MY BRAIN HAS BEEN WASHED, HOW ABOUT YOURS?

A recurring theme in the history of the United States has been the quasi-constant need for a visible adversary, often transformed into a sinister enemy, seen and almost revered as a fundamental threat to the very existence of the Nation..

The first of these, of course, were the Native Americans, them pesky injuns, who had to be eliminated in order to allow freedom to flourish.

A time also came when the role of public enemy was played by the emancipated African slaves, and this, with some variations, continued over many generations.

Then came the turn of the Spanish, and then - for a brief but intense period - the Germans and Japanese.

When I, as a teenager, lived in California, the great enemy was Communism, with its close running dog, Socialism, and this brought to the glorification of Senator Joe McCarthy and his “Un-American Activities” Committee.

The very term “Un-American” is an eye-opener, and has no real equivalent in any of the other major Democracies. The unlikely accusation of being “Un-Italian”, “Un-Austrian”, “Un-Dutch”, etc., would arouse incredulity and some amusement in Italy, Austria or the Netherlands and could certainly never be the basis for any legal or political action against the accused.

At the collapse of the Soviet Empire (The “Evil Empire”, forerunner of the “Axis of Evil” – in truth, John of Patmos, the Author of the “Book of Revelation”, would have had a remarkable political career in the United States) there suddenly seemed to be no credible adversary, no enemy of “Freedom”, until, mercifully, the Islamic Extremists appeared and reminded American opinion of the fact that the Arabs and Muslims were the enemies of Israel, and, therefore of all that was decent in the world.

What followed is recent history: the “War on Terror” (i.e. Christianity’s latest Crusade against the Heathen), turned out to be, and continues to be, a magnificent recruiting tool for a growing number of terrorists in Southern and Central Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere. Within the United States, however, within that truly wonderful Country where authentic democratic aspirations so often are turned into a soft version of Fascism, survival depends on the ability to believe the predominant political pronouncements and to repeat them incessantly, while exhibiting one’s flag-waving patriotism beyond any possible doubt. As a result, the same type of majority which once firmly believed – and in a certain sense still does – that people who showed any sympathy for Communism or Socialism were a danger to the Nation, now seems to see an even greater threat in the activities of Muslim Governments or organisations, wherever they may be, and therefore, by association, in people who show sympathy or understanding for Muslim causes or even for Muslim culture.

All this raises a question in my mind, to which I have been unable to find an answer, even after all these years (over half a century) since living in the United States. Americans have never had a “Ministry of Culture” or a Government censoring machine to filter out from publication items which go against official policy. Nor is there a “Ministry of Propaganda” to ensure a constant stream of “correct” messages to the people. And yet, in spite of this, in spite of the unquestionable freedom of the press there is greater conformity in thought and opinions than can be found in most European Countries, and for this reason one has the feeling, at times, that people in the United States have been brain-washed into perceiving events as positive or negative, as encouraging or threatening, and are, therefore, extremely resistant to information which moves in a different direction. Just as it would have been unthinkable “in my time” (the early and mid fifties) to attempt any justification of Soviet policies or attitudes, so it seems a hopeless uphill struggle, now, to try to point out flaws in the blind, unreasoning anti-Iranian, or, for that matter, pro-Israeli stances adopted by the entire American political spectrum, a truly bipartisan approach to illogicality which seems unassailable.

How and why does this happen? How is it achieved? Are there hidden powers behind it? Is this a reality or a figment of my imagination?

I have never been able to find a satisfactory or convincing answer to these questions, except for the last one: I know that this is not my imagination, because I was myself caught up in the mechanism as I realised when, after five years spent in California, I arrived in Europe at the age of 17, in the mid-fifties, as a totally brain-washed American teenager. The proof of this can be given by the fact that, living in France, I was horrified – and somewhat frightened – when I heard that the French Government of the time was led by a Socialist. I gazed about me in wonderment, amazed at the fact that people still lived in seeming carefree joy, that everything still functioned, in spite of the evil ideology which seemed to inspire the leadership.

It only took a few weeks to shake off that feeling, but I have a very clear memory of how amazed I was at the very possibility of leading a normal life with a “Socialist” government, just as I’m sure, it is difficult for present-day Americans to understand that people in Muslim or Islamic Countries lead pretty normal lives and are not bent on the destruction of the “Great Satan”.

The mystery remains on how such behavioural conformity is achieved and maintained.