Winter Soldier: A Geographical Perspective

On April 11th, Jason Latour announced on his blog the end of Winter Soldier (WS). Thus, I hate Latour and Klein for ending one of my favorite comic books of the last 20 years. Just kidding, Latour and Klein. Stuff happens. DC keeps killing-off Aquaman; Marvel kills Moon Knight and Namor faster than WS kills minions. No harm done. WS will be back; he is too strong a character not to have his own book, own movie, perhaps own cable series.

The theme behind Constant Geography, and in my courses, involves the notion geography is ubiquitous; everything is intrinsically geographic. In my course, I try to illustrate how fundamental geography is in our lives, from our books, music, politics, even popular culture, including comic books.

I am a life-long comic book collector. From my earliest memories, I have appreciated the art, imagination, science, and creativity associated with the comic/graphic novel milieu. As a young boy, I drew my own comics, created my own heroes, my own stories. The writers, illustrators, pencilers, inkers, letterers, developed such intriguing worlds, with fantastic villains attempting to fulfill devastating crimes against society. While I never became 'lost' in the comics, I always found the imagination of the writers astounding, the technology and powers invested in heroes and villains sparking my own imagination. I wanted to be an engineer, an aerospace engineer. I wanted to be the person who built the first starship, or the first transforming aircraft, or the first powered-suit. Yes, I wanted to be Tony Stark. Alas, I am a geographer; the bifurcated paths of life led me away from engineering, nudged off by Calculus III and Thermodynamics.

Comics are more sophisticated than most people give them credit for being. I refer not simply to the use of technology, the publishing technology, the art technology, or even the fictional technologies utilized by comic book heroes. No, I refer to the writing, the character backgrounds, plots, staging, and the underlying geography which provide compelling story environments. Characters have birth places, places of origin, places where their powers are gained, enhanced, exploited, or rendered useless. Comic book action takes place in specific places, both 'real,' meaning a real place on Earth, or imaginary, such as Alternate Realities, the Future, the Past, or other imaginary places, like Krypton, Oa, or Valhalla.

James Buchanan Barnes, for instance, was born in Shelbyville, IN, in 1925. For those unaware of who James "Bucky" Barnes is, he was the early sidekick to Steve Rogers, a/k/a Captain America. "Bucky" was featured in the 2012 movie, "Captain America: The First Avenger," starring Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, and Hugo Weaving. "Bucky" was portrayed by actor Sebastian Stan.

Shelbyville, IN, is a real place, located southeast of Indianapolis, IN, having an estimated 2011 population of about 20,000 people. Why would "Bucky" come from such a small town? I can really only guess why Shelbyville, IN, was selected without having an interview with Ed Brubaker or Jason Letour, however, I do know from my limited knowledge of World War Two history enlistments disproportionately affected rural areas. I suspect Shelbyville was quite rural in the 1940s, I suspect.

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Comic book writers, especially early authors like Stan Lee, Joe Simon, and Jack Kirby, drew heavily upon traditional cultural traits found predominantly in rural areas. Such traits as 'strong moral fiber,' 'strong work ethic,' 'patriotism,' and a strong inclination towards 'justice' and 'fair play' were common cultural traits which were applied to rural areas. People self-identified with the presumed simple, rustic life represented in rural life.

The history of the Winter Soldier begins simultaneously with Captain America. We cannot explore the geography of Barnes without beginning with the transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America. Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, aided a few years later by Stanley Lieber a/k/a "Stan Lee," deliberately created Captain America as a political icon. In Comic Book Nation (Wright; 2003), the venerable team of artists and writers admitted Captain America was designed as a counter to the growing threat of Nazism. According to Joe Simon, many groups were organizing against Nazi Germany and the German Wehrmacht, and Simon and Kirby wanted to make their voice heard.

Thus, was the character of Steve Rogers born, his transformation into the Captain America via the super-soldier serum was begun. James Barnes would not be the benefactor of any super-soldier serum, not here in the United States, nor abroad. His fate would diverge greatly from Captain America's at the end of World War II, not only in context of the character but also in print.

James "Bucky" Barnes began life with no "X-factor," no genetic mutation, no alien weaponry, or another augmentation. He was like every other person, i.e. a "normal." In 1940, after accidentally discovering the true identity of Captain America, James was trained by the United States Army. At 15, he was one of the youngest (if not the youngest) enlisted soldier. He followed Captain America on a number of adventures throughout Europe, helping to defeat the Nazis and the hated Red Skull. Both Captain America and Bucky fell victim to the same catastrophe, though. While attempting to disarm a German drone, both Captain America and Bucky were lost in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Later, Captain America would be found, thawed, and live on as the superhero as we know him today.

Bucky was thought "killed in action." The killing of a teenage protagonist, even within the confines of the comic book genre, was not well-received in the popular culture of the 1950s.  Bucky's death was used throughout the industry as a reason why adult superheroes should never have teenage sidekicks, especially ones whose only "powers" were wits.

Writers pull themes from popular culture, from all eras and geographies. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union provided immense opportunities for writers to develop adversaries based in Europe, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), East Germany, and the countries behind the Iron Curtain.

In the early 1950's, Democracy was under threat by Communism, so the sentiment went. After World War II, many realms, regions, and countries were caught in their own internal leadership struggles. China, while warring with Japan in the 1940s, was also in the throes of a civil war. The Korean War (1950 - 1953) would leave a divided peninsula, the northern portion in the hands of Communists, while the southern portion adopted a form of Socialism. The Soviet Union would drape a figurative "iron curtain" of near-impenetrable influence upon adjacent European states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. In 1954, Eisenhower described the adoption of Communism as being like the toppling of dominoes, once one country went Communist, the adjacent country might, too. Even in the United States, the Joseph McCarthy Communism hearings and the subsequent black-listing of politicians, academics, and entertainment personalities, provide evidence no one living in the United States was safe from scrutiny.

