Monday, March 16, 2015

Culture and free enterprise



·         President Eisenhower wanted his Emergency Fund for International Affairs to “demonstrate the superiority of the products and cultural values of our system of free enterprise.”   Did the United States’ cultural exports—from ballet troupes to modern art to Radio Liberty—actually demonstrate what he hoped they would? 

11 comments:

  1. The United States' cultural exports of ballet troupes, modern art, etc. did not really demonstrate superiority because they were mostly overly Americanized forms of propaganda. In order for America to Compete with the Soviet Union in ballet and even classical music, some of it was borrowed or even stolen from Russian ballets and classical composers, and then Americanized. For anyone with an unbiased opinion of America, they would not see America as being superior culturally.

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  2. I think Eisenhower's tries to export our culture worked to some degree. In regards to ballet I don't think they worked. In ballet and classical music we could at best hope to copy and use the Russian's masterpieces. All the best composers and dancers were Russian, and although we were able to get some of the best ones through defection, they were still raised and taught in Russia, and I can't imagine it showing our culture superiority if we just piggybacked off the Russians. Radio Liberty I think was a smashing success. We were able to penetrate the iron curtain with our culture and our news, and according to the video we watched, even though the penalty was harsh for listening people still listened. Radio free Europe existed long past Eisenhower's time, and was a great success. I'm not really sure to the extent Modern Art actually had an impact. It was easy for Russia to object against because of how radical it was, and the layman American also couldn't really understand it. I suppose it was able to show the west that we were now moving into the center of world culture, but at the same time I feel it wasn't the west we needed to win over, it was the people of Russia.

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  3. I believe that the cultural exports that the United States sent out to the world did accomplish what Eisenhower wanted it to and demonstrated to the world what they wanted it to, at least to a significant degree. Looking at ballet, I believe that this worked quite well even though on this stream there is already disagreement on that. I believe that even though America borrowed/copied elements of the USSR's ballet that this is combated with the proof that we were able to take these elements and perfect them enough to have USSR ballet performers defect away from the USSR and come to the US (Rudolph Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov). Despite others before me saying that this didn't show superiority because it's root was copying the USSR and that these great performers were still born and raised in the USSR- I disagree. I believe that by copying and perfecting the art form enough to have USSR ballet performers defect we directly proved that we did what they were the best at better than them, which did prove superiority. In the modern art aspect I believe that we didn't necessarily win or lose with that one, it's hard to tell from the information given. However, you could also say that was an accomplishment in the sense that we lead an art revolution which meant that we stopped following European styles and stopped looking for them to lead revolutions, which put us at the forefront of being a cultural influence like the USA wanted to be to show superiority. Lastly, the Liberty Radio I believe was an enormous success because it was able to directly pierce through the Iron Curtain when nothing else could and allowed for people beyond the Iron Curtain to get a taste of the "free enterprise" news and culture which created the desire for that system that Eisenhower wanted. Thus, if people began to desire the system by themselves it would make it easier to convince them to switch to the free enterprise system when the USA finally did intervene in a satellite country or any of the sort. Overall, I feel like this system was a very good way to have people desire our culture without the direct involvement of politics.

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  4. I feel that Eisenhower's cultural exports were successful but only to a certain degree. Radio Liberty certainly had a very positive effect behind the Iron Curtain. As it was said in the movie, Radio Liberty was illegal and people that listened could be jailed if caught and turned in. The fact that people would still listen demostrated the muscial variety and superiority of American music to the music of the USSR. However, I do not believe that exporting ballet and classical music were not successful. I find it hard to say that American ballet or classical music is superior to that of the Russians when the only reason we had any chance of competing with them was by stealing their composers and dancers. Like almost anything, there were pros and cons to Eisenhower's cultural exports but overall it was mostly a success.

