this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024

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US Authoritarianism

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Born in the USA Was a Protest Song (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (7 children)

A lot of quintessentially American things are anti-American

"Born in the USA," Bruce Springsteen in general, "Rambo," Mark Twain, "Monopoly," MTV, et cetera

The arc goes:

US system is bullshit
Someone points it out in an artistic work
People love it and the thing they made gets popular
System goes "hey we love that you're buying this please do it more" and promotes it under a guise of it not being directed squarely at them, with some skillful edits
Thing gets even more popular with more exposure, in its edited (backwards) form, to the point that the original is often semi-forgotten

Being against the bullshit is an American trait. Unfortunately, the bullshit has become more powerful than the against, hence all these problems we have now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Rambo: First Blood was a critique of a system that has failed its war veterans. The sequels abandoned all that 70s new-cinema moral ambiguity, making Rambo into a Reagan-era anticommunist superhero, a sort of James Bond for people who are suspicious of subtlety.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The same goes for Karate Kid...

I loved how it portreyed Miyagi as a sad man who lost wife and child to the internment camps, while he was serving the US and his medal is a bitter reminder of that fact.

In Cobra Kai is was "War Medal fuck yeah ! Miyagi best veteran, we must protect the patriotic legacy !"

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Then in the remakes, they replaced him with Mr. Han (as in Han Chinese), for the same reason why superhero films have scenes set in Shenzhen: because if you don’t angle for a piece of the Chinese market, you’re failing in your fiduciary duty to your shareholders.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Rambo was a masterpiece. The sequels were fanatic patriotism porn.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

James Bond for people who are suspicious of subtlety.

😘👌

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (3 children)

This Land is Your Land is also not the patriotic song people think it is. At least, not in the way people think it is.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This land was made for you and me 🎶🎵🎶 (terms and conditions apply)

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me; Sign was painted, it said private property; But on the back side it didn't say nothing; This land was made for you and me.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

This land is my land
This land ain't your land
I got a shotgun
And you ain't got one

If you don't get off
I'll blow your head off
This land was made for only me

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I thought Monopoly was originally British.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

I don't think so, it's based off of Ocean City, NJ...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Americans criticizing America is not anti-American.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

MTV?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not really “anti American” but not completely establishment friendly. They had Rock the Vote, Beavis and Butthead, Monty Python including the nudity, Jon Stewart got his start there, they had Liquid TV and weird nonsense on the air, at a time when most TV was pure Tom Brokaw and all why bombing Iranians is cool all the time.

Compared to now, it looks super establishment friendly, but for the landscape of television at the time it was pretty anarchistic. Now it is the narrative of course. 😕

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

I noticed that a large number of children’s shows, especially Christmas shows, are about evil corporations trying to take over and ruin something or pollute the world. These shows are then shown by evil media corporations which show commercials by other evil corporations.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (8 children)

It’s a studies thing. Conservatives are unable to grasp irony or sarcasm. It’s one of the reasons Steven Colbert stopped his show. The people he was mocking were holding his character up as someone to aspire to.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What?! I didn't know that

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

yep, conservatives watched him unironically.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

I watched The Colbert Report for years with my mom before realizing that she was just straight up agreeing with the things he was saying.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

To be fair, if it's a banger from the late 60s to early 80s with even a hint of American symbolism there's an 80% chance it's a protest song

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

I love Lee Greenwood, too.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Say what you will about Neoliberals (and I do, to a fault), but at least you never hear the excellent Love me, I'm a liberal played at DNC rallies 😁

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

do other countries [...] both political parties

No, other countries tend to have 0, 1, or way more than 2 parties

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (4 children)

What's a country with 0?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Dprk maybe?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Take this list as what you will

Personally I view it as flawed as for most listed countries the lived reality is a single party system, often theocratic in nature. But do think it's feasible to imagine a country with a high degree of self autonomy free of foreign influence operating as a precolonial society would, and political discussions aren't as involved in factionalism and are more focused on individuals with ideas for the collective

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Dictatorships like Cuba and North Korea might say they have parties, but they also call themselves democracies or republics.

Can't remember if we still have any royalty that are actual heads of states without an elected ruling body upholding their decisions, but those would have zero parties if any still exist.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'd put Russia, China, Iran and Afghanistan before Cuba.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Russia and China still have ruling parties even if their head has almost complete control. If Putin or Xi were removed, it would be through the party selecting someone else. North Korea is basically a monarchy.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Vatican city

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

To be fair, what group of 330M+ is?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Immanuel Kant superfans

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We have one called "Westerland". It's a song - played by people visiting Sylt, an island where mostly elitist live and rich white people go on vacation. In one verse, they sing "And every person next to me is as dumb as I am.". The irony is lost to them as the chorus is "I want to be back in Westerland".

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

The MI doesn't want any bone spurs either.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Not the point of this post but I think starship troopers did an excellent job of skewering the military, government, and the whole propaganda machine.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think it may not have conveyed what it was trying to do when it was in theaters, but my friends and I (millennials so we saw it as kids) watch it as a ridiculous satire. One of my favourite movies I think. Sadly, I love Hackers, but that is not a satire, they were trying real hard.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it's not the movies fault that people have zero media literacy

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Paul Verhoeven did a beautiful job of critiquing fascism. I can't help it that my fellow citizens are stupid other than to vote for more money in education.

I'm doing my part.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not quite the same, but London calling was similarly used for tourism ads among other things

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

& the 2012 Summer Olympics 😆

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Pretty sure they meant “ironically”.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Heh heh heh not for pendants like you and me. What was that ~~Jacqueline Onassis~~ ~~Sarah Mclaughlin~~ Michael Jordan 90s song about irony? Total buhubujis.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Ironically would mean they play it as a joke

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