The Devouring Dragon - Modern Propaganda
It's somewhat magical the way fate joins two people together; often for the purposes of romance. For me however, fate has joined me and another human entity for what I consider a far more profound reason from the latter; enlightenment.
I met this woman on a Sunday, just like I did every week to attend mass at my local catholic church. She was just an academic year below mine but considered to have a mental capability far above that by others. I consider her the smartest of the year and, because of my egocentric behaviour, to have a mental capability similar to mine. At the time, I was bringing this book with me entitled The Devouring Dragon.
The synopsis of the novel itself is no different from what you see below the graphic; How China's rise threatens our natural world. Being a cynical economist, I borrowed the book from the Singaporean National Library Board so as to be able to see China's growth from two different points of view, starting with the bad aspects first.
I lent the book to her, perhaps expecting a few comments of how interesting the book was; playing the role of the Devil's Advocate. On the contrary, the first few words she said were ones that were quite shocking, and shockingly memorable "Is this just another book about an American author degrading China?"
In the few moments that I spent with her she went on to criticize the book for it's clear bias. I had to admit she was correct; the book purely focused on the negative aspects of China's consumerism behaviour as GDP per capita continued to grow at a consistent, high rate. The book insinuated how China's unending desire for raw materials such as wood, coal and even ivory and other parts of rare, endangered animals was driving all of these to extinction.. It also went on to express exclusively the negative aspects of huge construction projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and how it caused more environmental damage than good. Of course, none of the positive aspects were ever disclosed in the book.
Of course, having seen the cover, it was not unexpected of the book to be so. I had borrowed the book to see a totally biased side of China's growth. What I did realise was that this was just "another book, coincidentally written by a American Writer". I realised that this was modern day propaganda; that countries have exploited the means of literature and books in order to imprint impressions into the heads of the audience, especially America, where books and movies always predict it as being a perfect country; always willing to help others (the problem in Syria is an example now; America claims to move in for 'Humanitarian Purposes')
So next time you pick up the next book or watch the next movie my dear readers, remember to look out for indication for propaganda, especially American ones, whenever you watch a movie or read a book, and I gaurantee you that it is no coincidence that the production came from America.
Watch out for subliminal messages around you.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
I met this woman on a Sunday, just like I did every week to attend mass at my local catholic church. She was just an academic year below mine but considered to have a mental capability far above that by others. I consider her the smartest of the year and, because of my egocentric behaviour, to have a mental capability similar to mine. At the time, I was bringing this book with me entitled The Devouring Dragon.
The synopsis of the novel itself is no different from what you see below the graphic; How China's rise threatens our natural world. Being a cynical economist, I borrowed the book from the Singaporean National Library Board so as to be able to see China's growth from two different points of view, starting with the bad aspects first.
I lent the book to her, perhaps expecting a few comments of how interesting the book was; playing the role of the Devil's Advocate. On the contrary, the first few words she said were ones that were quite shocking, and shockingly memorable "Is this just another book about an American author degrading China?"
In the few moments that I spent with her she went on to criticize the book for it's clear bias. I had to admit she was correct; the book purely focused on the negative aspects of China's consumerism behaviour as GDP per capita continued to grow at a consistent, high rate. The book insinuated how China's unending desire for raw materials such as wood, coal and even ivory and other parts of rare, endangered animals was driving all of these to extinction.. It also went on to express exclusively the negative aspects of huge construction projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and how it caused more environmental damage than good. Of course, none of the positive aspects were ever disclosed in the book.
Of course, having seen the cover, it was not unexpected of the book to be so. I had borrowed the book to see a totally biased side of China's growth. What I did realise was that this was just "another book, coincidentally written by a American Writer". I realised that this was modern day propaganda; that countries have exploited the means of literature and books in order to imprint impressions into the heads of the audience, especially America, where books and movies always predict it as being a perfect country; always willing to help others (the problem in Syria is an example now; America claims to move in for 'Humanitarian Purposes')
So next time you pick up the next book or watch the next movie my dear readers, remember to look out for indication for propaganda, especially American ones, whenever you watch a movie or read a book, and I gaurantee you that it is no coincidence that the production came from America.
Watch out for subliminal messages around you.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
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