Cartoon 768: Destroying the brand

The power of suggestion is awesome when used effectively. American media has flooded the world. Within the media is the premise of “White superiority”, particularly American White male superiority. The old Westerns did a very effective job of setting the stage. You always knew the White man would ultimately triumph. This theme has been carried out throughout all the media offerings through the decades. American White male superiority has been adopted by people around the world. It is a subliminal fait accompli.

American White males are deferred to wherever they are. This American “brand” is indelibly stamped on the mind. American White males are shocked in those rare circumstances when they are denied status as automatically superior. They are acculturated to believe they are the “alphas” of the human male species. They firmly believe in any competitive situation they will win.

Today that belief in superiority is being challenged with globalization. Americans are realizing that they are not the vanguard in education or skills. They are witnessing non-whites move up the achievement spectrum. It has resulted in the psychosis that is really behind the Tea Party movement; to bring back American White Supremacy domestically and around the world. Galvanizing the support is not having a completely White person as the image of the leadership in America.

The austerity movement by the Tea Party is driven by the belief they are denying benefits to undeserving minorities and not to themselves. They fear that the distribution of wealth is being consumed by people other than themselves. They realize that as things get economically worst, they will have to compete more often for the middle level better jobs they feel they automatically deserve. They feel they are being disenfranchised.

The American White male superiority is subtly being challenged around the world. The coming presidential election will really be about restoring the brand. American media is increasingly being made to appeal to an international audience for financial reasons. The domestic market is shrinking in financial importance. Both China and India have access to vast domestic markets culturally different. Their offering will eventually eclipse that of America in the international market. The White American male will not be displayed as superior. Most Americans do not realize that for over a decade Japanese popular media has displayed the American White male as greedy and immoral. It is a culturally accepted perspective. 

David Copperfield, in the Charles Dickens book by that name, points out the dilemma. David Copperfield wonders if his life were a book, and he was one of the characters in the book, would he be the central character? America is wrestling with the same dilemma in a changing world.