Pelshval

Antropologiske betraktninger om pelshvaldrift

Page 5 of 43

Master

On August 5 Glenn Greenwald asked: Who is governing this country (“this country” being, of course, the one that rules us all in the so-called West)? Obviously, it isn’t Biden or for that matter Harris. Has it ever been Biden? Or Obama, come to think of it? Or Clinton? Not to mention “nukiller” Bush junior?

Not that I really care, being spared the pain of having to live in a country where I would never be able to afford decent health care, or education for my kids, etc., etc. etc. But the question certainly merits some attention since – well, obviously, when your kids are in a carriage pulled by a runaway horse, you want to know whom to shoot when the equipage hurtles off the cliff.

US presidents – it has long been obvious – are not free agents. Not that I propose to defend their actions: They should have known better than to stand for such an ignominious office. They were possibly ignorant or even stupid, when they did so – though I doubt that Clinton and Obama were stupid or even ignorant – or they may have been psychopaths. (By definition, a psychopath is somebody whose lust for power over someone or something drives him or her to break rules, even to kill.) Kill they certainly did, if not with their own hands – God forbid; they had menials to do their dirty work.

But I am not really interested in dissecting the moral decrepitude of dangerous men and women. I would, however, honestly like to know who, in the final count, rules over the USA and its host of servile little fiefdoms in Europe. I can think of a few candidates, mainly the trillionaires who finance the unconscionably expensive presidential campaigns. They will want their money’s worth, I expect, when the race is won. I suspect they place their bets in both camps, by the way, so as to have leverage on the winner, whoever he or she might be.

So who are they? Obviously the military-industrial complex is a front runner. Christian fundamentalists are also a passionate, ruthless and frequently well-heeled lot, and they often coincide with the Zionists.

Oops! There I dropped the dirty word. “Zionists”. At the moment, yes, it would appear that Zionists are running the circus, the race to the cliff. I have been given to understand that Christian Zionists actually welcome a final solution for mankind because then they will all go to heaven. Good luck with that.

I doubt that Israelis share their pious end-of-world wishes. I gather that most Israelis are as brainwashed and deluded as most US Americans and US Europeans, including US Norwegians. Yet, I suspect they don’t want a world war, don’t want war, period, any more than the rest of us. But they don’t count. They, like us, were not asked. Democracy, my foot!

How was Israel able to indoctrinate healthy boys and girls into treating Palestinian boys and girls as vermin to be exterminated? Did they learn from Nazi Germany?

Alas, I fear they have learnt not from Germany but from the USA: The entire population of that great country was bamboozled into supporting the killing and torturing of millions and millions – in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Central America, South America, Indonesia, Haiti, Somalia…Those were all feats of brilliant indoctrination! Now watch while Master grooms his subjects to cheer the destruction of – no, not China, yet – Iran! Yes, that was not really the plan, but they are in the way.

And Master’s great Orwellian doublethink machine rumbles on, patiently repeating, again and again, and again, even as we sleep: war is peace, ignorance is strength, rule of law is Master, war is peace, ignorance is strength, rule of law is Master…

Yesterday, a Russian woman told me angrily: “You all speak so warmly of Democracy – and I agree, Democracy is beautiful – but what you have is not Democracy! It’s humbug.”

Master has committed his crimes with impunity ever since his first genocide, of the Indians, by indoctrination! As we speak, “rule of law” is allowing Israel to assassinate people here, there and everywhere. Whoever governs the USA knows full well that support for Israel now is suicidal: BRICS is growing stronger by the day as countries hastily jump out of the run-away carriage. But Master cannot stop. Master is law, Master must rule.

Master is currently Zionist (and no longer merely male). He/she is driving our children, at breakneck speed, towards the precipice. One of his/her murder victims was Ismail Haniyeh. May Ismail Haniyeh’s spectre haunt Master till the end of time.

Zionism is very ugly. It is, when all is said and done, the most insidious form of abject racism!

I recently stumbled across a couple of quotes from one of the fathers of Israel, a passionate Zionist, Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion was probably a nasty piece of work, but at least he, unlike US presidents, seems to have understood, what a nasty piece of work he was. I have copied the following quotes from this site.

If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?

Source: David Ben-Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121.

Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country. … Behind the terrorism [by the Arabs] is a movement, which though primitive is not devoid of idealism and self sacrifice.