I've neglected to keep up with changes in the comic book publishing realm in my story, as neither Marvel nor DC existed in the early days of Captain America. Atlas Publishing, along with Timely Comics, which both published some early Captain America titles, would eventually evolve into Marvel Comics. In 1953, Atlas would team Captain America, the Human Torch, and Namor, the Sub-Mariner, in a new effort to stomp out Communism. Captain America would become "Captain America, Commie Smasher." Namor was not too impressed with the Red's, either.

Comic books embody the same trait as most daytime soap operas; no character ever really dies (unless the actor dies in real-life, of course, and sometimes not even then, due to the miracles of plastic surgery). Same holds true with James Barnes. The very same incident which led to Captain America being trapped in ice led to the eventual capture, imprisonment, and 're-programming' of James "Bucky" Barnes from a World War Two hero into a Soviet spy and assassin.

In Winter Soldier #1, the connection to the former Soviet Union is clear. The familiar 'hammer and sickle" emblem, an illustration of the egalitarian roles of both industry and agriculture of the Soviet Union, depicted in the title is an unmistakable icon of a by-gone era. Or, as the pages of Winter Soldier reveal, perhaps not as by-gone as we might want to believe. Even the smaller star above "Winter Soldier" appears to suggest Communism, or the threat of Communism is not so far removed from our current political theatre.

In the Winter Soldier, we find Barnes and his partner, Natalia Romanova a/k/a Black Widow, discovering a trio of Soviet-era assassins have been activated throughout the United States. James Barnes, throughout issue #1, refers to his physical training, mental conditioning, and re-education within the Soviet spy apparatus, along with the three other assassins. These assassins appear to have been activated by a resurgent Spetnatz (Russian Special Operations/Special Forces) for some undetermined purpose. But, I'll get the plot in a moment. First, let me track down some comic book-based geography.

The opening scene in Winter Soldier shows James Barnes buckling from the psychological weight of his past. We see a montage of events, from his first days at Fort Lehigh U.S. Army base, fighting alongside Captain America, the Red Skull, to his eventual demise as "Bucky" and his rebirth as the Winter Soldier.

To the left is our imperfect hero, as drawn by Butch Guice. In these images, which I have used to highlight and illustrate the educational use of a great comic, I call-out some of the evident geography. I've discussed the iconography of the star/hammer and sickle above (noted by the yellow circle, left). Fort Lehigh does not exist in the Real World. Fort Lehigh, sometimes referred to as Camp Lehigh, is a fictional U.S. Army installation which had been abandoned prior to Steve Rogers and the Super Soldier experiment. Fort Lehigh, though fiction, was located in Virginia, obviously a real U.S. state.

Many books move from geographic location to geographic location quickly. Paying attention to clues can help one keep abreast of the storyline. Devout readers of any genre will build "cognitive maps" (mental maps) as the authors or writers drive the action forward. In Winter Soldier #1, we learn the USSR planted some "sleepers" in the United States, to be awakened for some nefarious purpose, no doubt. Nico Stanovich, a Russian Spetsnaz member, is being watched by a U.S. intelligence agency. Stanovich, operating under the guise of Nick Stanton, is frequenting some casinos in Las Vegas, NV. Las Vegas is a well-known hive of villainy not only in comic books but in Real Life. Organized crime, legalized prostitution, gambling, and the "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" advertising scheme provides substantive evidence Las Vegas is a node for any criminal network.

Spetsnatz is an interesting organization. The Russian Spetsnatz consists of a number of Special Operation Units. Some Spetsnatz units have naval specialties, marine units for performing sea operations. Some Spetsnatz specialize for urban environments. In many ways, the Russian Spetsnatz are the mirror image of the U.S. Special Forces units. Both U.S and Soviet/Russian special force units were born out of World War Two.

During World War Two, the development of intelligence services created very elaborate global spy networks. Every major country ran operations. The United States created the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War Two. The OSS ran spys throughout Europe and Russia to gather news of troop movements, adequacy of food supplies, labor force, raw materials, public sentiment, etc. While spies gathered intelligence, the tactical removal of people or missions against "hard targets" was somewhat problematic. The U.S. military often had to create ad-hoc special teams to conduct rescue missions, sabotage, or simply perform surveillance. Eventually, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines would formally develop teams. The Green Berets and Rangers, Delta Force, and SEAL would arise in the late 1940s and in the 1950s to address critical tactical and strategic needs. Spetsnatz is the Soviet/Russian equivalent being created during the same timeline for performing similar operations for  Mother Russia.

Later in the first issue, James and Natalia catch a break. They find themselves racing through the rain to the fairly mundane environment of Minnesota. Not sure where their destination ends up being, though to fly from Las Vegas to Minneapolis is about 1,300 nautical miles. James and Natalia might have better airline departure times than mere "normals" and could probably cut the regular 3 hr flight time down to perhaps 2 hrs, given some form of S.H.I.E.L.D assistance. Would James and Natalia fly Southwest? I'd think not. Then, there are the issues of baggage claim, rental car, getting directions out of the city. James would not make it past security with his arm, let alone all of his weapons. Thus, having a secret organization to work through for planning travel is probably a huge benefit to heroes lacking mutant flying genes, superhuman powers, the endowment of alien technology, or being able to command the cosmic powers of the Universe.

