[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Bomb Them With Butter, Bribe Them With Hope.

["f," <ft@gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at>]

>      Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world
>      leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism.  Carpet
> the
>      country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism
>      committed by their "guest".  Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD
>      players filled with a perspective that is denied them by their
>      government.
bullshit. or, to be more precise: i'd prefer to have afghanistan not
bombed at all. has it ever come to mind that perspectives are not only
denied by whatever afghan gouvernment but that the lack of what you call
perspectives is result of lets say: "western" politics since decades? ever
heard of colonialism and neocolonialism? and what makes you know what
kind of perspectives the ananymous afghan people desire? the other way
round: what would be the results of your bombardements (which would need
to include powerstations to run all the nice equipment; and to give the
afghan people the full chance of comparing the alternatives: would you
include for instance dvds with porn? with all those action-films that in
subtle ways stirred nationalism in the past? with shots taken in the slums
of ny and manila and mexico? with the deathchambers in us-prisons?)? would
it mean that they'd get all the advantages of capitalist economy, starting
with privatizations, devastated ecologies and ending with microsoft and mc
donalds? how much do people have to assimilate to be accepted as part of
"the" civilized world?

the concept of bombing afghanistan with all the gadgets of western culture
is nothing else throwing a dime in the beggar's hat: it may give you a
good feeling and the recipient a slice of bread or a can of beer; it won't
change anything else. you're completely right that it is important to
learn to think in new ways; the way you propose is as old as capitalism
itself: it's gratitude and magnanimity instead of rethinking the
fundaments of unequality.

>      a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is
>      that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world.  That
>      includes handing over terrorists in their midst.
and once again the question: what if they do not agree: will than the real
bombs have to fall? what if they ask that those responsible for economic
exploitation of their country are handed over to them?

>      Do we want to live a life of fear as people in the middle east do?
may it be that their fear was (and is) the price for our relative security
and wealth? is it possible that the war that gets started presumably this
weekend has the goal to restore that security and make the same people pay
the price?


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