I’m incredulous. And when you are incredulous you are probably missing something important. You always need to ask yourself WWTCT (what would Tyler Cowen think?) So I should probably have taken a deep breath before writing this post. You guys tell me what I’m missing.
1. Tell me why this country isn’t showing abject cowardice by canceling one film project after another (some of high quality), because we were told to do so by a crackpot on the other side of the world. And yet the news media reports all this like it’s perfectly normal.
2. Tell me why Americans being interviewed say; “well how do you expect the North Korean people to feel?” Um, how would the Jewish people in Germany have felt if Hitler was insulted by Hollywood? (Yes, I know, never use Nazi analogies.) OK, then how did the American people feel when the North Korean media compared our first African American president to an ugly monkey? The guiding principal of the North Korean regime is that North Koreans are superior and other races are inferior. And we are worried about hurting their feelings?
3. Back in 2013 the city of Boston showed similar cowardice, shutting down the entire city (and many suburbs) because a single 17 year old with a gun was on the loose. I wonder what would happen if they shut Detroit down every time a dangerous 17 year old with a gun was walking the streets. How often would Detroit be open? And after that incredible show of cowardice the people of Boston were so proud of their actions that they made “Boston Strong” into a sort of slogan.
4. And then there’s the TSA.
Perhaps this is a generation thing. Maybe it’s rational to become increasingly risk averse as we get richer. After all, my generation has trouble with the notion that kids are no longer free to roam around by themselves. Maybe I’m just out of touch with the world of today. Or is it our legal system? Are movie theaters afraid of lawsuits?
But here’s what I don’t get. If America really is this weak and cowardly, then why can’t ISIS easily defeat us? They could phone in threats against movie theaters just as easily as the North Koreans can. And there must be 100 times as many Hollywood films that offend ISIS sensibilities as there are that offend Kim. Recall that women get stoned to death in ISIS-controlled areas for things like wearing a miniskirt. Then consider Hollywood films, which often show Arab terrorists as villains. So why doesn’t ISIS copy North Korea? Why does ISIS let us insult them? I don’t get it.
I suppose when I can no longer tell the difference between articles in The Onion and articles in the mainstream media it’s time for me to retire, or go back to focusing on monetary policy.
PS. Et tu, Facebook.
PPS. There is some debate about whether the Sony hacks and subsequent threats came from North Korea. I have no expertise in that area, and obviously that issue has no bearing on anything in this post. I do believe it was unethical for the press to print private emails that were stolen. But heh, it’s the American media–what do you expect? They prefer to print stories about gossip rather than controversial reports on illegal US government spying on US citizens.
PPPS. And what’s up with the GOP? Between defending torture and insisting that the 50 year old Cuban trade embargo will start paying off any day now, you have to wonder whether they have a secret plan to win in 2016 by locking up the reactionary vote.
End of rant.
Happy Holidays!