Constant Conflict
Ralph Peters
It is fashionable among world intellectual elites to decry “American culture,” with our domestic critics among the loudest in complaint. But traditional intellectual elites are of shrinking relevance, replaced by cognitive-practical elites–figures such as Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Madonna, or our most successful politicians–human beings who can recognize or create popular appetites, recreating themselves as necessary. Contemporary American culture is the most powerful in history, and the most destructive of competitor cultures. While some other cultures, such as those of East Asia, appear strong enough to survive the onslaught by adaptive behaviors, most are not. The genius, the secret weapon, of American culture is the essence that the elites despise: ours is the first genuine people’s culture. It stresses comfort and convenience–ease–and it generates pleasure for the masses. We are Karl Marx’s dream, and his nightmare.
Secular and religious revolutionaries in our century have made the identical mistake, imagining that the workers of the world or the faithful just can’t wait to go home at night to study Marx or the Koran. Well, Joe Sixpack, Ivan Tipichni, and Ali Quat would rather “Baywatch.” America has figured it out, and we are brilliant at operationalizing our knowledge, and our cultural power will hinder even those cultures we do not undermine. There is no “peer competitor” in the cultural (or military) department. Our cultural empire has the addicted–men and women everywhere–clamoring for more. And they pay for the privilege of their disillusionment.
American culture is criticized for its impermanence, its “disposable” products. But therein lies its strength. All previous cultures sought ideal achievement which, once reached, might endure in static perfection. American culture is not about the end, but the means, the dynamic process that creates, destroys, and creates anew. If our works are transient, then so are life’s greatest gifts–passion, beauty, the quality of light on a winter afternoon, even life itself. American culture is alive.
Cross posted to Space For Commerce.
“Ivan Tipichni” — “Ivan the Typical”… Well done. Thank you, Brian, for the link.
This impermanence to which the author refers may be a testament to the uniquely American focus on the individual rather than on some abstract gestalt-like Society or Nation. There is no assumption that those things that are good for the given generation will be equally good for the future generations. Rather, it is acknowledged that the latter will be composed of different people with different ideals and desires.
I take issue, however, with the assertion that “The laid-off blue-collar worker in America and the Taliban militiaman in Afghanistan are brothers in suffering.” Unless I am grossly mistaken, the average laid-off blue-collar worker in the United States is a generally decent individual who wants to pay for his family’s home and dinner with honestly earned money — preferably, without having to move, learn a novel skill set late in life, or endanger himself too much. These do not seem like unreasonable expectations of life. The Taliban militiaman, in contrast to the unemployed American or his own less religiously zealous neighbor, wants to hunt unaccompanied women with a rifle and blow up ancient statues that have the bad luck of predating his religion. There seems to be a significant difference there that detracts from the generally high quality of the text.
Comment by E.K. — 20070502 @ 0555
Thank you, Brian, for the link.
You’re very welcome.
Peters can defend work without my help but ..
I take issue, however, with the assertion that “The laid-off blue-collar worker in America and the Taliban militiaman in Afghanistan are brothers in suffering.”
I re-read it (again) and .. I don’t see a huge problem with that.
They’re both stuck in their cultural assumptions. They don’t have much else in common but being blinded by their surroundings is a trait they share.
Comment by Brian Dunbar — 20070503 @ 0924