Well, the classic reference is Adorno, "The Culture Industry". But you're right, it is a just-so story. I don't think it's possible to do a fair treatment of th

Well, the classic reference is Adorno, "The Culture Industry". But you're right, it is a just-so story. I don't think it's possible to do a fair treatment of the relation between culture and politics in a hundred-word post, and my own limitations have made it still less rigorous. To add some more unrigorous, allusive examples to the mix: the typical Al-Qaeda member is not a imam, but rather an engineer. Technical capability by no means implies ethical capability- so if you imagine a whole society of highly developed technical abilities, and highly under-developed critical capacities, it's a scary thought. And you don't really have to look far into history to find lots of examples. Consider the V2 rocket, for instance. One of the most amazing technical innovations of the century, but equally, utterly pointless on every other level, even the military one. That's the kind of thing that nations with deeply stupid official cultures tied to deeply brilliant technical cultures make.