We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
|
Bollywood heals a divide There is an interesting article on Reuters about how the vast Indian film industry, or ‘Bollywood’ as it is widely known, is reflecting something of an improvement in relations between India and its neighbour, Pakistan. The article says that Pakistanis, once badly portrayed in Indian films, now get a more rounded image.
It is always unwise to make big conclusions about a few examples of popular culture, but bear in mind that in nations like India, the movie industry has enormous influence, particularly over the young. And if millions of young Indian people increasingly come to look at their Pakistani peers as regular, ordinary folk, then something very positive is happening in one of the fastest-growing movie and entertainment businesses in the world. It is all the more heartening given that only a few years ago the airwaves were thick with fears about a major military clash between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Globalisation in action, perhaps?
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
“if millions of young Indian people increasingly come to look at their Pakistani peers as regular, ordinary folk, then something very positive is happening”
Well, I’d have to say “something very positive is happening” if, and only if, young Pakistani people are *also* increasingly coming to see their Indian peers as regular, ordinary folk. If not then you end up with a situation where one group wants to be friends and the group they want to be friends with wants to kill them all. Shades of Korea or Israel/Palestine there.
Not a stable situation IMO.
To: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
We, the undersigned, object to the recent imprisonment of Mojtaba Samie-nejad, a weblog writer in Iran. He was arrested in Tehran for no apparent reason a week ago. While we are convinced that Mojtaba Samie-nejad is innocent of any crime, the judicial process must formally charge him as part of his arrest, and give him the opportunity to defend himself in a fair and just trial. Sadly, past experience would show that this is very unlikely in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We demand his immediate release while voicing our grave concerns over the latest wave of arrests taking place in Iran, targeting journalists and media correspondents.
Sincerely,
Faryad: If you want us to add our voice to that then kindly drop us an e-mail and ask us, do not simply drop an off-topic spam into our comment section.
Faryad, get lost.
Jason – agree. The Muslims are not giving up their claim to mainly Buddhist Kashmir. No one should think for one minute that this is on the verge of resolution. The mainly Buddhist Kashmiris definitely do not want to be ruled by Muslims. They would far rather have the more familial Hindus. And Tibet, occupied by China, is their natural home. After Kargil, it is all Tibetan Buddhist anyway.
Jason has put it very well.
Remember, for a very long time, the Pakistani government has banned music and movie content from India. Cable TV operators too cannot carry Indian channels. Cinema houses are going bankrupt, but in spite of years of lobbying, are not allowed to show Indian movies. Piracy, naturally, is rampant — and dangerous, because some of the proceeds go into funding terror. In spite of all the India-Pakistan peace process hoopla, the Pakistani government is yet to change its stance on Indian movie.
Similarly, Musharraf’s government has failed to reform the curriculum which still portrays Indians and Hindus as evil, cowardly and dangerous enemies.
Contrary to Jonathan’s observations, Indian movies began to depict Pakistanis as evil only in the mid-1990s, and only in terrorism-related contexts.
India has always been open to Pakistani musical talent – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Haider, Hassan Jehangir, Nazia Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Adnan Sami etc have been bestselling artists in India.
The point I’m making is that the Indian people do not perceive Pakistanis as enemies. On the contrary, the ‘they are people like us’ theory runs quite strongly in the not so silent majority.
Unfortunately that feeling remains one-sided. And even if the Pakistani people somehow fall for the un-Islamic cultural perversions of Bollywood, their opinions dont amount to much as far as their government’s official policies are concerned.
Asia is a tinderbox. Huge populations of mixed and hostile religious/ethnic groups, major social stresses as they move from the agrarian to the industrial phase of development, and ancient hostilities awaiting a new spark.
Europe, while significant economically and politically on the world stage, has been demilitarized by the after effects of WW2 and the collapse of the Soviet threat. The current military activity in the ME is, in a sense, self contained, even though the range of terrorist activity possible has no geographic boundaries.
The various Asian potentialities are too complex to go into in this space. The Indian-Pakistani situation is one of the more volatile rivalries that need to be monitored.
