Providing proof positive that Americans have needed to delude themselves as far back as the late 1940s about the world, the following 'educational’ shorts were used to seduce unsophisticated moviegoers. These 'classics' were produced in 1948 [‘Make Mine Freedom’] and 1951 [‘Communism’]. The first short is unusual because, despite its high production values, it was a product of Harding College, a private Christian university located in Searcy, Arkansas.
Anti-Communist Propaganda [9:30]
American Propaganda 1951: Communism [10:40]
Both videos demonstrate the zeitgeist possessing America in the 1950s [and which appears to be back again in force], when anything was possible and saying 'America, my country right or wrong' didn't sound near as trite as it does now. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.
The full version of this interview was even stranger because Wolf Blitzer just kept agreeing with the Donald as he went on venting about how dubya was the WORST President EVER. Trump correctly pointed out that the current administrations actions has resulted in nations traditionally allied with America to begin distancing themselves while neutral nations have begun to appear to dislike the US. He went on to suggest that the only viable solution for the ongoing debacle in Iraq is for America to declare victory and then immediately withdraw everything. [Like the 1970s t-shirt slogan' 'Do Unto Others, Then Split'] While this initially sounds absurd, it makes about as much sense as attempting to occupy Iraq for another decade or two.
And on a slightly different note, this video presents Mankiw's 10 principles of economics translated for the uninitiated [i.e. everyone without a PhD in economics] by Yoram Bauman. Originally filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference session on humour [16 February 2007], this presentation was based on an article first published in The Annals of Improbable Research. The paper also goes on to provide a "constructive example" of how the exchange process can actually serve to make everyone involved worse off.
On a slightly different note, the following video provides advice for aspiring young Marxists. The use of public source material and the Internet, while arguably technologically elitist, still allows for individuals who would otherwise be unable to connect to communicate. In the dark age ahead, communication will be central. The use of public source material is equally of use for the frugal radical but I suspect that if Bakunin were alive today, his take on the matter would be that 'Intellectual property is theft!'
A Guide for New Marxists [1:10]
I suppose the mere presence of this on my blog is enough to make certain members of Rabble turn me in to the proper authorities for 'head fixing.'
Cartoons of the World, Unite! You Have Nothing to Lose but your Animators!
In a unique homage to the potential for subversion in the celluloid medium, Manifestoon assembles a number of classic cartoons from the Golden Age of cartooning between the 1930s and the 1950s to graphically illustrate The Communist Manifesto.
Manifestoon [8:17]
While American cartoons [specifically the work of Walt Disney's cartoon assembly line] have tended to be viewed as being merely a handmaiden to the fundamental capitalist virtues of consumerism, individualism and private property [See Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart’s How To Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic for deeper analysis], the creator of Manifestoon believes that "these ideas were secondary to a more important lesson — that of the 'trickster' nature of many characters as they mocked, outwitted and defeated their more powerful adversaries. In the classic cartoon, brute strength and heavy artillery are no match for wit and humour, and justice always prevails ... it was natural to link my own childhood concept of subversion with an established, more articulate version. Mickey running over the globe has new meaning in today's mediascape, in which Disney controls one of the largest concentrations of media."
Thursday, 22 March 2007
Just a brief follow up to 10 March 2007 posting ['More of the Same in British Columbia'] regarding Betty Krawczyk's questionable treatment by the BC court system.
She has been sentenced to ten months in the Alouette Correctional Center for Women in Maple Ridge, BC.
Betty will continue posting a blog to document her ongoing situation. The blog can be found at Betty's Early Edition.
Protect and Survive - Nuclear Explosions Explained [1:29]
If you are netsurfing and a nuclear bomb detonates in your neighbourhood, you might want to give the following PIF a quick watch. [In case you came of age in the 1990s, PIF means Public Information Film. Apparently there are plans to start making updated PIFS that take the 'new realities' into consideration] Then go put out the bonfire that is your house, talk some sense into those nasty looters in front of what used to be your house, quickly dig a hole for shelter [or body disposal] behind what used to be your house, and kiss your ass goodbye.
Protect and Survive - What To Do After An Attack [2:31]
Despite the timeless wisdom that these highly entertaining and informational videos were attempting to impart me with, I couldn't help but think that during a nuclear exchange everyone I knew was going to die and the only survivors would be the politicians and military elite who started the whole damned thing in the first place. Oh, Karma where are thou?
Luckily, things are far less stable now and I don't have to worry about those nasty Russians dropping a few dozen megs on my humble chunk of the world. My only worry now is that rogue states might use nuclear, biological and/or chemical weapons, my own government will plan something weird, or the USA will make a serious grab for Canadian territory. [Please see War Plan Red - 'A 1935 US Plan for Invasion of Canada'] for confirmation that I'm not paranoid as I sound. And as ancient as War Plan Red sounds, the earliest invasion of Canada was proposed by Benedict Arnold in 1775. Later invasions took place in 1812, and smaller invasions were led by the Hunters' Lodges during the Patriot War [1837-1838] and the Battle of the Windmill [1838]. Finally, the Fenian's launched a series of raids against Canada between 1866-1871.
'Basically .. um .. it is like California with Baghdad as L.A..." - Ann Coulter pithily summarizing the ongoing situation in Iraq.
California Dreaming? [1:34]
I'm increasingly getting the feeling that I'm watching Ann Coulter do a parody of herself when she does her 'commentaries'. I assume that when she does her the 'Ugly American' routine it's as if she's deliberately trying to stir up controversy and thus increase her own marketability at the same time. Then again, maybe she actually believes the nonsense that she's spewing. I'm not sure which idea is more troubling.
Why is it proven so difficult for individuals with an interest in the environment to avoid being tagged as being fringe-dwellers or eccentrics? And why have the green efforts that have been adopted been neutered so readily? At what point does 'buying into' the System become 'selling-out' to the System? [Or is it all just semantic hopefulness if the System, given its basic instincts and logic, proves that it can never be trusted??] Might it do the ecology movement more harm than good if the movement collectively embraced the virtues of patriotism, thereby depriving those who have been traditional less ecologically-minded of their soapbox. After all, what is better for our nation and those within than actually having a functioning planet to live on? Or would embracing patriotism risk simultaneously incorporating the more unsavory elements of nationalism into the environmental movement? After all, many of the problems currently being experienced in the environment are derived from the colonialism that occurred as part of the industrial capitalism in the late 18th century. [Not to say that the world was a verdant paradise before the first halting steps at primitive accumulation of capital and mercantile capitalism in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the commodification and proletariatization were more destructive a force on the collective psyche then any event either prior or since.]
It has been said that only fools fight in a burning building and, looking at current events, I do believe that we have been sleeping through the our wake-up call.
For more information about the cartoon, please see Rustle the Leaf.