Source: David Ben Gurion. Quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky’s Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan’s “Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.

We should prepare to go over to the offensive. Our aim is to smash Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, and Syria. The weak point is Lebanon, for the Moslem regime is artificial and easy for us to undermine. We shall establish a Christian state there, and then we will smash the Arab Legion, eliminate Trans-Jordan; Syria will fall to us. We then bomb and move on and take Port Said, Alexandria and Sinai.

Source: David Ben-Gurion May 1948, to the General Staff. From Ben-Gurion, a Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.

We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his question, What is to be done with the Palestinian population? ‘Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said ‘ Drive them out! ‘

Source: Yitzhak Rabin, leaked censored version of Rabin memoirs, published in the New York Times, 23 October 1979.

Zionism

On August 5, Glenn Greenwald asked: “Who is governing this country” (“this country” being, of course, the one that rules us all in the so-called West)? Obviously, it isn’t Biden or for that matter Harris. Has it ever been Biden? Or Obama, come to think of it? Or Clinton? Not to mention “nukiller” Bush junior?

Not that I really care, being spared the pain of having to live in a country where I would never be able to afford decent health care, or education for my kids, etc., etc. etc. But the question certainly merits some attention since … well, obviously, when your kids are in a carriage pulled by a runaway horse, you want to know whom to shoot when the equipage hurtles off the cliff.

US presidents – it has long been obvious – are not free agents. Not that I propose to defend their actions: They should have known better than to stand for such an ignominious office. They were possibly ignorant or even stupid , when they did so – though I doubt that Clinton and Obama were stupid or even ignorant – or they may have been psychopaths. (Psychopaths have enough lust for personal power over someone or something to be willing to break all rules, or even to kill.) Kill they certainly did, if not with their own hands – God forbid. They had menials to do the dirty work.

But I am not really interested in dissecting the moral decrepitude of dangerous men and women. I would, however, honestly like to know who, in the end, governs the USA and its host of servile little fiefdoms in Europe. I can think of a few candidates, mainly the trillionaires who finance the unconscionably expensive presidential campaigns. They will want their money’s worth, I expect, when the race is won. I suspect they place their bets in both camps, by the way, so as to have leverage on the winner, whoever he or she might be.

So who are they? Obviously the military-industrial complex is a front runner. The Christian fundamentalists are also a passionate and frequently well-heeled lot, and they often coincide with the Zionists.

Oops! There I dropped the dirty word. “Zionists”. At the moment, yes, it would appear that Zionists are running the circus, the race to the cliff. I have been given to understand that Christian Zionists actually welcome a final solution for mankind. Then they will all go to heaven, I am told. Good luck with that.

I doubt that Israelis share their pious end-of-world wishes. Most Israelis are probably as brainwashed and deluded as most US Americans and US Europeans, including US Norwegians. Yet, I suspect we – most Europeans and Israelis – don’t want a world war, don’t want war, period. But we don’t count. We were not asked.

Yesterday, a Russian woman living in Norway told me angrily: “You all speak so warmly of Democracy – and I agree, Democracy is beautiful – but what you have here, now, is not Democracy! It’s all based on lies.”

Indoctrination is a fascinating field of study! How was Israel able to indoctrinate healthy boys and girls into treating Palestinian boys and girls as vermin to be exterminated? Did they learn from Nazi Germany?

Alas, I fear they learnt not from Germany but from the USA: How was the entire population of that great country bamboozled into supporting the killing and torturing of millions and millions – in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Central America, South America, Indonesia, Haiti, even Africa…. ?

By indoctrination!

The USA has committed its crimes with impunity since the initial genocide of the Indians,

By indoctrination!

And the USA is letting this happen in Gaza as we speak, is letting Israel assassinate people here, there and everywhere. The USA knows full well that its support to Israel now is suicidal. BRICS is growing stronger by the day, and US hegemony is waning because it has not been wisely administered. (“Pax Americana” has not been pax.).

Zionists, then, in the USA and in Israel – are driving our children, here and there, at breakneck speed towards the precipice. A murder victim, Ismail Haniyeh, was one of many who tried to stop them. He paid for his efforts with his life.

Zionism is a very ugly disease. It is, when all is said and done, abject racism!