Whenever topics like this come up, I can’t help but remember the naive assertions made when the USSR fell apart that there wasn’t any need for much of a military any more, as if the rest of the world had suddenly converted en masse to the Quaker faith.
No such luck.
Hmmm, is my response to the comments here. I was not saying that all is going to pan out fine in this part of the world on the back of a few films, but it struck me that any improvements in the cultural sphere are just that, improvements.
Of course, being an optimist is always a red rag to a bull these days.
Johnathan,
I’m not sure if the change in the way Pakistanis are portrayed are ‘improvements’; they are just changes. Bollywood’s moods are as fickle as fashion, and both change for equally rational reasons.
Optimism when based on changes in ground realities is good, else its just like smoking pot 🙂
Jonathan, sorry we all jumped on you, but you were quoting Reuters. One-worlder, tranzi Reuters?
Nitin, I found your comments extremely interesting. I for one am not holding out any hopes for a resolution to Kashmir until someone holds Musharaf’s head under water and makes him cry ‘uncle’. Someone should make a preemptive strike against Pakistan, just for the hell of it.
Ah, libertarianism – the ideology of peace and individualist harmony…
EG
Good point Euan. Who are these nutty “bomb ’em all to hell” people, and where are they coming from?
I admit I’m fairly new to the whole libertarian philosophy, having arrived via reading the likes of Mill, Hayek and various “classical liberal” figures. Yet on the net there seems to be a high correlation between those of a supposedly “libertarian” viewpoint and those who seem to think that anyone who doesn’t meet their moral/ethical standards should be persuaded by means of a few bombs lobbed in their general direction. Apologies if I’m going off-topic, but this is something that has been puzzling me for a while.
Verity, how’s Mexico???
Sandy P – I like it.
Euan – You are well aware that even I would not press a button to bomb Pakistan, so stop being so pi. As you are well aware, I was making the point that Pakistan is a constant thorn in the side in the WoT. Despite all their protestations to the contrary, in their heart of hearts, they are not with us on this, which makes them a less than desirable ally. Of course, the same could be said for the French.
“Ve haf vays of making you free,” as it were? This is what you get with ideology, and some people see libertarianism as an ideology. Just as other see communism as the ideological answer to all our woes.
There are those who seem to think that liberty is something you can impose at gunpoint, and others that think libertarianism is the solution to all the world’s problems, still others who think that if only people are given a taste of freedom and capitalism they will get hooked and never give it up. Some, doubtless, think that the ideology is so good that a little bloodshed to impose it is worthwhile in the end, small sacrifice for the greater good and whatnot. It rarely works out the way the theory says, of course. One simply has to look at the rebellions and insurrections shortly after the Great October Socialist Disaster in Russia to see what happens when one tries to impose ideology out of a textbook.
I think the best way to disabuse the extreme ideologues of any persuasion is to make them live under the system they propose. How many theoretical Marxists would still be communist after five years as a worker in the proletarian paradise? How many libertarians would still believe selfish individualism and the unregulated capitalist market has the answer to every problem if they had to buy and/or fight their way through even the most trivial of life’s vicissitudes? Not many, I suspect.
Ideology is rarely a good thing. Never mind the socio-economic theory, whether of left or of right. Better to pay more attention to how people really work.
I know, Verity, and I wasn’t being entirely serious.
It’s true enough that Pakistan is not exactly an enthusiastic ally in the current situation, but then again it isn’t an enemy. It would be a really good idea to keep the lukewarm (and nuclear-armed) ally closer to us than to the jihadist loonies, I think. This inevitably means allowing them a little leeway here and there.
EG
Euan – Pakistan may not be a declared enemy (neither is Saudi Arabia), but it does seem to be a Station of the Cross for aspirant terrorists. From the Tipton Taleban to the six or seven arrested in London and some from Canada, they do all seem to have been Lahore or Islamabad for “computer courses”.
Verity, this may be a hard concept to grasp, but as someone who knows a bit about Reuters, it is not exclusively staffed with mutton-headed lefties. Try not to succumb to group-think for once.
rgds