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Today's uncomfortable thoughts for the day with PJ Harvey Today's uncomfortable thoughts for the day with PJ Harvey
(1 day later)
I enjoyed listening to John Pilger and Julian Assange on PJ Harvey's guest-edited edition of Radio 4's Today programme this morning. Excellent. It's not that I necessarily trust their handling of the facts, let alone their judgment, much more than I do the Daily Mail's. It's just that – like the Mail – they force us to confront our comforting prejudices.I enjoyed listening to John Pilger and Julian Assange on PJ Harvey's guest-edited edition of Radio 4's Today programme this morning. Excellent. It's not that I necessarily trust their handling of the facts, let alone their judgment, much more than I do the Daily Mail's. It's just that – like the Mail – they force us to confront our comforting prejudices.
Having an outsider come in to shake things up is always a gamble, a bit like calling in management consultants at a company or government department. They may be brilliant – as some of Today's guest editors are – and they may be dull or worse. I didn't catch all of PJ Harvey's – Polly Jane to the family, I expect – but she's pretty talented and obviously decent, so you had to admire her determination to shine some light on neglected corners like war-injured servicemen and the UN security council. Here's her own website's running order. Having an outsider come in to shake things up is always a gamble, a bit like calling in management consultants at a company or government department. They may be brilliant – as some of Today's guest editors are – and they may be dull or worse. I didn't catch all of PJ Harvey's – Polly Jean to the family, I expect – but she's pretty talented and obviously decent, so you had to admire her determination to shine some light on neglected corners like war-injured servicemen and the UN security council. Here's her own website's running order.
What fascinates me with such exercises is how persuasive they are – or are not – in changing people's views. Reading the Mail (it's the best of the rightwing polemical papers in my view) is often hard work, though it has a lively mix (the health features are terrific and City coverage combative) and a stream of reliable jokes, erudite and malicious, from diarist, Ephraim Hardcastle.What fascinates me with such exercises is how persuasive they are – or are not – in changing people's views. Reading the Mail (it's the best of the rightwing polemical papers in my view) is often hard work, though it has a lively mix (the health features are terrific and City coverage combative) and a stream of reliable jokes, erudite and malicious, from diarist, Ephraim Hardcastle.
But the relentless and hectoring nature of much of what it does usually puts me off. The "Man Who Hated Britain" attack on Ed Miliband's father, the Marxist intellectual, Ralph Miliband, was a case in point. There is a really interesting study to be done of Ralph's world view and its impact on his younger son. But the Mail's bilious attack has made it toxic.But the relentless and hectoring nature of much of what it does usually puts me off. The "Man Who Hated Britain" attack on Ed Miliband's father, the Marxist intellectual, Ralph Miliband, was a case in point. There is a really interesting study to be done of Ralph's world view and its impact on his younger son. But the Mail's bilious attack has made it toxic.
I feel the same way about some of today's Today. John Pilger's take on the world is better known to older readers, he's less often on radio and TV now – no longer writing for the Mirror either – which is a shame because his kind of indignation is best suited to young people for whom things are simpler than they become as most of us get older.I feel the same way about some of today's Today. John Pilger's take on the world is better known to older readers, he's less often on radio and TV now – no longer writing for the Mirror either – which is a shame because his kind of indignation is best suited to young people for whom things are simpler than they become as most of us get older.
Pilger took as his text media censorship and the poll which suggested that most Brits only think 10,000 Iraqis were killed during the US/UK-led invasion-occupation when the reality may be closer to 1 million. In saying that, JP may be almost as guilty of overstatement as the poll found public opinion was guilty of understatement. It's a much-disputed figure. Pilger also said that in the days when Saddam Hussein was still "a good dictator" (ie deemed to be on our side) Sunni and Shia Iraqis lived happily side by side, a distinctly Pilgerish take which means the ancient sectarian feud is all our fault.Pilger took as his text media censorship and the poll which suggested that most Brits only think 10,000 Iraqis were killed during the US/UK-led invasion-occupation when the reality may be closer to 1 million. In saying that, JP may be almost as guilty of overstatement as the poll found public opinion was guilty of understatement. It's a much-disputed figure. Pilger also said that in the days when Saddam Hussein was still "a good dictator" (ie deemed to be on our side) Sunni and Shia Iraqis lived happily side by side, a distinctly Pilgerish take which means the ancient sectarian feud is all our fault.
Delivering the second of the day's Thoughts for the Day (former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivered the first), Julian Assange was much more persuasive. Holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy he has time to think, and quoted both Aristotle and the Books of Proverbs on the natural human thirst for knowledge and understanding on the world in which we live. "Knowledge is power," he said. Quite so, and it was only a small jump to WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden's disclosures about the long reach of the NSA and GCHQ.Delivering the second of the day's Thoughts for the Day (former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivered the first), Julian Assange was much more persuasive. Holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy he has time to think, and quoted both Aristotle and the Books of Proverbs on the natural human thirst for knowledge and understanding on the world in which we live. "Knowledge is power," he said. Quite so, and it was only a small jump to WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden's disclosures about the long reach of the NSA and GCHQ.
