Woody Allen once said: "I hate reality but it's still the best place to get a good steak."

What is "reality"? In Taoism, the Tao – that cannot be fully grasped by human understanding – is "eternally nameless" and should be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its "manifestations" – the reality of life before its descriptions of it. In Buddhism, reality can be said to be viewed as a form of "projection", resulting from the fruition of karmic seeds. According to Plato's metaphorical allegory of the cave, human beings can only perceive reality as shadows of the real things they see interacting on a wall.

The hardest aspect of reality that human beings are compelled to face is their ultimate end. This is "depressing" for most. Another aspect of reality concerns their survival… which – in Nature at least and for people living under genocide, war or poverty – is a daily life-long battle. Such a battle can be very exhausting indeed… and most human beings (in privileged circumstances) seek an "easy way out" by purchasing respites from all these exertions for survival and from the thought of death – hence the endless pursuit of wealth, escape, and palliative fantasies.

Many people don't like reality, it seems… especially today, especially in a capitalist world, especially in today's Western world… Many are even TAUGHT to hate reality… which makes them manipulable and weak for those who seek to control them by means of a “false consciousness” and “cultural hegemony” shaped through NARRATIVES – the generic word "narrative" taking on a new specific meaning: the formulation of a story regarding a specific topic in order to shape public opinion and achieve a desired image or viewpoint.

In a capitalist world, advertising is key to presenting and promoting a product or service in such a way that it will produce maximum profits; increased consumption of products and services is generated through "branding" – which is the creation of an identity – an external one… a façade.

The Information War

With the advent of neoliberalism, these same practices are not only used for products and services but also in creating political narratives… And whoever ends up "owning the narrative" – a new trendy trope – is "the winner"… a winner who has attained a position of omnipotence.

In recent years, "narratives" have become more sophisticated, devious… and compulsorily spurious, especially in the service of the Hegemon, to uphold its political, economic, and especially cultural imperialism – through Hollywood, mainstream media, social media, AI, the monopolised music industry, freedom forums, academic grants (for indoctrination), red-carpet festivals, along with the postmodernist and recent wokist ideologies intent on destroying traditional mores, classical culture and meaning. And precisely because these developments have been devoted to an exceptional, "chosen" nation - whose actions, mindset, and values should and must be emulated all over the world – its propaganda skills and PR campaigns excelled… and soon gave birth to a new formula: "Soft Power" (this term being coined American political scientist Joseph Nye of Harvard University in the mid 1980s, but which first came into widespread usage in 1990).

 Soft Power… Is it something for a new, Multipolar World?

Certainly any state, just as an organisation, will always seek to hone its diplomacy skills and promote its image to the outside world in the best manner possible… And to this aim it will have its own press and public relations departments.

But some in the Global Majority - bedazzled by this categorically American brand that has proven enormously successful all over the planet - have voiced their wish for their states to create their own "soft power", believing it to be a neutral, general concept – something similar to PR and promotional campaigns that seek to promote a positive image of a country… But is it that?

First of all, why emulate anything recently conceived in a fading Empire? And is it not a formula born out of American exceptionalism and neoliberalism?

Whilst the concept of soft power managed to captivate Russia in the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union (perhaps it had been simply mistakenly associated with a country's cultural appeal and positive image), it soon lost its allure. In 2019, Professor Sergei A. Karaganov (Professor Emeritus, Academic Supervisor, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, political scientist, and senior political advisor) was quoted as having written that the "soft power concept should be recognised as an intellectual delusion as it is not 'adequate' to the new reality of international relations any more". And in a 2023 report entitled Russia’s Policy Towards World Majority, Professor Karaganov, Director Kramarenko, and Professor Trenin wrote, "Russia should stop using the term ‘soft power,’ which has been borrowed from Western political discourse and reflects the approach and interests of the United States in the first place."

And then… what is it really – this thing, 'soft power'?

