ix. Marx, Engels, and a pinch of Chomsky

Good read on Marx and Engels. Reminded me a lot of the documentary on Noam Chomsky titled Manufacturing Consent in which, rather than being physically bludgeoned into acquiescence towards the state, we are “convinced” through the media, consumerism, and rhetorical speeches and aphorisms that we are a “free” thinking society and peoples.

“[E]ver more abstract ideas hold sway, i.e., ideas which increasingly take on the form of universality” and are presented “as the only rational, universally valid ones” (C 40). This must be the ideology behind the magnetic yellow ‘ribbons’ of Support Our Troops. Creating universal aphorisms is another way of saying, “let’s create the most generic slogan.” And in this case, it’s one, which even people whom are against the war, must be in favor of. What does this nonspecific statement, “support our troops,” even imply? Does it mean we support our troops fighting a war (we ourselves don’t truly believe in nor truly support). Do we even think that far, or does this slogan only accomplish what it was manufactured to elicit, namely the knee jerk reaction of our vocal affirmation: “of course I support the troops! I’m not for the war but I’m for our fellow troops.” Okay, so assume that, yes, we support our troops. We are red, white, and blue-blooded Americans who have avowed our patriotic commitment by slapping on a magnet on the ass of our cars. Now what? Some Lebanese supported their troops. No doubt that’s why some people housed Hizballah troops (here we’d call it aiding and abetting, or worse yet, harboring terrorists). And what did that get these civilians: A “justifiable” bombing by the Israeli military.

Hmm. I wonder if there are yellow and green magnetic bumper stickers being sported on the back of Lebanese vehicles with a similar slogan, if not exactly the same verbatim, still similarly proclaiming their support.