Empire: Hardt responds

[Brad DeLong]

>  >Brainwashing. Pure brainwashing. They have all been brainwashed, and
>>alienated from their true selves. They don't like Terminator IV:
>>Infiltrator. They just think they do.
>>
>>Brad DeLong, off to see "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
>
>Well, I agree we have a 'revealed preference' here.  But what the hell use
>is 'revealed preference' as far as notions go?  I mean, how did the
>preference get there - does it represent something essential to humanity?
>To you?  To you right now?  Is the preference for seeing a movie, or for
>seeing this particular movie?  Would you see another if the movie menu was
>different?  Will you be glad you saw the thing?
>
>What's wrong with the idea that our preferences can be created/manipulated?
>And what's wrong with the idea that, if profit is the incentive for that
>creation/manipulation, our interests as a[nother] society may not
>necessarily be advanced by said creation/manipulation?  Or the idea of mass
>marketing creating the kind of mass mulch I talked about?  Or that the
>decimation of our own audio-visual sector (on account of we can't match
>Terminators spectacle budget due to market size and the fact that Yanks
>have trouble with our accent and our colloquial allusions - not to mention
>our dependence on you lot for marketing) might not be a good thing?
>
>They all seem worthwhile notions from here ...
>
>Off to bed,
>Rob.

All good questions...

Another not so good question: is it true that "The Road Warrior" was 
dubbed from Australian into Merkan before its U.S. release?

Brad DeLong