I'm reminded of Slavoj Zizek's example of "soft" coercion of sophisticated nations vs the "hard" overt coercion of communist states. He compares it to a type of parenting. There's 2 types of ways parents might get children to visit their grandmother. The hard way is "Go visit your grandmother, it's your responsibility, or you'll get smacked." The soft way is "Go visit your grandmother, she loves you so much. You never know when it's too late and she misses you all the time. It's your cho... (read more)
I'm reminded of Slavoj Zizek's example of "soft" coercion of sophisticated nations vs the "hard" overt coercion of communist states. He compares it to a type of parenting. There's 2 types of ways parents might get children to visit their grandmother. The hard way is "Go visit your grandmother, it's your responsibility, or you'll get smacked." The soft way is "Go visit your grandmother, she loves you so much. You never know when it's too late and she misses you all the time. It's your cho... (read more)