Latveria is a popular location in many Marvel titles. Latveria is the home country of Victor Von Doom, the nemesis of the Fantastic Four, and Iron Man, to some extent. Nestled in the Banat region of northern Serbia, surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, Victor Von Doom is somehow able to leverage what, under normal conditions, would be a minuscule global influence and project power and influence on numerous occasions, often bringing the FF, et. al., to their knees. While Latveria does not exist, the other geography does exist. The small fictional region wedged between Romania, Hungary, and Serbia was once home to the Thracians, but also fell under the dominion of the Goths and later the Huns. Victor Von Doom hails from the city of Doomstadt, appropriately enough (the fictional capital of Latveria); "Von" means "from" or "of" in German, and can indicate noble lineage, in case you didn't know.

Later in the same book, we are introduced to a Russian scientist, the apparent mastermind of the sleeper program Barnes and Romanova are trying to shutdown. Professor Ivan Kragoff a/k/a Red Ghost was the original mastermind behind a number of Soviet science programs, one of which led to the training of the Winter Soldier. In one scene, we see the professor awakening a sleeper, providing the barest of briefs.

"Dmitri, it is time for you to awaken." Dmitri's response has to be translated from Russian, as he believes himself to be in Russia. Professor Kragoff reminds Dmitri to "speak English; you're in America, now." Obviously, action has moved forward in time, and across geography, as Dmitri was most likely placed in his sleeper mode while in Russia and transported to the United States.

However, as I read the book I noticed a fairly severe historical error. In the last panel, Professor Kragoff is entreating Dmitri to prepare for his assignment. "And your Soviet masters need you to help destroy the Great Satan." No Russian scientist real, or fictional, would never call the United States the "Great Satan." Calling the United States the "Great Satan" connotes the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union as one of religion, or with religious undertones. The Soviet Union not only discouraged religion, all citizens were officially atheists. Members of the Communist Party certainly would profess no religious leanings.

Furthermore, the term "Great Satan" was a term not used by the Soviet Union, but by Iran. In the late 1970s, prior to the overthrown of the Iranian government by religious radicals, referred to the United States as "the Great Satan." For Iranian leaders to refer to the United States as the "Great Satan" makes perfect sense; after all Iran is officially known as "The Islamic Republic of Iran."

The error is not egregious enough in my opinion to detract from the story. I would only encourage the writers to check their sources more thoroughly before their characters make such comments. Other readers may not be as forgiving. On the other hand, close scrutiny of the book, the story, coupled with my own knowledge of world history and geopolitical events allowed me to pick up on this subtle flaw and use the error as a teaching moment.

However, I can understand why Brubaker and Sankovitch, et. al. wanted to take the story in this direction. The Soviet era of science research was fascinating, especially under Stalin. Stalin had some interesting ideas, one of which was the creation of a "super-soldier." Both Staling and Hitler had predilections toward the building "master races" and people who could work fervently, soldiers who could fight endlessly, with strength, skill, agility, with ferocity not available in a "normal" human.

While no straight line relationship can be drawn between Stalin and some of the Soviet military research, anecdotal evidence seems to suggest Stalin gave a tacit acceptance for many different types of secret research. The cover of Winter Soldier #5 shows Barnes barely holding his own against nothing other than a gorilla wielding a Gatling gun, or what might be referred to today as a "mini gun." While far-fetched even for the 21st century, if one were to dive into the Soviet archives one might be surprised to learn Soviet scientists were trying to figure out how to hybridize differing animal species, including the creation of a chimp-human hybrid [link]. History will show these efforts began long before Nazism or Stalin, yet history does provide marvelous fodder for material, technologies, and intrigue even into the 21st century.

I selected Winter Soldier for an analysis as the character of James Barnes can be traced back in real-time to World War Two. Both James Barnes, as Bucky, as Captain America, and then as the Winter Solder captures a timeline of geopolitical intrigue which exists not only in comic books but manifests in the real world. The Winter Soldier has little other than physical training and wits to address dangers and crises; a bionic arm provides some advantage over adversaries, but he is otherwise mortal. His partner, Black Widow, is similarly adept physically but possesses no supernatural powers, no particular genetic augmentation, or physical augmentation. These characters are vulnerable and could easily make the transition of the small screen.

The Winter Soldier and Black Widow also engage in real-world geopolitical machinations. They are spies, sent around the world to carry-out covert operations where the United States government needs "plausible deniability." These characters then provide ample material for a geographer like me to discuss their exploits in a context of geography, of explaining geography, incorporating history, and perhaps some science along the way. Few other Marvel books provide the ability to examine, analyze, and interpret the geography found within the books. The new "Hawkeye" run is a good example, perhaps Daredevil and Iron Man. Many of the Marvel titles splinter off into other dimensions making geographical analysis irrelevant. DC, on the other hand, has several titles, like Arrow, most of the Batman titles, Nightwing (who is moving to Chicago), Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Constantine, the Before Watchmen series, which have settings in familiar locations and familiar geography.

How Memes Explain GOP Dysfunction

I'm amending my post based on results from the 2012 Presidential Election. Comments by GOP pundits speak directly to my comments below. Both Karl Rove and Charles Krauthammer exemplify the anti-rational memes I identify and discuss below. Krauthammer, in fact, argues the GOP platform needs no changes; the GOP simply couldn't motivate the proper personalities to communicate the Republican message. If the message is so complicated 9 candidates cannot communicate the "message," the problem might be the message.
My previous post, a book review of D. Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity, left a cliffhanger, of sort. D. Deutsch spoke of static versus dynamic societies, specifically, static societies fail; dynamic societies endure, unless compromised or infected with non-rational memes. Then, demise of a society is a guaranteed surety. I dropped a parenthetical comment within my review indicating I would speak more on this topic later. This is later.
David Deutsch introduces a stunning array of ideas in a few short pages. He essentially breaks down culture and the transmission of cultural ideas and describes the bifurcation of a society’s choices into two paths. One path takes society down a static path, and essentially the end of that society. The other path takes society down a dynamic path, and persistence. Sounds a lot like Robert Frost, “the path not taken.”
My chosen theme for my writing is geography, the entire milieu of geography. When a quantum physicist wanders into the realm of culture and nation-building, my “geography-sense” begins to tingle. I have nigh-incomplete knowledge of quantum physics but I have a lesser amount of incomplete knowledge about geography. However, tying a few ideas from The Beginning of Infinity (TBOI) to geography should not be too difficult. What comes thereafter, might be.
The notion static societies and dynamic societies are part of the milieu of geography should not be too indulgent; this notion should be self-evident, actually. TBOI introduces a term which is not generally used in geography. The term is expressed more in sociology, or psychology, perhaps. However, TBOI introduces the term as a fundamental components of culture. The analysis of the term is used to examine the general success or failure of societies within a historical context. For instance, the failure of the Roman Empire, the failure of Nazism, the failure of the Soviet Union are all potentially explained by the function of a single term, and the terms components.

