"Almost 90 percent of suicide bombers, if you look at their profile, are 12 to 18 years old," Taliban expert Zahid Hussein says
There have been camps set up in Pakistan that lead parents to believe that their children are going away to receive an education and free food. They are set up so that children can compare their poverty stricken homes to the one that the Taliban promise: Heaven. Paintings of rivers and swans and as the title of the article reads, virgins are hung upon their wall as promises for suicide bombing.
Even though American commercials are not designed to promote suicidal bombings, they are both are designed to work the same way. The children in this compound are told that everything in their life is worthless; the children in front of the TV have wants imposed on them, their sense of value weakened. In both situations, kids want to have a sense of control after some sort of an offset, and the adults or advertisers show them one way, and one way only, to get it.
I begin to wonder, if the way in which we acknowledge the manipulation involved in both of these situations is the same, are not the extra few toys kids get a big deal?
I think that this is a really insightful comparison, Sarah. It's saddening to think that our country's obsession with advertising can be compared to our enemies' system of brainwashing children. But I guess that in many ways, they are the same.
ReplyDeleteAfter 9/11, the Bush administration asked Americans to "go shopping" to show their patriotism. In America, we buy things to show our dedication to our country. In extremist groups such as the Taliban, suicide bombing is considered the highest form of dedication. In both cultures, you could say that children are being forcibly convinced to show their commitment to patriotism.
Wow -- Ruchi and Sarah -- fantastic tag team analyses!
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