[THOUTHCAW]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Oh yes. Americans are certainly victims of propaganda, too; I just don't think American propaganda is as good as the Islamic variety.

I wouldn't claim that Americans understand both sides of every issue or can see things from the other point of view; I'm merely saying that Americans are aware of the other point of view. Creationists know that evolutionists exist, even if they don't know a damn thing about evolution. Evolutionists know that creationists exist, even if they can't comprehend how someone could believe that stuff.

In general, Americans - wealthy and educated as they are - are inundated by enough media that they know other points of view exist, and know that things might not be exactly how they see things.

But random, poor villagers in a town with no electricity might not even be aware of the concept that they might not be right. They won't have seen any pictures of the United States, won't know anything about how its government operates, won't be getting hourly news reports on the web about casualty counts and vote tallies, won't be aware of the minority viewpoints in our country or the protests against Bush - none of these things are available to them. They have no tools with which to form a different worldview, and it's a shame.

Everyone in the United States at least has the opportunity to learn about the other side, even if their own willful ignorance prevents them from making the choice to do so. In many thoroughly destitute areas of the world, no such choice exists, and the only information coming into the village is Islamic propaganda. Media in Amerca is biased. It's generally news being presented by an American for Americans. It's inherently biased by the reporters American Education and views of life and society and value system. The views are also biased in how they perceive what they see/hear in the media by their own American value systems.

I agree that many villagers don't have the same tools as the average American to gather information at the same rate. And sure, they are certainly the victims of propaganda from extremists.

However, have lived in the third world and in the North America, I know from experience that people in the third world (educated or not) have much knowledge of what happens in the West. It might be received by word of mouth more so than via internet or TV but they actively try to keep themselves involved....not sure I find all that many American's doing the same wrt the third world.

That aside, the issue in most cases no so much that these people love Saddam Hussein. Often it's just that they don't appreciate the West impossing their values and culture on them. They love for Saddam is more about tell the Americans that they don't want American messing with their culture.