What is a meme?

Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish Gene (1976), posited the idea of a “meme.” A meme is a self-replicating idea (369). But not this simple, as a meme is a self-replicating idea within a culture much like a gene is a self-replicating set of biological instructions which communicates to cell how to develop. Memes carry cultural instructions which communicate and define individual’s behavior within a culture.

A meme is a self-replicating idea which carries the cultural instructions which communicate and define an individual’s behavior within a culture. Memes can mutate due to societal pressures, therefore memes evolve over time.

Thousands of memes can exist. Memes can arise and disappear within a person’s lifetime, or they can persist over generations. Memes can self-replicate with varying degrees of success. Some memes persist over time with considerable fidelity; they do not lose their message. Some memes adapt over time and evolve. The information content will change; did a new meme arise and replace the old meme? Or, is the meme simply a mutation?
Memes can be categorized as one of two types. “Rational” memes are based upon rational and critical thought (388). Being based upon rational and critical thought, rational memes are able to be accurately replicated. Rational memes evolve in the direction of real understanding and knowledge (389).
“Anti-rational” memes are founded upon non-rational thought or non-critical thought (388). Non-rational thought or non-critical thought is a means of saying the idea is not likely to be replicated with any degree of accuracy. An example of non-critical thought is the response to a question, “because I said so.” Another example includes memes which are based on religious ideologies, faith-based ideologies, or political-based ideologies. An example of such anti-rational memes would include the belief women are inferior or too delicate to vote or to become involved in politics, or the notion Blacks or people of color are inferior, or the notion the only true faith is Judaism. Anti-rational memes mutate away from developing better understanding and increased knowledge, and in doing so hinder or eliminate adaptations which encourage greater critical thinking.

Rational memes arise from critical thinking and encourage greater understanding through promoting more rational thought.
Anti-rational memes arise to hinder or prevent critical thinking and impair understanding and restrain knowledge.

Rational memes persist and are enjoyed throughout society and across time. Rational memes succeed in spite of debates and criticism because the memes themselves inspire debate and criticism, becoming better and accepted throughout society. The example set forth in TBOI are the Laws of Motion described by Isaac Newton. Newtonian physics not only is useful for construction, such as cathedrals and bridges, and useful for artillery (388). In other words, rational memes are useful across a broad spectrum of people and disciplines, are well-suited for being re-purposed, and foster more criticism and debate.

Anti-rational memes can persist and spread among people in the very same as rational memes. However, their effect is different. Anti-rational memes harm society (378). Anti-rational memes discourage criticism, debate, the pursuit of knowledge and deeper meaning. These effects may see mundane, yet the effects of those effects tend not to be mundane. Discouraging criticism and debate leads to the rise of police states, censorship of the media, detainment, loss of freedoms, imprisonment, or death. Russia has created a set of Internet censorship laws which greatly restricts access to the media, makes libel a criminal offense, and forces foreign news reporters to register as foreign agents (Atlantic, 3 Nov 2012). Fascism is another example of an anti-rational meme. Fascism is the unquestioning devotion to an ideology, typically a political ideology. Fascism is not limited to politics; the adherence to religious indoctrination in the face of contrary evidence is also a form of fascism. The United States is not immune to anti-rational memes. The Salem Witch trials springs to mind, the Red Scare & McCarthyism of the 1950s, and the "You Are Either With Us Or Against Us" domestic and foreign policy during the 2001-2008 Bush Administration are all forms of fascism, and anti-rational memes. The persecution of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is an interesting circumstance. Yet, despite the controversy, I would argue this persecution is also an anti-rational meme because deeper truths are being hidden or concealed. This is precisely the nature of anti-rational memes.

The precise nature of anti-rational memes is to work against the revelation of knowledge, to blur or conceal the truth.

At this point I'm departing from my synopsis of memes, and discuss of rational and anti-rational memes. Rational memes are consistent with dynamic societies. Dynamic societies are not immune to the dangers of anti-rational memes. Within dynamic societies, both types of memes exist and are both exposed to the same sets of criticism. Anti-rational memes do not stand up to criticism, however, falter, fade away, and are replaced by rational memes. Even rational memes are under constant scrutiny and may be replaced by new memes or evolve into a new meme. Because of the continual improvement of rational memes in dynamic societies, the memes themselves become increasingly easier to replicate without loss of fidelity (388).

All meme forms and variants can exist within a dynamic society. Dynamic societies allow scrutiny and criticism of memes. Anti-rational memes will be identified as false, shallow, or useless. Rational memes will persist under critical observation and will be replicated accurately.