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  5. It seems like President Eisenhower's cultural exports accomplished what he wanted them to--at least to a certain degree. With regard to the ballet, I found it very interesting that (even though the United States adapted the techniques of the USSR) performers and choreographers both were eager to uproot their lives to move to the United States. This proves that the US was able to adapt the ballet and provide a dance culture that was worth the move for these people because if the United States was not AT LEAST on the same level as the USSR, there would have been no reason for them to go tot he US. As far as the classical music goes, I did not find any evidence that the US was superior to the USSR in any way, and this is where Eisenhower's message was not necessarily conveyed. However, this did not hurt the cause at all. So overall, I believe the cultural exports were a success.

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  6. I believe that it had the effect that Eisenhower wanted. In the video, the guy said he listened to Radio Liberty even though there was the threat of imprisonment. The fact that the Soviets worked so hard to try and make it seem that American vulture was dangerous just strengthens the belief that the US's cultural exports were having the desired effect. Also, the fact that many famous Russian performers immigrated to the US during this time shows that the culture in the US was more advanced and preferable to the culture in the Soviet Union.

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  7. I think Eisenhower was moderately successful in securing his desired effects, mainly because he targeted two areas the USSR excelled in -- ballet (and to some extent) classical music. However, Russian composers that performed in America increasingly Americanized their performances by including elements such as jazz, an inherently American style. This showed that even though the USSR had been first in designing these forms of entertainment the US could improve upon them. The US also expanded the reach and influence of other art forms from modern art to opera to literature -- an experience that showed European nations the US was not just on par with their cultural aspirations, but succeeding them. Radio Liberty became Eisenhower's main vessel to communicate American advancements, especially in music and practical news. This system became widely popular exhibiting Eisenhower's success.

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  8. I do not believe Eisenhower's Emergency Fund entirely achieved what he hoped it would. While the video shows that Radio Liberty was largely successful, the other categories, such as the ballet and art movements, did not necessarily demonstrate any kind of American superiority. While one could have argued that American ballet was superior based on the fact that many Russian dancers came over to join American troupes, the performances themselves were not American. The dances were created by Russians and modeled after the Russian style and simply given more American touches, which in no way proves superiority. The modern abstract art movement could not have been seen as demonstrating superiority over any other artists either as many people did not even understand it or consider it to be any good. Most of what was considered to be America's culture at the time may have been seen to either have been borrowed from other cultures or just a desperate attempt to be different.

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  9. I think the Eisenhower's Emergency Fund may have superficially achieved his goals. Many Russian dancers defected to the United States, and Radio Liberty was heard by many. However the with the defections of Russian dancers an choreographers brought with it the mimicking of Russian Ballet. The United States did not have a superior ballet, they were just simply copying Russian Ballet with Russian dancers and choreographers and calling it American Ballet. Another aspect of Eisenhower's Emergency fund that may not have been what it appeared is the fact that the Art being circulated by the United States. The art that was picked to circulate by the government. The art was supposed to show the success of free enterprise, however it was not because of free enterprise that it was being seen by millions of people, but rather the push of the government to get the art out in the world.

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  10. President Eisenhower's use of the Emergency Fund did not specifically indicate America's cultural superiority to the world. Rather, the exportation of ballet and modern art acted as an overt propaganda attempt by the American government. Ironically, the intended work, specifically in ballet, were mainly derived from Russian roots. The only portion of Eisenhower's Fund that could have been interpreted as representing American free enterprise was Radio Liberty. This alone demonstrated the democratic ideals that American claimed set them apart from defunct Communist nations.

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  11. I am not sure that Eisenhower's goals were necessarily achieved. Considering the fact that the most popular ballet troupes were from Russian descent may have been contrary to his goal of proving that American culture is superior. The superiority of the product he wanted to distribute world wide, and in particular the ballet troupes, would not have proven that the United States was culturally more advanced than the Russians, in fact it would have proven the opposite. It may have proven the free market could potentially offer more opportunities for the artists, but the art itself would have been contrary to Eisenhower's primary goal.

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