It was said by Pat Buchanan in the early 1990's. Pat was an American paleoconservative who was an assistant and special consultant to U. S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He made this quote sometime in the early 90's after he made this "culture war" speech at the RNC in 1992 for George H W Bush. And while Bush lost that election terribly, the way the media portrayed and attacked him on the presidential trail was not lost on Buchanan and so he felt that it was through the arts and hollywood that he could win elections (which he lost too). I feel like its a bit of a mask off moment for republicans who seek power at all costs and the best way to achieve that is through culture.
I dunno. I think that Pat Buchanan was given a bad rep back in the day. I don’t think Pat Buchanan had anything in common with the screaming lunatics in this forum. I disagree with many things he said/supported. But Pat Buchanan was a man of his word. For better or worse. When he stood against abortion it was because he cared for human lives. He was an actual Fiscal Conservative. He was anti- war. He was fair-minded when it came to Israel and our foreign policy. He actually hated communism. Not like the hypocritical nonsensical today’s American Taliban. He actually hated embraced free markets, democratic principles, and free speech even when those positions did not lead to his victory in elections. Of course folks would say he was racist. He was a “White” guy born in 1938. It wasn’t too hard to be a racist in his era. I don’t care that he was racist. I care if he engaged in the type of batshit insane racism that has become prevalent within American society. He had views on “Black”, Hispanics, and Jews that were reprehensible. But I never knew him to be type of racist who could not understand that the members of those groups would likely disagree with his assessments.
They've lost the battle for the culture because almost none of their supporters are able to create anything appealing, whether music, film, literature, or comedy. Like fundamentalists everywhere they can't create culture so instead they seek to suppress it.
I guess, if you say so. I mean I know that Ho Chi Minh has something to do with Vietnam, but I have no idea what that means contextually! (vis à vis the Ho Chi Minh trail to power thing). I guess I will have to Google it when I have time, but I have an 8 am class, and I desperately need to go back to bed sweetie.
Lol its ok the ho chi minh trail was just a secret pathway the vietcong took to bypass the us army and south vietnamese. It went through neighboring laos and cambodia which were officially neutral at the time.
So applying it here pats just saying that instead of gaining power the typical way politicians do, the instead opt to use culture as their method of achieving it. Such as through tv music books etc.
it didn't win Pat Buchanan anything though but republicans and the right in general have just about a huge foothold into American culture now where as back then it was almost driven underground. I think the Jan 6th insurrection can be a symptom of this.
basically it means instead of the normal way to power use culture such as TV, movies, art etc. its through these means, he thinks, that power can be achieved.
Ehhh, yes and no. I think politics in developed countries can take advantage of culture and influence it, but not shape it and not ride it to power either. Look at any one issue fringe party, they rarely make it. Now if you are talking nam or north korea, shaping culture is part of your game to hold on to power
He has a point. You can force people to do your will with a gun but if you install a sense of culture in them they'll defend it as their heritage. This makes them very easy to manipulate.
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Buchanan was looking for a way to bring the Republican's to win the Conservative war but no one wanted him and Bush lost the election and Clinton won by a big margin
It seems his clique neglected the point of obtaining power over the "culture" and the chosen ones who own since decades "culture" prefer always an option that grants them more benefits.
