One Way Glass

Americans see the world through one way glass and they are on the reflective side. The image they see of the world is a reflection of themselves. The real world on the other side of the glass is a ghostly shadow.

Americans are upset over the uprisings in the Middle East caused by the depiction of the prophet in an American movie. Their angst is that our culture permit it and we therefore believe it is acceptable to the world. But is America, specifically American culture, “the world”?

We think it barbaric that people are stoned for offensives in some parts of the world. But this practice precedes Western culture by over a thousand years. It is even mentioned prominently in Judo-Christianity. There is reportedly the saying of Jesus, “…let him without sin cast the first stone”. There is also the stoning of the disciple Stephen. The question is if Western culture takes precedence. How is electrocution and lethal injection viewed in  other non-Western cultures?

Religion is the foundation of culture. It is true even in cultures that disavow “god”. They have merely substituted “the State” or a leader in its place. The result is the same. You must ask some difficult questions if you subscribe to religion being central. In Islam human depictions are prohibited. The Qur'an, does not explicitly prohibit the depiction of human figures. It relegates it to idolatry and condemns it.  Then if you want to declare war on a religious people, violate the prohibition.  

Let us imagine how the American Christian evangelist in particular would react to a scenario. Suppose there was published prominently in the world that Jesus was a homosexual and engaged in illicit acts. Their upset would know no bounds. This would be especially true if the world took it seriously and they had no capability to really completely dispell the depiction.  Now imagine the depiction is sanctioned by the justice system of a State.  Evangelist would strike out at this State sanctioned attack.

What we are really witnessing in the world, on a variety of geo-political fronts, is what the intelligence community terms “blow back”. It means a reaction to an action on our part that we thought we could get away with. Teddy Roosevelt said it best, “speak softly and carry a big stick”. America has the biggest stick in the world embodied in its military and economy. But that stick is most effective if it is not used and can accomplish desires just with the threat. America used the stick with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have circumscribed the limits of American power, its Achilles heel in confrontations.  The world has a better idea of how and when to achieve “blow back” to American actions. 

Unfortunately Americans are domestically disengaged. Here is just one example. They have no clue of the significance of a blow back action by Pakistan. Pakistan refused to allow war material to be transported through the country to Afghanistan. I will try to draw you a picture. Americans are familiar with Interstate 95 [autobahn]. It traverses the eastern United States in a north and south direction. Interstate 95 runs through the state of Delaware. Suppose Delaware said you can not go through the state on Interstate 95. Now suppose it is the only reasonably route. Suddenly you find yourself going from North Carolina through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania to get to New York. Pakistan’s actions were “blow back” on a grand scale over the drone fights.

The politicians and media are carefully avoiding attention to American “blow backs”. They are occurring with far greater frequency. Greater public awareness of the “blow backs” would bring a more open debate of American polities. Vast amount of money are tied to the continuation of those polities.

Despite our best myopic efforts, the one way glass is becoming more translucent.  Each day and our world view is shaken and not stirred.