2004-11-04
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The State of Barbarous Ignorance | A duo of videos produced by BBC-2 and online at Information Clearinghouse provide a chilling documentary on what brought us to where we are today |
Two major philosophical directions, neconservativism and al q'aeda, evolved since World War Two | Both motivate followers on the idea that the world must be protected from "moral decay" | The worship of materialism and of the self, both posited, has brought us to the situation we face in the world today | Yet both work on the premise that we must rely upon the leaders in power would would rule on promises to allay the average person's fears |
By the late 1960s the influence of both philosophies began to be felt | Controlling information, knowledge, became a part of thier modus operendi | Although in the past such efforts came via book burnings, in the USA the same was acheived by literally throwing away "obsolete" texts from libraries, ostensibly as part of "modernizing" them | This, and ursurpation of the public education system [begun under Reagan, to be accelerated with No Child Left Behind] Together with then directing that culturally conservative religious dominate educational procresses would help neocons to control the spread of knowledge and of critical thinking [just like the European Dark Ages]
The end effect has been, ironically, to create the nightmares that freightened people fear |
But knowledge cannot be eradicated | And while this brief note doesn't identify what went on simultaneous in the Middle East, other places document this |
Information Clearinghouse provides these two BBC-2 don't-miss videos explaining the development of these twin movements | Maybe we'll see it on the History Channel, but why wait? | Go see them now |
The State of Barbarous Ignorance | A duo of videos produced by BBC-2 and online at Information Clearinghouse provide a chilling documentary on what brought us to where we are today |
Two major philosophical directions, neconservativism and al q'aeda, evolved since World War Two | Both motivate followers on the idea that the world must be protected from "moral decay" | The worship of materialism and of the self, both posited, has brought us to the situation we face in the world today | Yet both work on the premise that we must rely upon the leaders in power would would rule on promises to allay the average person's fears |
By the late 1960s the influence of both philosophies began to be felt | Controlling information, knowledge, became a part of thier modus operendi | Although in the past such efforts came via book burnings, in the USA the same was acheived by literally throwing away "obsolete" texts from libraries, ostensibly as part of "modernizing" them | This, and ursurpation of the public education system [begun under Reagan, to be accelerated with No Child Left Behind] Together with then directing that culturally conservative religious dominate educational procresses would help neocons to control the spread of knowledge and of critical thinking [just like the European Dark Ages]
The end effect has been, ironically, to create the nightmares that freightened people fear |
But knowledge cannot be eradicated | And while this brief note doesn't identify what went on simultaneous in the Middle East, other places document this |
Information Clearinghouse provides these two BBC-2 don't-miss videos explaining the development of these twin movements | Maybe we'll see it on the History Channel, but why wait? | Go see them now |
Pix credit: Theocracy Watch: The Rise of the Religious Right, photo of a March 25, 2001 book burning in Butler, Pennsylvania | RESOURCES: American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom | THANKS TO: Moon of Alabama for the link |
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