It's not quite true that the invention of the printing presses "was opposed by the old powers of Europe". Princes did try to control it and Catholic countries were far worse than the emerging Protestant ones – for whom the vernacular translation of the bible was transforming – but they went with the technological flow. It was the mighty Ottoman empire, the imperial power which terrified Christian Europe, which banned the new discovery. That was the error which would eventually allow George W Bush to occupy once-mighty Baghdad 500 years later.It's not quite true that the invention of the printing presses "was opposed by the old powers of Europe". Princes did try to control it and Catholic countries were far worse than the emerging Protestant ones – for whom the vernacular translation of the bible was transforming – but they went with the technological flow. It was the mighty Ottoman empire, the imperial power which terrified Christian Europe, which banned the new discovery. That was the error which would eventually allow George W Bush to occupy once-mighty Baghdad 500 years later.
Where the monochrome view of a Pilger or Assange gets it wrong is in the same way that the Mail gets it wrong and that Noam Chomsky got it wrong the last time I heard him addressing a large audience, at the Friends Meeting House in central London in 2013. They want to blame the "other" for all our woes, they want to blame foreigners. In the Mail's case – I dare not read the less subtle Sun or Express's take – they focus on Romanians and Bulgarians, on Roma in particular (try Elinor Goodman's informed Radio 4 view here … ), the foreigners most perceived to threaten our way of life in 2014.Where the monochrome view of a Pilger or Assange gets it wrong is in the same way that the Mail gets it wrong and that Noam Chomsky got it wrong the last time I heard him addressing a large audience, at the Friends Meeting House in central London in 2013. They want to blame the "other" for all our woes, they want to blame foreigners. In the Mail's case – I dare not read the less subtle Sun or Express's take – they focus on Romanians and Bulgarians, on Roma in particular (try Elinor Goodman's informed Radio 4 view here … ), the foreigners most perceived to threaten our way of life in 2014.
There are serious issues about immigration which successive governments have handled badly. But the media have responsibilities here, too – and behave worse. When Pilger, Assange or Noam Chomsky address US or British abuses – torture in Cyprus during the Eoka crisis of the 1950s popped up in PJ Harvey's edition – they have issues worth addressing too, if only to guard against repeating past failures and crimes.There are serious issues about immigration which successive governments have handled badly. But the media have responsibilities here, too – and behave worse. When Pilger, Assange or Noam Chomsky address US or British abuses – torture in Cyprus during the Eoka crisis of the 1950s popped up in PJ Harvey's edition – they have issues worth addressing too, if only to guard against repeating past failures and crimes.
We are victims of media censorship is the thrust of their complaint, the "normalisation of the unthinkable" as another critic, Edmund Herman, puts it. As always, the rich and powerful want to know all they can about us – "the serfs and slaves" as Assange called us – while letting us know as little as possible about them.We are victims of media censorship is the thrust of their complaint, the "normalisation of the unthinkable" as another critic, Edmund Herman, puts it. As always, the rich and powerful want to know all they can about us – "the serfs and slaves" as Assange called us – while letting us know as little as possible about them.
I have a lot of sympathy with that concern, indeed I recently wrote a piece about the dangers from oligarchy of fashionable anti-politics rhetoric on the left. Where we should part company from such talk is in regarding ourselves merely as pawns and victims. There has never been a time in history when it has been easier for most people to know a LOT about what's going on in the world. Voters have responsibilities too and the mainstream media is not the only tool available. Nor are the western powers the sole villains of the story – victimisation of China is laughable in 2014. Yet China gets a pretty gentle run.I have a lot of sympathy with that concern, indeed I recently wrote a piece about the dangers from oligarchy of fashionable anti-politics rhetoric on the left. Where we should part company from such talk is in regarding ourselves merely as pawns and victims. There has never been a time in history when it has been easier for most people to know a LOT about what's going on in the world. Voters have responsibilities too and the mainstream media is not the only tool available. Nor are the western powers the sole villains of the story – victimisation of China is laughable in 2014. Yet China gets a pretty gentle run.
For the Pilgerites the evil foreigners are not the Mail's gypsies or Chinese entrepreneurs resource-grabbing in Africa, but us, white Europeans and their former colonial descendants, mostly in the Anglosphere. We are the foreigners who invade other people's worlds and spoil them. If there was an upside (there usually was) it is either not mentioned or discounted. Pilger likened the death rate in Iraq to the Rwandan genocide on Thursday morning, a dreadful failure of UN non-intervention, but so far as I know it's not one of his causes.For the Pilgerites the evil foreigners are not the Mail's gypsies or Chinese entrepreneurs resource-grabbing in Africa, but us, white Europeans and their former colonial descendants, mostly in the Anglosphere. We are the foreigners who invade other people's worlds and spoil them. If there was an upside (there usually was) it is either not mentioned or discounted. Pilger likened the death rate in Iraq to the Rwandan genocide on Thursday morning, a dreadful failure of UN non-intervention, but so far as I know it's not one of his causes.
