Bill F.
Cultural
imperialism is the process of social influence by which a nation imposes on
other countries its set of beliefs, values, knowledge and behavioural norms as
well as its overall style of life. This definition certainly explains the
stranglehold that the US has imposed on Australian culture.
Marxists
hold that the superstructure of society, the ruling ideology, the political
institutions, state apparatus and cultural way of life arise from and reflect
the interests of the dominant class in society.
In
feudal society, the dominant culture reflected the interests of the land-owning
aristocracy. Under colonialism, the dominant culture reflected the interests of
the ruling class of the occupying colonial power, such as the British colonial
and neo-colonial domination of Australia right up to the Second World War.
Under
the current rule of the monopoly capitalist class, the dominant culture reflects
the interests of the most powerful and greedy section of the monopoly capitalist
class which is closely allied to foreign imperialism.
The
ruling class in Australia champions the interests of US imperialism in
particular, using a tiny clique of local sell-outs with close connections to
the largest and richest foreign corporate monopoly groups and financial
institutions. The Business Council of Australia is the most prominent
mouthpiece for this class rule by the dissemination of policies and attitudes
that assist US imperialism to penetrate all aspects of life in Australia –
economic, political, social and cultural.
As
Marx and Engels observed in The German
Ideology, “…the class which is the ruling material force of society is at
the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of
material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means
of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those
who lack the means of mental production are subject to it.”
Media
monopolies
Critical
to the ruling class are the owners and major shareholders of the local mass
media, especially concentrated in the Murdoch, Fairfax and Packer companies
with their extensive investments in many industries and links to international finance.
A
major role (self-appointed) is to use their control of the mass media, i.e.
radio, TV, internet, newspapers and magazines, etc, to justify and promote the
‘globalisation’ agenda of the main US and European corporate monopolies. This
is done directly through editorials and feature articles and indirectly through
biased reports and regurgitated handouts from various government, commercial
and political lobby groups.
None
of it questions the sacred idols of ‘foreign investment’ and ‘free trade’, the pillars
of imperialism. None of it criticises or even questions the right of US
imperialism to invade other countries and conduct illegal murder with drones.
None of it criticises or questions the “conga line of suckholes” (Latham was on
the money there!) knocking on the back door of the US Embassy and spilling
their guts to this foreign power.
Television News
Commercial
Television News is a good example of how the outlook of the ruling class is
promoted. It is watched by millions of Australians every night and is the only
source of information for many people. Unfortunately, it is mainly spin and
trivia, the most useful bit being the weather forecast, while commercial advertising
takes up more than a third of the time-slot.
Local
news content usually means of shots of politicians making brief statements or commenting
on another politician’s brief statement. Often, some footballer has belted
someone in a nightclub and we get to see it all again in the Sports Report.
Then
there’s the ‘human interest’ story; the police reporter; the court reporter;
the ambulance chaser – snippets of news to titillate, but never anything of
depth. Trivia for the masses!
The
international news is invariably from the USA; a statement by Obama on a
conflict in the Middle East or Africa; the US point of view on the economic
crisis in Spain, etc. For variety, sometimes the British BBC gets a run, but puts
the same position as the US. This is then referred to as the “international
community” and is heartily endorsed by our subservient politicians.
More
recently, large segments of the international news have been given over to the
detailed ins and outs of the US elections and the situation in Congress, featuring
US politicians and commentators. No such detail is ever presented on issues in
countries such as New Zealand, Japan or China, which are also important to
Australia.
As
for reporting the struggles of the working class, the struggles of the people, forget
that! When was the last time a strike by workers or a community struggle, was
actively supported? It has never happened.
Even
when there are huge demonstrations in opposition to government policy,
interviews with organisers and supporters are inevitably cut short and often
the focus was on trivial matters such as blocking the streets!
Not
to let the ABC and SBS off the hook – they do the same, but are more
sophisticated. For example, the ABC’s Q and A program brings up some of the
real issues, but confines them to scoring points for either Labor or Liberal.
Bread
and circuses
Beyond
this core of calculated propaganda and manipulated information is the broader,
more general ideology of capitalism, promoting individual selfishness,
consumerism and divisive racism. As Australia has become more and more a
satellite of the US economic and political empire, the moral values and ideals
of Australian capitalist society have shifted from British parliamentary
democracy to the more aggressive pro-imperialist stance demanded by the US.
The
invasion of investment capital by American corporations and the increasing
influence of the US in Australian political and military circles have been
accompanied by a pervasive promotion of the culture, trappings and diversions
of American middle class society.
Television,
movies and popular music are three powerful vehicles for US cultural
imperialism. A glance at the TV guide reveals that the majority of the
programmes will be US news, sit-coms and soap operas. These imported programmes
promote the lifestyles of the US and swamp Australia’s cultural heritage and
destroy its cultural identity. In Australia
The
“stars” and “heroes” are often self-righteous, aggressive individuals who
display neither humility nor humanity. The seemingly harmless and often
brainless “sit-com” shows depict the life of the affluent American upper middle
class. Their houses are full of consumer gadgets; they wear snappy clothes and
hardly seem to work at all.
When
they do appear, the workers are shown as bit players; servants, uniforms in the
background etc., “nobodies” who provide an audience to cheer on the
super-heroes. Either that, or as violent, ignorant thugs who have to be
controlled or eliminated by the more enlightened middle class. Class divisions
are reduced to “winners” and “losers”. There is no place for collective
struggle, for cooperative action, for the idea that ordinary people might have
courage and wisdom too.
The
advertising and fashion industries are geared around this rampant
individualism. They use all sorts of clever gimmicks to make working people
aspire to the wealth and comfort depicted on American TV. American language and
expressions are copied, complete with accents. American sporting events and
personalities are heavily featured and the artificial hype is copied by
sporting bodies in Australia. There is even a shameless attempt to promote
Thanksgiving and Halloween! This cultural conditioning seeks to chain people to
the system of imperialist-capitalism.
A
national identity
In
spite of this onslaught, there is resistance by wide sections of the people who
really enjoy Australian art, literature, film, drama, poetry, music.
Our
aim is to expel US imperialism from Australia and build a truly democratic
Australia, an Australia with its own culture, an Australia where we can sing
our own songs and watch our own stories.
We
all need to produce and promote an Australian culture that has an
anti-imperialist, working class and multicultural content, rather than being narrowly
nationalistic; content produced by artists and performers who are closely
connected with the Australian people and can express the peoples’ opposition to
US imperialism.
Any
attempts to break through the thought control of the media monopolies should be
welcomed and defended from attacks.
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