Thursday, March 1, 2012

Burning Korans and Ignorantalitarianism

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling

Whether out of ignorance, insensitivity or carelessness, the U.S. soldiers that burned Korans in Afghanistan resemble a deep psychological and emotional sickness that has permeated much of American society and culture. This deep seated and internalized malaise is called ignorantalitarianism.

Benito Mussolini coined the term totalitario to describe the absolute nature of the Italian state under Fascism. He believed "all within the state, none outside the state, none against the state." But instead of Big Brother, or the State, watching and controlling Americans, Americans are watching and have adopted Big Ignorance.

In other words, Americans are captivated by "all within ignorance, none outside ignorance, none against ignorance." Just in case one thinks I am exaggerating, in talking to people about the Koran burning incident most either shrug their shoulders and say, "Who cares?" and "So what?" or "What is the Koran?"

In totalitarianism, the police, the military, the academy, and the media are all subordinated to the ruler. In ignorantalitarian systems, people are obsessed with the corporation and its symbols. They are kept passive by the entertainment industries. They remain uninformed and inert with infotainment and public spectacles.

Totalitarian rulers direct all of their efforts in attaining a transcendent goal, which usually consists of political, economic and military expansion. Totalitarianism, wrote Hannah Arendt, "strives not toward despotic rule over men but toward a system in which men are superfluous."(1)

Ignorantalitarian, then, strives toward an unaware mentality and lawless system where men are both superfluous and superficial. In democratic ignorantalitarian regimes, people direct all of their efforts to attain a transcendent goal that consists of escapism and of being disinterested and unfeeling towards others and their cultures.

Ignorantalitarian regimes reside in the inner minds and subconscious emotions. It disembowels and neutralizes citizens. It eliminates intellectual and engaged citizenry. Absolute ignorance does not have to come from the top down, for it flows from within and from the bottom up. Ignorance becomes the new artistic and political expressions.

The charismatic dictator is ignorance and a lack of knowledge. Tyrannical insensitivity towards other cultures and societies is the new politics. The private ignorant mind and insensitive heart dominates the public spheres, even foreign policies. This explains the military debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ignorantalitarianism is a decadent system. It charges into preemptive wars without thinking or planning ahead. It rationalizes or disregards the slaughter of innocent civilians. Critical and independent thinkers are ignored and purged. "I don't think therefore I am" becomes the new mantra. An examined life is to be feared.

Those who try and offer apologies, like President Barack Obama, are angrily denounced by opponents, like Republican presidential candidate New Gingrich, and those who have embraced ignorantalitarianism. Ignorantcentric thought is the natural by-product of being intellectually confined, socially engineered and abnormal.

Ignorantalitarianism makes light of holy and sacred objects while dehumanizing others, including de-culturalizing their values and customs. If the Korans had inflammatory statements on them, they should have been released in flowing waters or buried. But again, in ignorantalitarian systems: "So what?" and "Who cares?"

Fortunately, some still care, some still have emotional values and sacred rationales. Some still have a sense of citizenry and passionate feelings. Some still have quality of thought and a sense of righteous rage and justice. Still, others are conscientious and empathetic, able to identify and feel.

While thousands of Afghanis protest against how the U.S. and international soldiers carelessly burned the Koran, which contained the holy words of Prophet Mohammad and hundreds of years of Islamic history, Americans might want to rethink ignorantalitarianism. They might want to reevaluate their egocentric thinking.

And even now as thousands of people of faith express their dismay towards the desecration of the sacred Korans, U.S. leaders may want to work on desecrating their holy preemptive wars and military occupations that have killed thousands. They may want to question why and how military power has replaced knowledge power.

Real irrational behavior is what the U.S. has done to Afghanistan over the past eleven years. It is being led by ignorantalitarianism, or not naturally considering the rights and needs and values of others, and not appreciating their cultures and faiths. Unreasonable action is also continuing a failed military mission while initiating more failed missions.

It is well known that civilizations collapse due to a decline in interest in public affairs, political corruption, a disparity among rich and poor, and a crushing tax burden. Still, empires that hunt for resources and overextend their military power often become the hunted. Words and narratives no longer match reality. Pseudo-events replace real events.

Ignorance and ignorantalitarianism-with its tyranny of living only in and for the moment, with its tyranny of insensitivity towards others and their values and beliefs, and with its tyranny of the market place and its trivial things and ideas-must also be somewhere towards the top of the list as to why civilizations and empires implode.

Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)

(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for

www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)

(1) This quote is from Hannah Arendt's book: "The Origins of Totalitarianism."

Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/03/01/Burning_Korans_and_Ignorantalitarianism/

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