Isn’t it so wonderful how the “dragons” make the poors dance for their shekels? Isn’t it so glorious when they toss their scraps at them and watch as they scramble like a bunch of animals? Doesn’t it make you feel so warm inside when they make the little dark children smile while they throw their pennies and pity at their faces? Is this what our society has become? Are we so distracted by our own personal struggles that we can not see that someone is pissing in our faces? We need to wake up now. Human beings are not born to be slaves. They are made slaves by deception and coercion. It needs to stop now.
Tag Archives: politics
Communication and Democracy
Democracy can not exist without communication. Communication happens by listening first, then thinking, then speaking. This is not what is happening in the legislatures of the great powers today. This is not what is happening in the news media. This is not what is happening on the social media sites. All I can hear is the shouting of empty, destructive rhetoric. This is not good for Democracy.
The Crimean Tragedy, Again
The situation in Crimea makes me sick to my soul. This land that was taken by imperialists from it’s rightful owners, the people slaughtered and forced from their homes to a frozen waste by the Soviets, has suffered in a way that is unimaginable to almost everyone. Now the “civilized” world stands by while the same tragedy unfolds before it’s blind, stupid eyes. If you love civilization, if you love liberty, if you love human dignity, if you have any ounce of compassion for your fellow human beings you will not let this stand.
Morally this is the same as if you see a child who lives across the street from you being abused and you do nothing. Then, the next day, the child is abused again and you do nothing. The next day the child is abused again and you do nothing. This goes on and on for years and years. One day the child is beaten to the point where the child can not stand and can barely speak and still you do nothing. Then, the abuser is sent to live next door and the child recovers a little. Then, the abuser comes back to do it again, and still you do nothing.
How are people are capable of such callousness? Who are we to think that we are better than monkeys? The only way we can prove to ourselves that we are more than animals, more than unfeeling, unthinking, consumers, more than slaves, is to stand up for the rights and dignity of our fellow human beings. Now is our opportunity to act. Now is the time to show the despots of the world that they have no real power. Now is the time to pick up a hammer and start smashing things.
The Free and the Brave.
Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin may not be of the same magnitude as Hitler or Stalin, but they are cut from the same cloth. They are sociopaths whose goal is to impose their twisted will on anyone they can. They are willing to imprison, torture, and kill anyone who stands in their way. Eastern Europe has suffered for far too long under these animals. My heart goes out to those brave Ukrainians who are fighting and dying for liberty and human dignity.
Unknown Knowns
I recently listened to a podcast by Dan Carlin. It was a very thorough and interesting account of the events leading up to WWI. What strikes me most about those events is the old guard’s refusal to acknowledge that the world had changed beyond their control or understanding. It was right there in font of their faces yet they decided to ignore it and carry on as before regardless of the cost. The cost: almost 17 million lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.
I think that today we are in a very similar situation. The powers that be are trying to hold on to a dying system and if they hold on too tight we can have a global catastrophe on our hands. The most recent financial catastrophe is just a taste. This BBC article by John Gray sums it up nicely : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25680144
P.S. Thanks for the title John.
The Periodic Iconoclast 