The Power of Nightmares
Since discussion veered to neoconservatism and religion, has anyone else seen the BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares? It’s a thought provoking, eye opening look at religion, politics, and the entanglement of neoconservatism and islamism.
Both [the Islamists and Neoconservatives] were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today’Â’s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.
Perhaps a bit partisan (anything interesting is), but it connected a lot of dots for me.
Tags: history, ideology, islamism, middle east, neoconservatism, politics, religion, United States
![[Earth Flag]](../../../../wp-content/images/earth-flag.png){kind=small}
![[Gadsden Flag]](../../../../wp-content/images/gadsden.png){kind=small}
![[Old Glory]](../../../../wp-content/images/old-glory.png){kind=small}
February 14, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
Watching it right now … but right off the top this occurs to me:
They say that the failure of political idealism has led to the rise of political fearmongering. Certainly the fearmongering has been there all along but cynicism (justified or not) has has allowed it to take center stage. Yet I see this as a temporary ebb in the flow of secular progress.
The same is true of religon. The ideologies and nightmares have been there all along as means to manipulate and contain the sheep. And, as with politics, the ideologies fail and fearmonger is left as the sole power over the mind.
It just so happens that we live in an age when both political and religious ideologies are failing (have failed? because they were equal parts fantasy?) … so that now we’re surrounded on all sides by the promotion of nightmare scenarios.
When the time comes to recover our hope, will we chose enlightenment or fantasy? Right now it’s not entirely clear to me that we will side-step the temptation to embrace fantasy again.
February 14, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
On my darker days, I don’t think there is a solution to our problems. We may be unable to speed up non-trivial progress in human relations. I think we may just keep muddling along, allowing ourselves to progress in small ways by working as hard as we can à la the Red Queen’s race.
February 14, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
In other words, enlightenment will come—if it ever comes—one person at a time, in fits and starts.
February 14, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
Hmm, yeah. I think I agree with you an I think I’m okay with this … and thankful for areas of true and phenomiral progress such as technology.
In my more religious/ideological years the idea of perpetually treading water in human progress would have appeared a kind of hell to me. After all, progress towards Zion (society) and godhood (individual) were not only assumed but measures of God’s virtue. Now? Well, let’s just say that being tempered by the humanistic and evolutionary biological has made me significantly more patient, forgiving, and … yes, happy.
Let’s just pray for no massive periods of regression in this Red Queen’s race.
Seth R. said,
February 14, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
Jonathan, liberal intellectuals felt optimistic about the fate of humanity around 1901.
50 years later, they were thoroughly disabused of the notion.
February 15, 2008 @ 12:03 pm
I think there’s still reason to hope, but many of us seem to hold a blind faith that humanity is inevitably improving over time. I think it’s a real possibility that we may stagnate or regress over the long term.