One of the big targets of DOGE and a defense offered by the neoliberal world has been spending on 'soft power', the idea of spreading American influence by shaping cultures, values, media, etc. Shaping our image and reputation, but also instilling our beliefs on others. And that has been the explanation for programs like "Iraqi sesame street" or "Transgender operas".

I think there's a real argument to be made over soft power. And I think it goes like this. It exists, its a real concept, and we're fucking it up. The culture America has been trying to export onto the world is a warped view tailored by DEI propagandists who represent a fringe in the US and are utterly repugnant to the rest of the planet. We're finding more and more media landscapes losing our western hegemony and more localized programming and content creation eclipsing our own. That's not just from the new production by other countries. How many ESL folks in the 90s learned 'murican by watching Seinfeld on TV? How many regimes who hated us wound up with a population who watched Hollywood movies on bootleg DVDs? But how many people in China turned out to watch Black Panther 2? At first it wasn't even going to launch in China, then it thudded to a 6th place weekend opening behind The Wandering Earth 2 (big budget chinese-made film), Full River Red (again), Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, The Deep Sea and Hidden Blade (3 more chinese flicks). Chinese people aren't lining up and Hollywood can't cut black people out of the marketing for black panther, but boy did they unironically try to do exactly that by showing them in full masked outfits.

One of the biggest and well received games last year was Black Myth Wukong, and it was basically schemed out of American awards for pretty clear political reasons. Now we're looking down the barrel of the announcement of Tides of Annihilation, a game that abandons all the DEI nonsense of the west to show a take on the western world, by the eastern world. And that begs an obvious question- how much of Japans standing in the world today and their economy footprint and secure status as a world power can actually be chalked up to Nintendo corporation yanking an industry from the landfill we filled with ET cartridges? A non-zero percent on any metric.

I think the USAID funding drama has pulled to light just how mismanaged our national policy has been, because of culture wars infecting our strategic interests. With a pinch of corruption. Why were we funding mobile games in Kenya designed around themes of "Gender Equality", it sounds like Anita Sarkeesian getting the keys to the treasury. Were people in Kenya actually playing this drivel, or do they look at it as American operations run amok as we try to ram ivory tower liberal values down their throats while they'd rather play the top app store games in Kenya- Casino slots, FPS shooters, Football, Street Racing, EA sports. And who developed the gender video games? Well a studio with no prior experience, run by the daughter of a well connected wall street banker and oops I pulled a little too hard on that thread.

People speak English not because USAID tried to convince them to do so, but because it’s useful.

And it’s useful because there are most opportunities and most prosperity in America, out of all the places. And most people want to make business with America.

As long as this stays true, the culture will spread too. People will voluntarily absorb it on their own.

The best thing USA can do to spread it’s culture is not to try to spread it but to become the best version of itself.

This post was edited by kayko on Feb 27 2025 04:25am

The real story unveiled is the pervasive corruption that shackles American system. I don't believe it shows how U.S national interests have been mismanaged. On the contrary. Dividing the population along culture war lines is a smokescreen for corrupt practices / wealth control.

I will give you another answer



Genesis 1:27
New International Version

27 : So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.


The NeoCons and Neo Liberals are playing God.
They shouldn't. Because they are not God.
If they pretend to be , they will not have a good ending.

For most of the formative years of all modern media, the US had the lion's share of all content creation and the tools to do it. Even today chinese people are typing on qwertyuiops keyboards with a toggle. That imposition of our soft power wasn't a conscious strategy, it was a natural result of our success. Its today that organizations like USAID are claiming to take up the mantle of soft power and try to impose our culture purposefully, and holy shit is it misfiring on all cylinders. That's the point. A heavy handed government propaganda machine is failing miserably at spreading influence and wasting resources or just grifting them away, with the pretense of emulating the impact of our postwar influence.

We are losing our grip on media and propaganda and literature and whatever else soft power can be. Rival nations like China are becoming more influential and accomplished, and the same people we've tasked with exporting American culture seem hellbent on destroying it at home

Yeah, the culture has been used by government for twisted purposes. Have you seen the Joe Rogan episode with Mike Benz? Where he explains how rappers and other musicians way paid by USAID to create music that creates certain social moods, in targeted demographics? To create a revolutionary climate, for example.

By the way, how was your trip to Singapore.

Having been to many countries, completed capstone engineering with foreigners, intern, travel abroad many times, work with global companies with staff in all sorts of places. My impression is for many foreigners, the USA appeal is from the Cowboy culture. Not the DEI poser fakery. Many actually recommended watching westerns with subtitle on to help learn English and US culture.

Japanese Cowboys

Nepalese Rock and Rollers

Saudi Richie's bar flying in college towns.

Iranian family gushing over shepherd dogs.

Russian think we all drive monster trucks eat burgers and drink domestics micro brews.



Edit

I don't think US get a much value in actively pursuing soft power plays. It was a good experiment, but unnecessary. USA could in fact be full isolationist and be fine

This post was edited by RedFromWinter on Feb 27 2025 05:41am

I enjoyed it much more than japan or korea to be honest, mostly because of the hawkers. Became very evident how surface level some stuff was, like the luxury shops at the marina bay were all conspicuously staffed by multiple people doing nothing and not a single person shopping at peak hours. But I've been using it as an example of the ups and downs of a government restricting liberties and heavily regulating society, divorced from tyranny and being murder happy. People enjoy having no crime and no drugs, sure, but then you realize there's no benches anywhere because 'people should keep moving' and I can heartily recommend against old people retiring there