The Facets of the War of Ideas
How Terrorist Propaganda Kills, by Rachel Ehrenfeld, FrontPageMagazine.com, December 10, 2004
So many good thinkers fully grasp the problem, namely that this war with Islam is a war of values, of ideas that underlie all of our choices and actions. Very few see what the idea solution truly is because they see a Hobson's choice. One the one hand, there are the dispicable values of Islam. Opposing on the other hand are the values of what most proclaim about our culture, that it is of Judeo-Christian origin. Vast numbers of people accept this as "gospel," so to speak, and never call any of it into question, thus problems never improve. At some level, people know that the ideas from religions are not sufficient to arm their minds, but they see no others, and they give up ideas.
In any conflict, the most consistent side wins, if it persists. In this case, Islam is winning, and if the West does not reacquire the values based solely on reason and rational egoism, it will rot to rubble before the jihadists can take it down. They will win by default.
This war of ideas has many facets. Here is just one facet: the Bush Administration's apparent total lack of regard for ideas in the war, the Blair Administration's embrace of the Islamic criminals, and the completely idealess pragmatism of Europeans who insist on remaining blind to those who are eating them from inside to out like a cancer. To these men and women, this is a war of fighting men, machinery, materiel, backroom deals and lots of money. To our opponents, this is a war of ideas.
Rachel Ehrenfeld, in this article cited, shows how some of this non-war on non-ideas is working. And it is working against us, big time. Here are just a few tidbits showing how the West is destroying itself with its own hands:
We have few radio stations and one television station going into Iraq, as just one example. It is as though our culture is not superior, and we must not inflict it on others. Sending in ideas is the cheapest and in the long run the most effective tool we have at our disposal.
The effectiveness of ideas comes from people in oppressed situations seeing the contrast between their lives and those who live in prosperity. Add in direct presentation of ideas enabling humans to live free, and you appeal to the nature of people as people. The metaphysical nature of mankind is the same world-wide. The nature of rights, which enable human nature to flourish, is the same world-wide. The appeals of these are enormous, particularly to the young. They should be continuously dosed round-the-clock on radio, television, books, and every other medium, targeting them, and explicitly expressing those ideas and showing how these ideas--OUR IDEAS--enable humans to live as humans, thereby continuously countering those which turn people into Islamic rabble.
Our culture is superior to theirs. It is superior in every way. The ideas underlying the best of our culture are the best in the world. We need to flaunt them, and flaunt them ostentatiously as well as continuously.
Because those in power do not respect the power of ideas, they enable our destroyers, who clearly do respect the power of ideas.
It is always the same formula: Humans live by means of ideas; Ideas create cultures; Cultures create civilizations; Civilizations move history. Ergo, ideas move civilizations. That movement can be upward, toward the good, or quite the opposite.
So many good thinkers fully grasp the problem, namely that this war with Islam is a war of values, of ideas that underlie all of our choices and actions. Very few see what the idea solution truly is because they see a Hobson's choice. One the one hand, there are the dispicable values of Islam. Opposing on the other hand are the values of what most proclaim about our culture, that it is of Judeo-Christian origin. Vast numbers of people accept this as "gospel," so to speak, and never call any of it into question, thus problems never improve. At some level, people know that the ideas from religions are not sufficient to arm their minds, but they see no others, and they give up ideas.
In any conflict, the most consistent side wins, if it persists. In this case, Islam is winning, and if the West does not reacquire the values based solely on reason and rational egoism, it will rot to rubble before the jihadists can take it down. They will win by default.
This war of ideas has many facets. Here is just one facet: the Bush Administration's apparent total lack of regard for ideas in the war, the Blair Administration's embrace of the Islamic criminals, and the completely idealess pragmatism of Europeans who insist on remaining blind to those who are eating them from inside to out like a cancer. To these men and women, this is a war of fighting men, machinery, materiel, backroom deals and lots of money. To our opponents, this is a war of ideas.
Rachel Ehrenfeld, in this article cited, shows how some of this non-war on non-ideas is working. And it is working against us, big time. Here are just a few tidbits showing how the West is destroying itself with its own hands:
Tony Blair and the Europeans are focusing their attention on the creation of a Palestinian state as the magic formula for peace in the Middle East. At the same time, they are turning a blind eye to the growing propaganda and fundraising campaign on websites and TV stations in their own countries.
And England is not alone. While the French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is calling to shut down Al-Manar, Hizbollah’s TV broascasting in France, his country continues to host the Paris-based HAMAS front organization, Votre Partenaire Humanitaire en Palestine (CBSP), which also publishes anti-West hate propaganda, and whose website calls for contributions to be sent to a Post Office box in Nancy.
Equally disturbing is the Europeans’ blasé attitude towards the virulently anti-American and anti-Israeli broadcasts of the Iranian-sponsored and controlled TV network, Al-Manar. This Hizbollah mouthpiece spews anti-American incitement and propaganda, which has increased dramatically since the Iraq War. Al-Manar, through its programs, also serves as a fundraising vehicle for both the Islamic Jihad and HAMAS organizations in the Palestinian territories.
The French Eutelsat satellite company, which was formed by the European Space Agency, distributes Al-Manar to Europe and North Africa. The Dutch New Skies Satellites (NSS) company, recently acquired by the American Blackstone Group, distributes Al-Manar to North Africa and parts of Europe. Despite its suffering radical Islamist terror last March, and subsequently arresting many Islamist operatives, Spain allows the Madrid-based Hispasat company to continue broadcasting Al-Manar to South American countries, where the number of Muslim converts is growing exponentially.
What is most surprising, however, is that California-based Telestar, the world’s largest global satellite corporation, facilitates the broadcasting of Al-Manar into North America and Canada. It is surprising because the Patriot Act defines the facilitation of communication for terrorist purposes as a terrorist act. Providing satellite broadcasting and internet services to terrorist groups meets that criterion.
We have few radio stations and one television station going into Iraq, as just one example. It is as though our culture is not superior, and we must not inflict it on others. Sending in ideas is the cheapest and in the long run the most effective tool we have at our disposal.
The effectiveness of ideas comes from people in oppressed situations seeing the contrast between their lives and those who live in prosperity. Add in direct presentation of ideas enabling humans to live free, and you appeal to the nature of people as people. The metaphysical nature of mankind is the same world-wide. The nature of rights, which enable human nature to flourish, is the same world-wide. The appeals of these are enormous, particularly to the young. They should be continuously dosed round-the-clock on radio, television, books, and every other medium, targeting them, and explicitly expressing those ideas and showing how these ideas--OUR IDEAS--enable humans to live as humans, thereby continuously countering those which turn people into Islamic rabble.
Our culture is superior to theirs. It is superior in every way. The ideas underlying the best of our culture are the best in the world. We need to flaunt them, and flaunt them ostentatiously as well as continuously.
Because those in power do not respect the power of ideas, they enable our destroyers, who clearly do respect the power of ideas.
It is always the same formula: Humans live by means of ideas; Ideas create cultures; Cultures create civilizations; Civilizations move history. Ergo, ideas move civilizations. That movement can be upward, toward the good, or quite the opposite.
posted by George Mason @ 12/13/2004 08:00:00 AM
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