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The Forum > Article Comments > Pop culture masquerading as political thought > Comments

Pop culture masquerading as political thought : Comments

By Mal Bozic, published 28/10/2005

Mal Bozic argues Australians should not rush to stereotype all Americans based on the policies of President George W. Bush.

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Its very easy to project negativity onto other governments, in this case American Capitalisim but infact our own government is supporting this insanity. Infact the Australian government may even enjoy this popluar American critique, as a great diversion upon their own actions, inorder that they are held in a better light. Once again perhaps we have to look locally at our won faults before projection non locally. DONT TAKE THE BATE.
Posted by sistero, Monday, 31 October 2005 9:08:38 PM
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I have problems, Mr Scout, with people presenting their left wing arguments dressed up in moral purity. Whenever somebody claims the high moral ground, it is usually because they can not present a reasoned argument to support their viewpoint. They then have to resort to using an argument which presupposes superior moral values in order to keep pushing the left wing party line.

As a redneck and a hunter, I know when my quarry is bleeding. And I know that when a trendy lefty tries putting on morally superior airs, that he or she is unable to support their argument using logic.

The funniest thing about people who try this approach is that they have to adopt the role of moral puritans, which is a role which is not only unattractive, it contradicts the very anti establishment ethos of the social progressives. Intellectuals have traditionally poked fun at finger waggers, and when intellectuals adopt the role of finger waggers themselves, they have obviously lost the plot.

Even better, pretending to be a Paragons of Virtue tends to leave the social regressives wide open to attack. They have to pretend that they are morally above reproach themselves, all the time, and that is a pose which is difficult to maintain. Especially when one of their fave causes is the promotion of illegal drug abuse.

So what we get are a bunch of Elmer Gantry's or Jimmie Swaggart's pretending to be oh, so morally pure, while at the same time merrily sinning away themselves and hoping that nobody will notice.

I just love popping their inflated ego's with my pen.

Has it ever occured to you that "causes" such as Multiculturalism are now Conservative dogma? And you are the Conservative who is trying to prop up a failed status quo ante while right wing people are the new revolutionaries and social progressives?
Posted by redneck, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 3:57:55 AM
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Red neck - Moral indignation is 2 per cent moral and 48 per cent indignation. The other half is made up of feeling superior and giving yourself a soapbox to bleat from. The anti-americanists fit nicely into this category.

Your comments about the finger waggers feeling morally superior is a good one.

I am not a big fan of George Bush, (he is a bit too folksy for me), but when you see actors and entertainers denigrating him for being a recovering alcoholic - when half of them are recovering and relapsing drug addicts, the hypocrisy of their indignation is beyond reproach.

Not that it is only a feature of the so called Left. Former MP Ross Cameron was a bit of a morals crusader only to be found out for adultery. It is just that the rabid anti-americanists get more media attention for it and seem to be more vocal in their pursuits. More time to be exposed for the non-thinking dills they are I suppose.

t.u.s
Posted by the usual suspect, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 9:39:40 AM
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Redneck, tend to agree with you on the hypocrisy of a number of moral crusaders (on all sides), although it seems a little strange to me to include swaggart in a rant about the intellectual left, since he is neither intellectual or left. It would probably give even you a sore neck trying to look that far to the right.

anyway, I tend to agree with some of the points in this article, even if only to lament that the kind of 'pop anti-Americanism' gives commentators an easy opportunity to lump valid concerns and criticism in with the more idiotic kind as a way to discredit it. In the same way automatically dismissing any criticism is equally idiotic. It would probably better to say that extreme and exclusive positions on either side are counterproductive to any serious political discussion.

in fact I find most of the celebrity commentary acutely embarrassing, with the possible exception of a number of musicians who deliver their opinion within their music, such as Dylan, Neil young, the dead Kennedy’s and the clash. Bono just sh+ts me, but then I never liked u2 anyway.

The one thing I particularly admire about America is the robustness of the opposition, now im aware that at a federal level the dems are about as useless as labour is here, I’m referring to the level of independence and autonomy that the states, cities and even local councils enjoy. Contrary to our councils, who rarely extend themselves beyond rubbish collection, American councils appear to be the real first level of involvement in the political process, a situation that certainly appears to be more democratic than our current system, one of the benefits of the strong state rights built into their constitution.

the other good point in this article is that america's national broardcaster is a forum for very thorough critical analysis of the government, often devestatingly so, though rarelly in a way that resorts to easy biases or partisan positions
Posted by its not easy being, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 12:25:47 PM
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It is said that America is a 50-50-50 society: 50% republican, 50% democrat, and 50% who just don't care enough to vote.
Posted by SL, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 3:15:56 PM
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First to Mr The Usual Suspect. I gave you a kick on the Sea of Sadness" topic because I got your name mixed up with somebody else who has a similar funny name. Whoops. Sorry about that.

To INEB. I used Jimmy Swaggard, my dear INEB, because regardless of political, social or religious conviction, people who preach moral absolutes all have fundamentally the same mental disorder. Psychologists used to call such people “Absolutist Personalities, although what the contemporary description on the DSV IV is I do not know.

Such personalities have characteristics displaying primarily a total lack of understanding moral ambiguities or moral priorities. In other words, the moral world is entirely black and white, there are no shades of grey. This human condition is a fascinating one and one which manifests itself among an amazing spectrum of political, religious and social views. It is found among fundamentalist Muslims, Christians, and just about every other religion on Earth including Environmentalism. It is found among the extreme left and the extreme right. Among Vegans and Animal Liberationists. Among Right to Lifers and Gun Nuts. One can not understand the litany of military catastrophes suffered by the British Army for 200 years unless the character defects of Absolutist Personality, British Army Generals is studied and appreciated.

Central to Absolutist Mindset is that they not only reject unpalatable truths, but even the faintest suggestion of the barest possibility of the most tangential reference to an unacceptable fact. Better that armies should perish or civilisations should fall than for them to consider that their sacred ideals should be found wanting.

I think that Kenny, Ant, Scooper9 and Mahatma Sitting Duck are four of the poor buggers.
Posted by redneck, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 8:08:34 PM
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