That's OK, he can't do everything. But when I listened to Chomsky, erudite and funny, mocking the crimes of the Anglosphere, I was struck by the near absence of any mention of the old Soviet Union's (now Putin's Russia) opportunist role in the Middle East's miseries, let alone those Chinese oil contracts. Palestine is his great cause, but to listen to Chomsky you would not know that Palestinian terrorists had ever bombed an Israeli bus or thrown stones (and worse) into crowded cities. It's not just good guy/bad guy, it's more tragic than that.That's OK, he can't do everything. But when I listened to Chomsky, erudite and funny, mocking the crimes of the Anglosphere, I was struck by the near absence of any mention of the old Soviet Union's (now Putin's Russia) opportunist role in the Middle East's miseries, let alone those Chinese oil contracts. Palestine is his great cause, but to listen to Chomsky you would not know that Palestinian terrorists had ever bombed an Israeli bus or thrown stones (and worse) into crowded cities. It's not just good guy/bad guy, it's more tragic than that.
If I understand correctly, Chomsky explains that he is an American and his duty is to hold American power to account. OK, but I am not sure it works very well except among the already-converted who don't need any more help in feeling a warm glow of self-righteous persecution. By the same token PJ Harvey's programme included the Guardian's indefatigable sleuth, Ian Cobain, discussing the British army's torture record with Phil Shiner, the lawyer who handles Iraqi compensation claims.If I understand correctly, Chomsky explains that he is an American and his duty is to hold American power to account. OK, but I am not sure it works very well except among the already-converted who don't need any more help in feeling a warm glow of self-righteous persecution. By the same token PJ Harvey's programme included the Guardian's indefatigable sleuth, Ian Cobain, discussing the British army's torture record with Phil Shiner, the lawyer who handles Iraqi compensation claims.
It was interesting to anyone who might not know much about the subject, but it was not a very balanced discussion despite the efforts of John Humphrys who did the interview to put the absent army's side. Sarah Montague and Mishal Husain were presenting the show, so Humpo – who is Daily Mail man incarnate in some ways – could be seen as one of the guests, a token dissident in the Dorset singer-songwriter's world.It was interesting to anyone who might not know much about the subject, but it was not a very balanced discussion despite the efforts of John Humphrys who did the interview to put the absent army's side. Sarah Montague and Mishal Husain were presenting the show, so Humpo – who is Daily Mail man incarnate in some ways – could be seen as one of the guests, a token dissident in the Dorset singer-songwriter's world.
As it happened, one of the programme's last items shone some inadvertent light on the problem. Montague interviewed Professor Robert Service, a tough old Soviet-watcher, on Kim Jong-un's blood-curling New Year message about why he had to kill his once-loved uncle. The language of cleansing, of ridding the homeland of contaminating foreign filth, is characteristic of North Korea, of China and the Soviet Union, indeed of all totalitarian regimes, Service explained. It's important, too, when broadcasting for the tyrant not to make boasts that his domestic audience will not laugh at in the privacy of their own homes, he said.As it happened, one of the programme's last items shone some inadvertent light on the problem. Montague interviewed Professor Robert Service, a tough old Soviet-watcher, on Kim Jong-un's blood-curling New Year message about why he had to kill his once-loved uncle. The language of cleansing, of ridding the homeland of contaminating foreign filth, is characteristic of North Korea, of China and the Soviet Union, indeed of all totalitarian regimes, Service explained. It's important, too, when broadcasting for the tyrant not to make boasts that his domestic audience will not laugh at in the privacy of their own homes, he said.
Well, such risks and temptations affect us all in milder ways, the impulse to blame the "other". Whatever its considerable faults elsewhere, western imperialism is not to blame for the grotesque and incompetent communist dynasty which savagely rules North Korea, although China props it up for want of a better solution. In fairness to Beijing, I doubt if it feels very comfortable with its choice. That's life, alas.Well, such risks and temptations affect us all in milder ways, the impulse to blame the "other". Whatever its considerable faults elsewhere, western imperialism is not to blame for the grotesque and incompetent communist dynasty which savagely rules North Korea, although China props it up for want of a better solution. In fairness to Beijing, I doubt if it feels very comfortable with its choice. That's life, alas.
Perhaps we will hear more about it on Friday's edition of the Today programme.Perhaps we will hear more about it on Friday's edition of the Today programme.
• This article was amended on 3 January 2014. PJ Harvey is Polly Jean, not Polly Jane.
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