qaeda. Bin Laden knows something of Hoffer: his fear is that rational muslims will see something they like and chose to adopt it at the expense of the values he holds dear.
It's absolutely unquestionable that the citizens of poor nations will strive to westernize their cultures if left alone, leaving old lifestyles to adapt or die. But the lack of economic and cultural success in these countries has to do with inept leadership and not an inherent flaw in the culture itself, which means old ways aren't nearly as threatened as the terrorists and Houses that support them are. In cases where muslims and hindi have migrated to western countries, they've kept their culture and it wasn't because they fear change. They drink Coke and listen to pop music, but it doesn't seem to make them rip off their turbans and head scarves.
Voluntary adherence to traditional customs in a sea of hedonistic western ideas also contradicts the phobic arguments we're now hearing from the left, in particular the fear of what western images of female bodies - ultra-thin and excessively endowed - are doing to the psyche and health of our own women. And just like what the export of Coca Cola does to muslim countries, pictures of female toothpicks in Calvin Klein ads, Baywatch, Barbie, and so-on, have a genuine and measurable impact on a lot of young and impressionable girls. But again, western culture could only be called guilty if we removed the context.
Anorexia nervosa, the wasting disease of many young women, is usually the result of a girl attempting to exercise some form of control over her life because it's been denied everywhere else by her excessively protective family. The affliction is not notable in relaxed and permissive families, and at worst, culture could only be blamed for providing the wrong suggestion at the right time.
Ironically it's the culture blamed for unrealistic female images, or anti-Muslim ideals, which is providing the most liberating and healthy role models for both groups of women to follow. What we call Americanism is not a set of dress or diet codes, it's an attitude of diving head-first at the deep end-a rapid and voluntary adoption of foreign ideas with confidence.
The countries best set to resist a revolution are the ones that aren't suppressing the freedom to seek luxuries. These countries also tend to retain and even export their native cultures because that freedom also includes the liberty to adapt and commercialize it.
For symbols to represent the Taliban's oppression, the burka is ideal: it's the garment forced upon women that covers them completely from head to toe-leaving nothing but a few pinholes to see and breathe through. So for its counterpart-a symbol of freedom, health, and confidence-let me vote now for the simple, non-mandatory, and aesthetically pleasing g-string bikini.
I can't think of anything sweeter to spark a revolution with.
Ascending bikini insurgency
Me
An epiphany of Eric Hoffer, author of The True Believer, is that the oppressed and impoverished can be content with their miserable lot forever, just as long as none of them get a taste of wealth or luxury. After that happens, revolution is bound to follow because that taste is irresistable. Such patterns have been followed throught out history. It's remarkable to see that man can find pockets of comfort even in desolation, but depressing to know that hardship or subjugation alone is not enough to breed discontent. An outside force is always necessary. The export of Western culture to the stagnant middle east is on the road to planting just these kinds of seeds, but in the case of the Taliban the revolution had to be sped up a bit with guns and bombs. That's because ultra conservatism is a dangerous, but frequent reaction to cultural invasion.
Anti-globalists are right when they point out that the insinuation of western ideals has a contaminating effect on local cultures. If the local fare can't compete, then it doesn't take long before Coke and Madonna have quickly usurped positions once held by traditional offerings, especially among the young. Third world economies may also find themselves with an inability to match the price and finish of western goods as well, because their manufacturing base can't reach the bar set by firms with western financial backing and factory experience. This inevitably means little competition for land and labor when foreign firms want to start building their bottling plants locally, and so traditions are suppressed yet again. But anti-globalists are wrong if they think westernization is a tragedy anywhere but in the countries most likely to be overwhelmed by it.
In a flash of self doubt after the 9/11 attack, Americans felt thorns of guilt when-just for a moment-they considered that their Imperialistic ways brought all of that horror on themselves, and there was no-one but ourselves to blame. Both our interference with other nations' affairs, coupled with our ceaseless broadcast of western ideals and culture, had pissed off the wrong people, and now we got what we deserved. Without context, this could be true.
But strong countries with healthy cultures don't suffer from western assimilation. We don't see bin Ladens emerging from countries like Japan, France, Germany, or the Muslim-but-secular Turkey, despite the fact that American ideals and culture competes with those of each. We can't compare the tame sillyness of French language mandates with that September's violence, and finding Coca Cola on sale in an Indian supermarket is not a sign that tender coconut is on the way out.
As a product of human freedom, culture shouldn't be protected at the expense of human freedom, but man's natural resistance to change can, in its worst form, produce the mindset of religious fundamentalists who'd rather kill than see their neighbors chose western ideals over local ones. That's why the presense of female soldiers in Saudi Arabia spawned al Qaeda. Bin Laden knows something of Hoffer: his fear is that rational muslims will see something they like and chose to adopt it at the expense of the values he holds dear.
It's absolutely unquestionable that the citizens of poor nations will strive to westernize their cultures if left alone, leaving old lifestyles to adapt or die. But the lack of economic and cultural success in these countries has to do with inept leadership and not an inherent flaw in the culture itself, which means old ways aren't nearly as threatened as the terrorists and Houses that support them are. In cases where muslims and hindi have migrated to western countries, they've kept their culture and it wasn't because they fear change. They drink Coke and listen to pop music, but it doesn't seem to make them rip off their turbans and head scarves.
Voluntary adherence to traditional customs in a sea of hedonistic western ideas also contradicts the phobic arguments we're now hearing from the left, in particular the fear of what western images of female bodies - ultra-thin and excessively endowed - are doing to the psyche and health of our own women. And just like what the export of Coca Cola does to muslim countries, pictures of female toothpicks in Calvin Klein ads, Baywatch, Barbie, and so-on, have a genuine and measurable impact on a lot of young and impressionable girls. But again, western culture could only be called guilty if we removed the context.
Anorexia nervosa, the wasting disease of many young women, is usually the result of a girl attempting to exercise some form of control over her life because it's been denied everywhere else by her excessively protective family. The affliction is not notable in relaxed and permissive families, and at worst, culture could only be blamed for providing the wrong suggestion at the right time.
Ironically it's the culture blamed for unrealistic female images, or anti-Muslim ideals, which is providing the most liberating and healthy role models for both groups of women to follow. What we call Americanism is not a set of dress or diet codes, it's an attitude of diving head-first at the deep end-a rapid and voluntary adoption of foreign ideas with confidence.
The countries best set to resist a revolution are the ones that aren't suppressing the freedom to seek luxuries. These countries also tend to retain and even export their native cultures because that freedom also includes the liberty to adapt and commercialize it.
For symbols to represent the Taliban's oppression, the burka is ideal: it's the garment forced upon women that covers them completely from head to toe-leaving nothing but a few pinholes to see and breathe through. So for its counterpart-a symbol of freedom, health, and confidence-let me vote now for the simple, non-mandatory, and aesthetically pleasing g-string bikini.
I can't think of anything sweeter to spark a revolution with.