Joseph Nye popularised his coined term in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, describing it so: "when one country gets other countries to want what it wants might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others to do what it wants"… [N.B.: The Cambridge dictionary defines "co-opt" as, amongst other things, "to include someone in something, often against their will"; "to claim something as your own when it was really created by others].

Nye further developed the concept in his 2004 book, "Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics", in which he wrote: "Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive."

In his text entitled  The Benefits of Soft Power, Nye defines "power" as: "the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes one wants […] This soft power - getting others to want the outcomes that you want - co-opts people rather than coerces them. Soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others. […] Soft Power resources are the assets that produce attraction […] and attraction often leads to acquiescence. […] The world of traditional power politics is typically about whose military or economy wins. Politics in an information age may ultimately be about whose story wins." [emphasis mine]

Thus all ultimately depends on the Narrative…

And the Narrative is Owned by…

… the "Empire of Lies".

The United States has always presented itself – ever since its genocidal beginnings – as a pure and virtuous entity, bestowing freedom and democracy to all who enter its hallowed halls. It is the world's champion of narratives, which it has constructed and used to celebrated itself over the centuries. Over the years, these narratives have been selling: "The American Dream" "democracy", "freedom", "human rights", "Western values", "a rules-based order, "philanthropy", "individual opportunities", "from rags to riches", "instantaneous stardom"… It is then not a surprise that a concept such as "soft power" was born out of this mindset and the specific American economic system of financial capitalism. Exploiting its virtuous façade, the American brand "soft power" has become the crowning glory of American foreign policy – a "crafty marketing ploy" to seduce and deceive its prey into… acquiescence. Indeed it is the Hegemon's most insidious and malevolent weapon as it has infected minds everywhere.

These narratives have produced: neo-colonialism, political correctness, wokism, cancel culture, virtue signalling, dodgy NGOs, colour revolutions, regime change, psyops, economic destabilisations and the annihilation of genders, traditions, society etc. In their unctuous, hypocritical, and patronising presentation, these narratives are in essence contemptuous not only of other human beings – but of reality. Soft power robs its targeted prey of truth, meaning, ethics and everything sacred.

Today, the brazenness and heinousness of the Empire and its vassals' attempts to deceive us about their direct involvement in the Genocide in Gaza and in their war in Ukraine have reached their peak. Add to this the current and increasingly aggressive persecution and intimidation campaigns against real journalists and honest news platforms that report the truth and expose the empire's mendacious narratives...

The constant churning out of these narratives for the Hegemon's "soft power machine" shows all the symptoms of the mental disorder known as pathological lying – "a chronic behaviour characterised by the habitual or compulsive tendency to lie". As with an individual pathological liar – after a long pattern of telling lies to deceive others, the individual soon begins to believe his/her own lies… and before long wallows in an unreal world, resorting to ever nonsensical lies, outrageous claims and irrational behaviour, which ultimately leads to insanity. And is this not what we are observing in the desperate Hegemon today?

The façade of the imperial narratives is crumbling, and the Global Majority has taken note

 Sovereign nations are rediscovering their age-old values, traditions, and cultural roots and those of other nations – without the need to commodify them. Even many citizens of the West are beginning to see through the lies and deception and to long for something else – without knowing yet what.

After all the froth and soap bubbles spewed out by neoliberalism, many are simply longing for authenticity, sincerity, trust, and dignity.

Reality is not only a place to get a good steak and to be aware of one's finitude, but – when one can finally detach oneself from one's placenta-phone – it is also a place in which one can become more conscious of being alive… amidst the myriad wondrous things of creation.

If we want to create a new world, it can only be done by acknowledging reality and pursuing truth… which is ultimately a spiritual endeavour.

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

Author

Nora Hoppe is an independent filmmaker, screenplay writer; essayist; translator. Her work can be found under Authors at Al Mayadeen 

The views expressed by this author do not necessarily represent those of Titanic Lifeboat Academy or its Board of Directors.