Static societies may have rational memes. However, due to the persistence of anti-rational memes, rational memes are disposed. Anti-rational memes can be as faithfully replicated as rational memes. For example, slavery in the United States was a persistent anti-rational meme based on several specious arguments. Generation after generation of people in the U.S. South were indoctrinated into the Slavery System. Most any attempt to argue against slavery, i.e. to criticize the meme, was immediately squelched. Static societies encourage the Status Quo, suppress criticism, and enforce invariant compliance of anti-rational memes (381). Laws are passed which encode the meme into the social fabric, such as the "Sundown Laws" which persisted in the United States well after Black Emancipation. Society may even foster and encourage the use of taboos to control behavior. Even within the allegedly "free and open" United States, some mixed race couples continue to find bias and discrimination.

Static societies are doomed to fail. Static societies impose rules, regulations, and restrictions which have the effect of ultimately shutting down human creativity. Human creativity is essential for meme evolution and transmission.

The society of the United States is generally associated with being a "dynamic" society. Many societies today are dynamic societies. All of Europe, India, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Canada, are all examples of "dynamic" societies. If you don't see your country mentioned, its probably still dynamic, I merely did not want to develop a comprehensive list. As long as a society is able to evolve to more rational ideas, i.e. rational memes, the society has a good chance of being a "dynamic" society.

Some societies I tend to think of as being dangerously close to becoming static societies. Russia comes to mind. The more restrictive the government becomes, the more speech and political expression is curtailed, the more likely Russia will become static. China falls into the same category for essentially the same reason. North Korea is a static society. Venezuela under the rule of Hugo Chavez, becomes more of a static society under his strict leadership. Any of the Middle Eastern countries, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Maghreb countries, and many countries of sub-Saharan Africa have the potential of becoming static societies. Rules, laws, or taboos which restrictive the free movement of ideas, or limit certain populations are anti-rational memes. Limiting the role of women in business, industry, sports, or government are anti-rational memes. Discriminating against a population based on skin color or other physical traits is an anti-rational meme. The killing of albinos in Tanzania because they are seen as "ghost" people is an anti-rational meme. The notion in Malawi of having sex with a virgin girl as a cure for AIDS/HIV is an anti-rational meme.
In the United States, our political parties are susceptible to becoming victimized by the spread of anti-rational memes. The Democratic Party support of unions is an anti-rational meme which hinders business, disallows the movement of ineffective workers and their inherent inefficiencies, and prevents the replacement of outmoded business models with modern adaptations.
The Tea Party movement itself is based almost exclusively on a host of anti-rational memes, racism, Creationism, pro-Christian, pro-faith, and a return to the Gold Standard are simply a few anti-rational memes prevalent among the Tea Party.

Republicans, especially Conservative Republicans, have become significantly enamored by anti-rational memes. The "Patriot Act" provided unparalleled access to law enforcement for domestic surveillance. During the Bush Administration, citizens throughout the country found their "patriotism" challenged by simply criticizing White House policies. Members of the Senate Science and Technology Committee side with Creationists and other anti-science advocates against current research extending from the study of Cosmology, evolution, stem cell research, to climate change. Conservative Republicans, such as Donald Trump persist in perpetuating the Birther meme concerning President Obama's place of birth and his academic record. Other Conservative Republicans persist in associating environmental catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sally with God's wrath against the moral turpitude of homosexuality and abortion. The current political clarion among Republicans, "Take Back America" exemplifies yet another anti-rational meme. The United States has not been lost, has not been over-run or taken over. The government is not besieged. A coup d'etat has not supplanted any of our three government divisions.
Dynamic societies succeed by critical investigation of memes, by moot, and by using human creativity to expose, evaluate, and adapt memes. As memes are replicated, and evolve, individual memes may become static (383). Static memes are not necessarily bad. The idea of one-person, one-vote is a static meme which is important for governance which cannot really get more any more simple. Remember, the previous memes prevented women from voting, black males could cast a vote which counted as 1/2 the vote of a white male, and only white landowners could vote. Individual memes may become static. Danger arises when static memes become encoded with the law, or imposed by taboo, and society in its entirety is restricted from exercising creativity in advancing knowledge and gaining deeper understanding.

The two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, are catalysts for memes. Democrats, often referred to as "Liberals," are criticized for simply being that, liberal. Liberal carries many connotation; open, explorative, educated, flexible, wavering, and progressive are a few terms which come to mind. Republicans are often characterized as "Conservative," meaning resistant to change, parochial, narrow-minded, and traditional are a few terms which come to mind.

Both political parties are far from perfect. However, Republicans are dangerously close to becoming the bastion of anti-rational memes. Advocating increased levels of religious expression in schools disaffect members of a society which purports to be accepting is an anti-rational meme. Anti-science faith-based messages which articulate evolution and cosmological sciences as being straight from Hell is an anti-rational meme. Deprecating education at levels beyond high school is an anti-rational meme. Denouncing climate and atmospheric sciences is an anti-rational meme. Advocating the status quo upon reliance on fossil fuels and against alternative energies is an anti-rational meme. Denouncing the rights of gay and lesbian citizens based on religious intolerance is an anti-rational meme. Stripping rights away from individuals to exercise control over her own reproductive rights in an anti-rational meme. Restricting the use of embryonic stem cells on religious grounds is an anti-rational meme.

For Democracy to succeed, at least two parties of equal rational and critical thinking acumen are necessary. My criticism of the Republican party is levied mostly to vent frustration over the entire political process. In reading TBOI, particularly the portion regarding memes and culture, I was struck by the relevance of Deutsch's comments and their applicability to current societal and governmental concerns. Much of the vitriol of our current political climate arises from anti-rational memes, examples of which I have already mentioned. These anti-rational memes are associated with members of one political party, are encoded within that party's platform, in fact. That the GOP cannot mount a substantive and unified front to the Democrat Party can be tied directly to the anti-rational memes harbored by many Republicans. To provide a better leadership at local, state, and national level, GOP leaders need to scrutinized their platform, their ideals, eliminate those notions which are parochial, limiting, predicated on ignorance and non-critical thinking, and purge their party of members who support anti-rational, non-critical memes. Otherwise, the Republicans are dooming themselves to irrelevance, being diluted by more non-critical thinkers, and radicalists, eventually being replaced by a number of factions.

