Spoils to the Taker

This happens to be one of my favorite short films. Definitely worth a watch.

As I flicked through the comments (the comments on both Engadget and YouTube are always worth a read, if only for the entertainment value), I noticed that the usual flame war was (not uncommonly) about America. Some loved it, some hated it, and you can definitely bother to read it yourself. Lazy bums, the lot of ya.

I've come across a lot of those arguments over the past few years. And I've always tried to be as neutral as possible. Now, since I have nothing better to do (okay, that's a lie, but forget about it), I figured I'd chip in with my two cents here.

(And if you don't like it, push off. No one likes you anyway. Go read whatever you like to read that agrees with your views, and dance around a fire in your grandmother's panties rubbing peanut butter over yourself for all I care.)



If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that Americans are often stereotyped as fat, lazy, ignorant slobs. And remember, I'm speaking of my experiences. Maybe where you're from, Americans are stereotyped as massive worm-like creatures who live in deep space and feed off heavy metals and ride solar currents. I don't care. This isn't about those stereotypes. This is about these ones. Anyhow.

Americans stereotyped as fat stupid white couch potatoes. Right. Well, I've noticed how these same people always get all peeved when they hear about Americans stereotyping them (say, Indians) as a race of brown people who all talk like Apu or Ashok, and run convenience stores or steal "American jobs", and charm snakes in their underwear. They say, "But we're so much more! Not all of us Chinese people are martial artists, not everyone who wears a turban has a bomb, not all of us Muslims are terrorists", and seem very indignant about it. We all remember the Danish cartoon incident - while there were other factors in play, one of them was the stereotyping of Muslims as bomb-carriers.

But what of those who stereotype all Americans as lazy, ignorant, obese white slobs, who can only sit in front of the TV like brain-dead morons? That, of course, is not stereotyping, they say - it's true! Isn't that what everyone says? "They have no right to stereotype me, but I have a right to brand them - after all, my perceptions are soo much clearer and better than absolutely everyone else's. I'm special!". Like special ed, maybe.

Isn't it hypocritical to want "them" to stop stereotyping "us", when we can't do it ourselves? Isn't it hypocritical to say "We're not all snake-charmers, but 'we' are all smarter than 'them'"? Plenty of people are willing to accept those stereotypes that suit them, and then turn around and cry foul when others choose ones that are not-so-flattering. "We Indians are genetically more capable at math and science." - IMO, that's a load of bull. Then again, it might not be. But that's not the point.

Then, of course, there are the standard accusations of American meddling and hypocrisy. I cannot count the number of times people have said "America has no right to do this or that and everything going wrong in the world is their fault!". In fact, it's become something of a fad over here - being anti-American and denouncing America (and Dubya) have become the "in" thing to do. It's become a sort of mantra, "They only went for the oil". People who know less about international affairs than my dogs have suddenly become brilliant and informed commentators, by virtue of their ability to spew bile at anything American.

Well, they can do it, and so they are. Every country, bar none does whatever it can to get ahead. India blocks Pakistan wherever it can (ARF, anyone?); China's trying to get ahead in Africa; Israel, those little tinpot dictatorships, everyone - they all do whatever they can to get ahead. No nation is in the business of international charity, not to the best of my knowledge, at least. Why should the USA be any different? Why should people expect them to do anything but lie and cheat and steal and do whatever is necessary to maintain their superiority? No one gave them the right; they took the right. A right that is given is about as useful as a virtue that is given. Can you imagine how ridiculous that would be? "I hereby bestow upon thee the virtue of honesty" - would anyone take something like that seriously? On the other hand..."I am an honest person. I always stay honest", and "I'm standing up for my right to freedom of speech" - those make more sense to me. Virtues are performed, just as rights are used. They are meaningless otherwise.

I'm not defending the decisions or actions of the Bush administration, or any other American government. All I'm saying is that they never signed up for international charity. Yeah, they claimed it was all in the world's best interest. So what? People lie when they have to, to get what they want/need. Why should a country be any different? Is any country any different? They're under no obligation to help the world. A government's first and foremost responsibility is to it's people. I get people dissing on Bush for messing his own country up - I don't get uninvolved people dissing on America for getting involved with someone else.

There are those who've gone on about Americans supposedly "overreacting" to 9/11. The ones who passionately rant and rave about the "millions dead and displaced in the Kashmir valley because of Pakistan, and when India went to the UN, they didn't authorise any action, so India didn't act. America is a pansy country! They invaded another nation after only 3000 people died!". I'm not joking. I have actually heard people say this. Perhaps it's just me, but I think that's a rather stupid line to take.

The UN didn't "authorise" any action - the US took the initiative. They not-so-politely told everybody who disagreed to fuck off, and went ahead and did what they felt had to be done. I'm not condoning vigilante actions of any sort (nor am I condemning them), or saying that it's a good thing to do what you feel like doing against international orders (or whatever), but the fact remains that that's what happened. Anyone who complains about a US hegemony? Damn right there's a US hegemony. Just like there'd be a Chinese one if China were in America's shoes, a Pakistani one were Pakistan in those shoes, or even an Indian one were India in those size 11's. America is obviously going to work towards a "new American century"; somehow, I find it very unlikely they'd work towards a Chinese or Lebanese century, don't you think?

Some feel that the US has to follow through on what it says publicly, and do the needful to completely halt terrorism everywhere, but they don't - their prime, if only, responsibility is their own interests, and nobody else's. Just like everybody else. The USA isn't obliged to do anything, period. They do what they want to do, as long as they can get away with it. India isn't obliged to block Pakistan's entry into the ARF over the otherwise-unanimous agreement of the other partners, just as Pakistan isn't obliged to be such an ass to India. But they do, because it helps them get ahead. Why is that such a hard concept for people to understand? Yes, so they may have gone to Iraq with ulterior motives - so what?

Ever notice how everyone says it's alright for them to do whatever they want to, while simultaneously denouncing everyone else for doing the exact same thing? Like how it's alright for me to rant and rave, yet I call Pat Robertson a retarded asswipe when he does? Probably not the best example to take, but yeah. You get the idea.

It seems to me that the real problem is that nobody ever stops to think about the other guy's POV. It's rare that anyone says "Well, darn it, I think I'm right, and he thinks he's right - now what makes me so much better than him that I'm "actually" right and he isn't?". Nope. Nobody does that. People seldom stop and study a situation dispassionately.

Oh well. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, informed or otherwise. It's just that it's often a lot nicer when they're not just imitating the current fad. Because really, it's rather pathetic (not to mention tiring) to hear stuff like "I hate America - ooh! Jesse McCartney is, like, so totally hot!!!! Ohmigosh! Big Bazaar sells Abercrombie & Fitch!!!!!!!!", or "Fuck Americ- oh, dude, did you check out the new 50 Cent album? It is so dope, man!" all the time.

The sad thing is, there's no real end to these issues. Hypocrisy and following the latest fad will nearly always (if not always) be more popular than unbiased study. They're easier. And most people, myself included, prefer the easy way out. And it's usually (if not always) easier to say that the other guy is an idiot with no taste than it is to take the trouble to get what he's saying and see things from his perspective. More's the pity, I guess.

(update 10/03/07: came across this interesting article. worth a read, imo.)