NEW E-BOOK SHOWS HOW WAR ON TERROR RADICALLY TRANSFORMED AMERICAN SOCIETYTerrorized Argues that America Is Forever Changed by Bush Presidency
“After 9/11 the country suffered from an acute trauma that profoundly affected every aspect of American life in the succeeding years,” writes Brian Finney in Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society, a newly released e-book on Amazon’s Kindle.
Finney, an award-winning author and Professor Emeritus at California State University, Long Beach, takes an unprecedented look at the widespread and pervasive harm perpetuated by the over-reaction of Bush’s declaration of a worldwide war on terror. The government as well as the American public suffered first trauma, then anger, followed by a desire for revenge.
Unable to find any adequate way of participating in the response to the attacks of 9/11, many Americans alleviated their fears with demonstrations of patriotic fervor, flying Old Glory from their cars and front yards. The advertising companies and music industry quickly followed suit. Pop singers wrote militaristic songs. The public (and therefore the media) desired a clearly identifiable external enemy, the simplicities of comic books in which villains were invariably punished by superheroes. The media obliged, casting Bush as Superman, Batman, Bulletman, Lone Ranger, and the like.
Each chapter traces the way in which the response of government was quickly adopted by other state and city agencies, corporations, the media, and finally by American citizens.
One chapter focuses on the massive new militarization of American civilian society – from the creation of a costly new Department of Homeland Security to the forging of a symbiotic relationship between the military and the video games industry (which in turn ironically aided in training the new breed of drone controllers). Sports, especially the new cult of extreme sports offering near-death experiences, imitated military combat, just as television news treated the run-up to the Iraq war as a pre-game show, while newscasters submitted themselves to tasers and water-boarding.
Another chapter shows how sometimes the influence went in the reverse direction. The popular Fox TV series 24 repeatedly had scenes in which torture was used to extract information in a ticking time bomb situation. Despite the extreme unlikelihood of such a situation occurring in real life, admiring administration officials began by modeling their methods of interrogation on 24 when creating new rules for Guantánamo prisoners.
A final summary of changes effected by the Obama administration since 2009 reveals the extraordinary extent to which the transformation of American society has survived a new government and left Americans divided, fearful of their future, and uncertain of what it means to be American.
BIO
Born in the UK, Brian Finney worked as a consultant and production control manager before joining the University of London as a tutor-organizer in the arts. In 1987 he immigrated to Southern California where he taught at the University of California, Riverside, UCLA, the University of Southern California, and California State University, Long Beach where he is a Professor Emeritus. He has published seven books. His second, Christopher Isherwood: A Critical Biography (Faber & Faber / Oxford University Press, New York), won the prestigious James Tait Black Book Prize for the best work of non-fiction in 1979.
“a great read and a fascinating argument.” (Hugh Weston, review in Amazon)
“a fascinating book, drawing all the ends together. I highly recommend it.” (Susan Sherman, review in Amazon)
###
Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society, by Brian Finney
Publication date: April 2011
Available exclusively on Amazon’s Kindle
$7.99
The Foreword and Introduction to this book are available free online at:
http://www.csulb.edu/~bhfinney/finney.htmlPRESS CONTACT AND REVIEW COPIES:
Brian Finney
310-3991199
bhfinney@bhfinney.com
Tweet This Topic