Source: Deutsch, David; The Beginning of Infinity; Penguin; 2011.

U.S. Citizens Worry Me

I'm trying to get out of the habit of saying, "Americans." As a society, we are really a self-centered lot. North America is comprised of both Canada and the United States. Technically, a Canadian could call herself an "American," as she lives on the continent of North America. But, would that make people living in the United States, er, "Statesians?" or, "USians?"

Someone living in Mexico could call themselves an "American," too. By some geographers account, Mexico is part of North America. I tend to prefer to link Mexico with Central America. Even so, "Central America" is an "America," thus qualifying anyone from the Rio Grande to the Panama Canal to adopt the moniker of "American."

South America is also an "America." A few years ago, I spoke with someone from Brazil. The running joke in Brazil is people in the United States think their country is the only one in the Western Hemisphere. Brazilians, I was told, are "Americans" as much as residents of the United States.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I am not saying these other "Americans" fall under protection of the United States Constitution, nor are governed by U.S. Civil and Criminal Codes. I am saying anyone essentially living in the Western Hemisphere, from an area historically described as being the "Americas" has as much right to call themselves an "American" as anyone in the United States.

Which brings me to a couple points, the first I will cover here, the other I will cover in a second post.

Each semester, the very first activity I engage in, before I even determine attendance, or recite the syllabus, is give a map quiz. My map quiz is not any old map quiz. I present the students with a world map. I ask they identify 18 specific countries. The 18 countries I have them attempt to locate are countries featured prominently in the news: Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so on. I tabulate correct responses and create a frequency distribution.

At the end of the semester, students making their way to the end of the course are then presented with the same map and asked to identify the same collection of countries. I tabulate correct responses and create a second frequency distribution.

I've been collecting statistics for about 8 years or so.

I have no idea if college students are representative of the U.S. population. At first blush, I would say, No, simply based on the fact more than 2/3rds of the U.S. population never receive a college degree.

Walking in the door and sitting down at a desk, the initial results I find disturbing. Also, the initial results have not appeared to significantly improve over my measurement period. Thus, I can only conclude people are just as uninformed today as they were in 2004.

Here are some notable statistics:

Despite having been actively engaged in Afghanistan & Iraq for 10 years or so, both countries are the most commonly misidentified countries, at 99% error rate.

Many people self-identify as "Christian" yet cannot find Israel on a map of the world, with an error rate of 95%, only slightly less than Afghanistan or Iraq.

Venezuela, an important supplier of oil products to the United States, fares about the same as Israel, as does Pakistan and North Korea.

Do people ever incorrectly identify the United States? Yes, a few individuals cannot locate the United States on a world map. The error does not happen very often; out of 100 students I can almost guarantee at least one person will not correctly identify the United States. Whereas about 1% will miss the United States, about 5% will miss Mexico.

Finally, most of my college students cannot label correctly all 50 United States. I'm still working on current statistics, but historically greater than 90% of college students taking my courses cannot identify all 50 United States.

We are buffered by two of the world's largest oceans. Yet, in today's globalized economies, I cannot find any excuse or reason why we, U.S. citizens, should have such a poor grasp of our planet's geography.

I would like to give a map exam to all of our state and national leaders, see how well they do. Then, fire all the ones which get less than a 70% (C).

Book Review: Pakistan On The Brink, by Ahmed Rashid

I have grave concerns over the future health of Ahmed Rashid. Pakistan is not friendly towards journalists, aid workers, politicians, business people, or anyone critical of Pakistani leadership.

Since 1992, 42 journalists have been killed in Pakistan (CPJ.com.) April 20th, 2012, Mutaza Rizvi was found murdered in Karachi, the southern port city of Pakistan. Rizvi was a senior editor for "the Dawn" newspaper, a leading newsource in Pakistan. He had been bound and strangled (ABCNews.com.) According to the web site, "Violence Against Journalists in Afghanistan," eight journalists were bullied, threatened, beaten, or killed in 2011.

Mr. Rashid is a highly esteemed Pakistani author, journalist, former revolutionary, and Central Asian expert. Pakistan On The Brink is the third book in a series which began with Taliban and continued with Descent into Chaos.



In Pakistan on the Brink, Ahmed Rashid presents in a series of essays the importance of Pakistan in the regional affairs of South Asia. The key to a successful Afghanistan is a stable Pakistan. In fact, the cornerstone of a stable South Asia, from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, is a stable democracy and the Rule of Law in Pakistan. The last 12 years in Pakistan, and South Asia, has been anything but stable.

Weaving together a continuous narrative of events transpiring since September 11th, 2001, Mr. Rashid pulls all regional players, the United States, and NATO supporters to describe the political calculus of the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship, referred to as AFPAK. One cannot adequately analyze, interpret, or seek to explain the nature of geopolitical affairs in Afghanistan nor Pakistan without considering them as AFPAK. Any analysis must also include the influence of respective neighbors, including Iran, India, China, and Russia.

The sub-title of his book, "The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," is not accurate, in my opinion. Mr. Rashid's essays describe recent conditions and the state of affairs as of 2011 between people, political parties, and countries named, not so much future-looking commentary. If Taliban was a treatise on the modern history of the Taliban, and Descent Into Chaos an examination of the U.S. role in Pakistan during the Bush Presidency (2001-2008), then Pakistan On The Brink provides an interesting framing of the delicate economic, social, and political climate currently existing in Pakistan.