I recently stumbled across a few quotes from one of the fathers of Israel, a passionate Zionist, Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion was probably a nasty piece of work, but at least he, unlike US presidents, seems to have understood, what a nasty piece of work he was. I have copied the following quotes from this site.

“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”
David Ben-Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121.

“Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country. … Behind the terrorism [by the Arabs] is a movement, which though primitive is not devoid of idealism and self sacrifice.”
— David Ben Gurion. Quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky’s Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan’s “Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.

“We should prepare to go over to the offensive. Our aim is to smash Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, and Syria. The weak point is Lebanon, for the Moslem regime is artificial and easy for us to undermine. We shall establish a Christian state there, and then we will smash the Arab Legion, eliminate Trans-Jordan; Syria will fall to us. We then bomb and move on and take Port Said, Alexandria and Sinai.”

David Ben-Gurion May 1948, to the General Staff. From Ben-Gurion, a Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.

Overwhelmed and overpowered

The “West”, meaning the USA and their coterie of client states are currently engaged in two wars, in Ukraine and in the Middle EAst.

Most of us who live in US client states in Europe were knocked out of our political lethargy when we learnt that Europe was at war again “for the first time since WWII” (forgetting that we – NATO – bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days in 1999, effectively destroying Yugoslavia).

We have also recently witnessed unimaginable horrors in the Middle East, starting on October 7, 2023. We were at first told that Israeli babies had been beheaded, after which we witnessed Israeli retaliation to a degree that nobody could deny was disproportionate. I know for a fact that many of us have often wept over the news on Aljazeera.

Now, we have gotten used to the idea that we might well be on our way into a new world war, in which “tactical” nuclear weapons will most likely be used. We have gotten used to the idea that a ferocious attempt is being made to exterminate the Palestinian people, and we see that those who rule the countries we live in are “aiding and abetting” Israel’s viscious crimes in a number of ways.

We recognise that there is absolutely nothing “we”, citizens of the client states, can do about either of these situations within the framework of “Democracy” as it has been defined for us. Voting for the “left” or the “right” makes no difference, demonstrations and protests lead nowhere but to a few arrests and business as usual. So we are for the most part silent.

Cynics may tell you that the reason we are silent is that the entertainment value of the two wars has flagged.

My view is different: Lethargy is not a sign of boredom but of impotence. I believe that “democracy” is no more than a buzzword used for propaganda purposes in “the West”, to emphasise the distance between “us” and “them”. It is not a reality. At least not in Europe or the USA.

For the umpteenth time, I urge you to read 1984 by George Orwell.

***

For me, the Eureka moment came in the wake of a very slow process. Anyone who has followed what I have written here since 2008 will see that I have come a long and disheartening way.

I have been a slow learner, alas. I was lazy in school, and had mediocre marks. I was sincerely polite to my teachers, some of whom I liked very much, and I never ever considered rebellion of any kind. As I grew older I became somewhat more academically competitive, though never to the point of wanting to break the sound barrier.

In 1986, when US bullies took it into their heads to bomb Libya – just like that – I was, however, outraged, shocked beyond words. I had somehow missed the part in our curriculum according to which the USA may bomb whoever / whatever / whenever it wants to. I was milking the cows, I remember, and I heard the news on the radio in the cow shed. There was no interrupting the routine with the cows and I had to go on milking them in spite of my rage, so I actually composed almost the only poem I ever made, and a melody too, which I hissed again and again until my chores were done.

At the time, I was a Newsweek subscriber, and I considered myself a well-informed person. But as I now know, the US press is the least recommended bulwark against ignorance. At any rate, studies, work, kids, etc. caught up with me, and then Clinton took over, “at last”.

Everybody knew, at the time, that the Republicans were the ones who wanted to ban trade unions, bomb communists to kingdom come, and kill blacks. So I knew that the Republicans were “bad”. Bear in mind that designating somebody as “bad” tends to mean there must be a “good guy”.

None of us were taught in school to fiercely distrust “bad guy / good guy” narratives. (They still don’t teach that, not in school and certainly not in the media.) Above all, we were none of us taught to be wary of media framing.

Only much, much later, not least thanks to a wonderful US documentary – Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job – did I realise that Clinton was much to blame for the terrible 2007-2008 financial crisis that rocked the world. Yes, the entire world suffered heavily. And Clinton was behind the bombing of Yugoslavia, too, in Europe, in 1999.

