Last time, I mentioned the blatant biases, omissions, and failings of the corporate media in the United States in regard to non-domestic acts of violence, and as of late, the war and occupation of Iraq. I touched on the fact the in our minds, only Americans matter when it comes to international violence and I ended with the question: Why are we indifferent when it comes to this?
Over the next few posts, I want to unpack several reasons that I believe will help answer that question. But before I do I want to make it clear that I don’t believe the blame to this phenomenon should be placed solely on the corporate media. True, they are more culpable, they are in fact — at least in theory — obliged to report to us the viewers, and to speak the truth. That is true and deserves attention because they have failed by all accounts. But I think this phenomenon is bigger and more widespread than just that. Individual conditioning and indifference coupled with the fueling of the corporate media machine has ultimately led to our collective indifference in regard to non-American violence (e.g. the war in Iraq, the conflict(s) in Africa, etc.)
So, let’s look at the first reason and perhaps the most obvious, at least in terms of the current war Iraq, the most current and ignored example.
We don’t hear much news about the war and occupation these days. As I mentioned earlier, 51 people were killed and at least 75 injured by a car bomb in Baghdad a few weeks ago. Violence happens as a result of our presence in Iraq everyday and usually, unless it is convenient, we don’t hear about it. Why is this?
In terms of the war in Iraq I think this is because Americans have collectively moved on. The war and occupation in Iraq are deeply symbolic of the current Bush regime which is in its twilight. Americans are already looking ahead to the fall election and beyond. Obviously the war will still be a very pressing issue in the future, one that cannot be ignored or taken lightly, but it has in a sense become, inseparable to its figureheads, namely President Bush. And lets be honest: even the most die-hard conservative Republicans are getting tired of President Bush.
The average American is more interested in the upcoming election, how many times Barack Obama can say the word “change” in a speech, or if John McCain is even capable of making a speech. And that’s why the war is not on the news. Because we wouldn’t watch it even if it was. Why? Because it’s old news. We don’t care anymore because it’s 5 year-old news and it doesn’t directly affect any of us.
Which is unfortunate for two reasons. First, the next several presidents will be dealing with the problems Bush and company have caused in Iraq and elsewhere. This isn’t over and we had better get used to it. We can’t simple trade in one regime for another and expect the problems from previous years to simply go away. That’s very naive, but sadly many Americans approach each quadrennium in this manner.
Second, and more importantly, just because something doesn’t directly affect us doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care. In fact, I would argue that anytime human beings are suffering or oppressed we are directly affected. We are all connected in our humanity; thus anytime someone suffers we are very much effected. Just because it’s not happening within the “borders” of our socially and geopolitically structured entity called the United States doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be outraged.
Mother Teresa is credited with saying, “We draw the circle of our family too small.” If I’ve learned anything from my study of Jesus, it’s that the circle of our family includeds every human being on this earth and anytime one of our brothers or sisters is suffering or oppressed be it in the “United States” or “Iraq” or wherever, we have a responsibility not only to care, but to do something about it.
What think you?
2 responses so far ↓
1 andy amoss // Jul 3, 2008 at 11:59 am
Speaking as a Brit, i don’t think only Americans matter! lol. Of course, since i’m not American, you don’t care what i think.
Seriously though, i don’t think this is just an American problem, British media (whislt agreeing that blame doesn’t lie squarely at the feet of the media) is doing similar things. We’re thoroughly distracted at the moment by whether or not Gordon Brown even has the faith of his own party. We’ve also just paid a great deal of attention to the passing of the 100th British soldier in Iraq; a tragedy indeed, as were the deaths of the previous 99, but there was no recognition of Iraqi civilion or ‘rebel’ deaths. I guess they’re harder to count because they don’t wear uniform.
This seems to be a Western phenomena, we only care about ‘civilised’ Western nations, particularly the English speaking ones. There’s nothing like a disatster in an English speaking country!
2 blake // Jul 3, 2008 at 1:28 pm
@andy. thanks for stopping by again and thanks especially for reminding me of the larger picture at work. i speak frequently from this blog as an american, mainly because that is the locus of my lived experience; it is the normalcy of my context. i can’t speak for anything else.
so thanks for bringing in another perspective. i think you’re spot on. western, civilized, english-speaking — dare i say “white” — countries always take priority.
i think part of the reasoning in answer to that lies in the fact that we (western, white, countries) control the world. everyone else exists mainly to serve us, providing us with products and natural resources.
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