His essays are captivating for those with little a priori knowledge of the geopolitical mires of South Asia. Even with some knowledge, Mr. Rashid clearly demystifies the web of intrigue in AFPAK relations. Mr. Rashid names specific people and organization he views as responsible for tactical and strategic failures across the region. Politicians across the board are implicated, President George Bush, President Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and the current Pakistani President Asif Zardari and the Pakistani Prime Minister Raza Gilani. Bush was described as "congenial," establishing a rapport with Afghan President Karzai but Afghanistan never was a priority for him. Obama is characterized as aloof, cool and distant, especially in regards to Afghan leadership, yet has done more for Afghanistan in his tenure as U.S. President than in all eight years of Bush's presidency. Economic and military aid for Afghanistan increased substantially under Obama but his reticence to develop a relationship with Karzai has undermined peace negotiations.

The Pakistani leaderships comes across as nothing more than stooges for the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI). Zardari and Gilani are completely ineffectual for a number of reasons. First and foremost, each is fearful of being removed from office (in the best case), or killed (in the worst case.) The military is the most powerful leadership authority in Pakistan currently, with the ISI close behind. Zardari and Gilani have done nothing to restrain the military and have gone as far as to support myths, lies, and anti-American propaganda aimed at the United States. The 2011 assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan under the noses of the military, ISI, and Pakistan's government gave evidence to Pakistani anti-American sentiments. Silent for two months after the killing, the first Pakistani government comments protested the violation of their airspace. Later, neither Zardari nor Gilani would quell rumors among the general Pakistani population the assassination was an utter fabrication.

Military officials on all sides are named and their ineffectual leadership decisions detailed. The Pakistani military is no doubt complicit in aiding and abetting the Haqqani Network, and by proxy, al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Haqqani Network is a family-run terrorist organization, operated by Jalaluddin Haqqani. With considerable wealth earned in business and construction, Haqqani is able to purchase equipment and run terrorist cells against anyone or any organization in the region. The Haqqani Network is known to support and train al-Qaeda, plus Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization managed in Pakistan against organizations in India.

The Taliban cannot be described as a unitary organization. While affiliations may overlap, the Taliban consists of at least two groups, one based on Afghanistan, and one based in Pakistan. Membership may overlap, some philosophies may parallel, both favor the withdrawal of U.S./NATO forces from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban are "nationalists," they support an independent Afghan state, free of U.S., Pakistani, or Iranian influence. The Taliban in Afghanistan today are not the same Taliban faced by the U.S. military in the early 2000s. The U.S. military dealt with those Taliban already; the previous leaders are dead. Today's Taliban are the sons and cousins of those earlier Taliban leaders. Under the current Taliban authority, some restrictions have eased. About 100 schools have been built throughout Afghanistan, thought most in the north and northwest. Girls are allowed schooling, and more girls are in school in Afghanistan than ever before, over 8 million. The Taliban have banned attacks against schools and have allowed UN organizations to inoculate children.

The Pakistani Taliban, on the other hand, aid and support al-Qaeda, the Haqqanis, and train suicide bombers. The Pakistani Taliban actively fight against the Pakistani government. Members are far more extreme in their ideals. Pakistani Taliban favor overthrowing the Pakistani government, the creation of a regional state based completely on Sharia. Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba are their allies.

Mr. Rashid's writing is compelling. As a Pakistani, his frustration with his country is evident. He often says so, citing Pakistan's important geography, wedged between Iran and Iran, a potential conduit for a world's worth of goods and services, with a population of once highly educated people and noted not long ago as a viable destination of foreign direct investment. How could Pakistan not be successful? he argues.

Pakistan will not be successful for the foreseeable future. The government is weak and unwilling to restrain the military or the ISI. The Pakistani military and the ISI leverage all sides against the other, incite fear and violence, work with adversaries of the U.S. and NATO. The government is fearful of an Afghanistan influenced by Shia Iran. The Pakistani government is fearful of an Afghanistan influenced by rising economic powerhouse of India. External players like the United States, vacillating between support and withdrawal, cutting economic aid and repairing damaging relations simply add to the chaos.

Mr. Rashid's writing feels fast and loose. Months and days are frequently mentioned but no year. Getting lost in all of the details is easy, I discovered. I found myself searching the web for events so I could better establish timelines as his telling might move back and forth over days, months, and years upon a single page.

The level of detail and his familiarity with many of the important people made for fascinating reading. Mr Rashid had lunch, dinner, and breakfast with most of the top-level personalities, Asif Zardari, President Bush, President Obama, and Hamid Karzai. His love of Pakistan and his concern for his country, people, and culture is beyond reproach.

To truly understand the geopolitical complexity of peace and stability in South Asia, in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and become quickly educated on the regional nuances, Mr. Rashid's "Pakistan On The Brink," should not be passed over.

Pakistan On The Brink. Ahmed Rashid. Penguin/Viking Hardback. 212pgs. 2012. $26.95

Iran and the Debates

I hope everyone has been watching the debates. They are informative in their content, and, conversely, informative in what they do not contain. Listen for comments about China and India. Are there any ???

Let me be clear, I am not going to use this venue to support either party. I do want to point something out in this venue, though.

The President of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Not to diminish his power or his authority, but the reality of Iran is that M. Ahmadinejad is not the real power in Iran. The real power in Iran sits with the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader of Iran is in control of the military, not the President. When we hear President, we think, generally, that the person in the role of President has the same powers as the US President. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a dictator - he is up for re-election next summer. He cannot launch an attack against Israel, as command of the military is outside his powers.

Many countries have a President and a Prime Minister. The President takes care of domestic affairs. The Prime Minister handles international affairs. Sometimes, the role of President may be termed, "Chancellor," such as the case of Great Britain. In the USA, we combine both the domestic duties and international duties into one position, the President.