But Clinton played a decent trumpet! And he had a disarming smile. I am guilty as charged: I found him charming. I found Obama charming, too. Charm has been the Democratic party’s ticket to the White House. We blamed the Republican Party for all that was wrong in the USA. We? I! I was blind. I believed in good guys versus bad guys.

Mind you, already in 2014, I read Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century, all of It! A very polite, quietly precise firebomb of a book. I even read the sequel Capital and Ideology (2020). I should have seen the full picture then. Still, the pieces to the puzzle didn’t quite fall into place until the conjunction of the Ukraine war and the Gaza war. What then became more than obvious was:

Rule of Law is b-s.!

Meanwhile, the 12-year political imprisonment of Assange (without a trial!) while the press tirelessly peddled US propaganda and suppressed dissident views, has demonstrated that

Freedom of the press in the West is b-s.

Democracy, however, is not b-s, but truly something worth fighting for. What we have here and now, though is not Democracy; it’s a fraud. Counting pieces of paper in a ballot box every four years is a fairly expensive way of masking that citizens of Western countries have no say whatsoever about what happens to their society.

We, the defrauded citizens want to believe we are being governed for our own good, with wisdom. Had I been a psychodynamic therapist, I would have posited that we – all human adults – long for the continued guidance of a loving parent. Alas, our “parents” do not have our interests at heart but their own. The continued guidance – be it Republican or “Dem”, be it Labour or Tory – serves the single purpose of perpetuating, one way or another, status quo, the rule and continued enrichment of the oligarchy.
























































The brave 12

In the USA, 12 brave men and women have resigned their posts as United States government officials in protest over the part the USA is playing in the war against Palestine in general and the population of Gaza in particular. On 2 July, they issued and signed a JOINT STATEMENT explaining why they did so. To publish such a statement in defiance of a president who, to quote him, “is running the world” is a beautiful and — I repeat — brave act. The document is well worth reading. I particularly recommend what follows under the sub-headings “How did it go wrong?” and “What is to be done?”

In Europe there is hardly any mention of the Joint Statement signed by the 12.

Admittedly BBC, does refer to it quite briefly, but is more than tight-lipped: “Ex-officials say Gaza policy has put US at risk” (my emphasis). However, nearly half the brief article informs us of what (the politely hypocritical) “state department spokesperson” told the BBC (my emphasis) about the blessings of US freedom of expression.

On the other side of the planet, not only does Reuters (acquired by Thomson Corporation in Canada in 2008) devote at least three articles to the matter. They have listed the 12 “US officials who have quit over Biden’s support of Israel”, and more recently they have added a link to the Joint Statement itself and a subheading: “WHY IT IS IMPORTANT”.

Huffpost, too, has a long article about the joint statement and quotes much of it.

Even CNN has at least twice provided sympathetic coverage of what the 12 have done. Is the tide seriously turning in the USA?

Literature – letter to a king

I am currently reading The Years, Virginia Woolf’s last novel, published in 1937. Actually, I bought the book accidentally, in French, mistaking it for Ernaud’s Les Années.

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse happen to be among the very few books I have read twice. Having dutifully read some 20 % of The Years in French, I therefore decided that even the French language cannot do justice to Virginia Woolf’s beautiful prose. So I bought the book in English, too.

I haven’t finished it. Superb literature is often like a box of chocolates – you don’t want to eat more than “two or three” at a time – but I already consider this novel superior to the two she is best known for, because it delves deeply into the nature of society itself. I will not go into detail, since this blog is not, after all, about literature.

Why do I speak of it then, The Years? Because in it, Woolf mentions a hero, Parnell, presumably Charles Parnell, reviled and adulated. I had to look him up .

At the time, I have just learnt, the press was very keen to trumpet certain aspects of his private life. But we now know that he was a formidable opponent of “landlordism” and “British misgovernment”.

…within two decades absentee landlords were almost unknown in Ireland. He created single-handedly in the Irish Party Britain’s first modern, disciplined, political-party machine. He held all the reins of Irish nationalism and also harnessed Irish-America to finance the cause. He played an important role in the rise and fall of British governments in the mid-1880s and in Gladstone’s conversion to Irish Home Rule.

Wikipedia as at 4 July 2024

Reading about him reminded me that often – very often – we don’t realise until after a person’s death how much we owe him or her. Parnell was only 45 when he died.