Becoming more informed about the world is what this blog is about. When we learn, we are then able to see that things may not always be what they seem. Perhaps, we become more curious and ask more questions. That is part of becoming educated - being able to ask better questions, or question the answers.

I encourage everyone to explore debate comments.

Iraq and Iran: Together for the First Time

Folks, I see this as a big deal. I have read numerous international articles, within the Arab world and without, and I see this as a concern.

Iraq and Iran spent the better part of the 1980's fighting over the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the southern part of Iraq. Oil, of course, was the contention.

Saddam became the buddy of the United States, as a way for us to conduct a proxy war against Iran. After all, the fundamentalist Shi'ites in Iran had just overrun our embassy and taken hostages, keeping them for almost a year. Donald Rumsfeld even took it upon himself to engage Saddam directly during this time, helping deliver non-military assistance, agriculture products supposedly. Supposedly, these where then converted over to chemical weapons that Saddam used to kill 200,000 Kurds in the northern part of Iraq.

The U.S. has not been friendly with Iran ever since we supported the overthrow of the theocratic government in 1952, replacing the president with Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The former government had nationalized the oil industry, taking away the investment that a U.S. oil company had made.

The Iranian President enjoyed two days in Iraq. He announced his visit weeks in advance. While security was high, he appeared to travel with impunity and without much regard for his personal safety. He also appeared to enjoy the personal attention of Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki. He visited several places around Baghdad and Iraq, and also received accommodations outside the Green Zone. President Ahmadinejad enjoys the support of the Shia minority in Iraq, the southern portion of Iraq. Iran supported the Kurds during Iran-Iraq War so the Kurds also appreciated Iran's attention. The only ones that seemed upset were the Iraqi Sunni Muslims, who are quietly backed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In contrast, President Bush has stayed little more that 4-8 hours at a stretch in Iraq, has not been outside the Green Zone, and only announces his visit after the fact. Granted, he is a bigger "trophy" for opposition forces so requires more security, but it also says a lot about how the U.S. currently viewed, as well.

When all was said and done, Iraq and Iran signed agreements to improve and promote cooperation, cultural and strategic ties.

Iran is, and will continue to be, an important player in stabilizing Iraq, particularly for the Shia.

Middle East Reality

Not only a good blog on the Middle East but also contains links to other interesting blogs, as well.

Whose the Greater Destabilizer?

In geography, we talk about devolution. Devolution is the breakdown of a state [country/nation] due to internal division. Some other terms that are also associated with devolution are Balkanization, Shatterbelt, and Failing/Failed States. When people within a region, whether that region be a state, nation, or realm, become disenfranchised with their government or method of governance, conditions are ripe for devolution.

The United States is embroiled in a process of nation-building in Iraq. We are encouraging Iraqi people to reduce their cultural ties to their tribes or larger family units and increase their identification with the greater Iraqi state. However, admirable this action might seem, the United States has not proven to be the Great Unifier.

I begin my argument by submitting that the current state of U.S. affairs in Southwest Asia can be traced to 1953. In reality, the creation of the state of Israel might be the birth of the modern era of conflict in Southwest Asia. I choose 1953 as my baseline due to the U.S. support of the Iranian Coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The British petroleum company, BP, was the private oil industry in Iran at the time. The Iranians, weary of seeing their oil and oil profits siphoned off to the West, nationalized the oil industry. The West, namely the United States and Great Britain, saw this as a threat. Operation Ajax was born out of the desire to regain control of oil resources in Iran.

Eventually, this would lead to the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, in 1979, beginning the theocratic rule still in place today.

Let us not forget that Iran was once Persia, which was once the Persian Empire, and is a nation and a people whose history pre-dates that of any European nation.

In 1982, the United States threw their support behind Saddam Hussein in his war 8-yr war against Iran. At that time, the war was turning against Iraq, and the U.S. did not think that it was in its interests for Iraq to lose.

In the meantime, during the decade of the 1980's, the United States cast its lot with the Muslim Afghan rebels in Afghanistan. The effort to help the Afghans against the Soviet march resulted in the most successful covert action in the history of the CIA. We also helped train those we are at war with now, in Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

In 1990, two years after its war with Iran, Iraq found itself at war with its former weapons supplier, the United States.

In 2002, the United States instituted a policy of regime change in Afghanistan, a nation that we were the benefactor of for almost a decade.

In 2003, the United States implemented regime change within Iraq. The coup in Iran in 1953 might also be termed, "regime change."

Currently, the United States has engaged both Syria and Iran in helping resolve conflict within Iraq. Both Syria and Iran have been marginalized through the "Axis of Evil" label. Both the United States and Iran have engaged in finger-pointing - "You're responsible for making this worse!"

Iran is being accused of providing more sophisticated IEDs and other weapons to Iraqi insurgents. In April 2007, ABC News ran a story about our secret efforts in Iran.

Lebanon had parliamentary elections the other day. A predominantly Muslim nation, but with sizable Christian and Armenian minority populations, by the way. The candidate supported by the United States - lost. The former president, Amin Gemayel was trying to win the seat vacated by his son. Analysts believe that the support by the Bush Administration doomed his election.

In closing, I offer this. Destabilization of this region cannot be attributed to any single nation. Russia, China, France, Great Britain, the United States, Iran, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya - who am I leaving out? - are all responsible. Destabilization may have a core cause: Oil.

One thought I do have is this: discounting Oil, the basis for this destabilization is founded on the inherent disrespect that nations have for each other. Nations, and administrators of those nations, lack fundamental respect for differences among themselves, the people they government, and the lives in the far-flung reaches of our global that their policies directly or indirectly affect.