Assange might well have died just 10 years older, had he not been released in the nick of time. That does not mean that we can forget all about him, though. On the contrary, it is vitally important that we examine and understand what Wikileaks revealed. Only by knowing the world we live in can we change it for the better.

Of course you have heard of and probably even seen the video footage “colateral murder”. It it is merely the tip of an iceberg.

In 2019-2020, a series of 9 (or 10) articles attempted to summarise what Wikileaks had revealed. There is a shortcut to the story:
Marjorie Cohn’s recent analysis Here’s What He’s Given Us.

Or: If you wish to go to the sources, here’s from the horse’s mouth: Wikileaks .. the lot

As for Julian Assange’s own literary output, his letter to King Charles (dated 5 May 2023), may perhaps serve as an example.

The hero and the villain

Team Biden eventually considered it expedient to offer Assange a filthy plea deal. Do I thank them? Certainly not, though like everyone else, I’m relieved that the barbaric mistreatment of Assange has come to an end. So are, I suspect, Biden’s few remaining supporters.

Please note that even Associated Press (AP) comments the public’s distrust of their rulers in the USA and the UK. As we have seen in the recent “European elections”, such distrust is widely shared throughout much of Europe. Why? Well, the media are full of confounding explanations – naturally – that’s what the media do for a living: confound us. I prefer the explanation given by the comedian George Carlin back in 2005. Some things never change.

I put to you that “a constitutional state” is one in which governmental power is firmly and consistently constrained by the law. The Assange case has patently demonstrated the subservience of the British judiciary (i.e. Law) to Government. This is all the more striking since the latter (Government) is that of a foreign country, the USA. In short, the case has effectively demonstrated that the US and the UK are not constitutional states, and the UK is hardly even an independent one.

That US presidents and their teams care naught for “rule of law”, except as a tool to subjugate other nations, should come as no surprise to anyone. That concepts such as “justice”, “fairness” and “due process” are secondary, in the USA, to personal ambitions was clearly demonstrated in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, which rewarded those who had made the crash happen with impunity and struck down the millions of victims in poverty and despair.

What is relatively new to some of us is the incestuous relationship between government and the corporate media. Even AP has noticed: “Nearly three-quarters of American adults blame the news media for dividing the nation.” Just so. Perhaps US citizens have grown wise to the collusion between e.g. the N.Y. Times and the currently ruling set. Will Times loyalties shift when a new master enters the White House?

In Norway, middle-aged people still subscribe to and read daily papers. The rising cost of living has not yet strangled their budgets or their confidence in the authorities. Younger people however, are wading in deeper water. Heavily indebted, they are so fearful of the future that they are reluctant to make babies. The suicide rate is rising.

My favourite news outlet was the Guardian. I repeat: was. I pretty abruptly stopped following the Guardian at about the time Assange was kidnapped by the British police. Why? Because the Guardian had been subtly vilifying Assange, suggesting this, that and the other. I ascribed the character assassination to shame: The Guardian had disclosed Cablegate encryption passwords and was thus the direct root of the US claim that Assange had jeopardised lives. So the paper had to imply that Assange was not worth any tears. That is what I thought back then.

Now, however, I see there may be another source of depravity in the above-mentioned incestuous relationship between governments (in plural) and the media: Keir Starmer. Yes, he is my villain for today: It is very likely that he plotted with the US authorities to destroy Assange’s life and his reputation.

We don’t know, of course, exactly what went on during the meetings between the Starmer delegations and their US counterparts during his visits to the USA in 2009–2013, because the relevant minutes – from all four trips – were allegedly destroyed, which in itself is pretty damning (admittedly circumstantial) evidence. But there is no doubt that Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from 2008-13. And we do know that Starmer is not a “gentleman” when he feels like, for instance, getting rid of a political competitor. Moreover, Starmer was then, and is still, masquerading as a “Labour” politician.

So yes, I believe Starmer is a villain. And he will no doubt be the next PM of the UK. He will presumably treat the Guardian kindly for past and future services.

As for the hero, need I tell you?

I missed the jokes

I am not and never have been in thrall to US entertainment, so I never heard the late comedian George Carlin. To be honest, I might not have appreciated him back then (he died at the age of 71 in 2008) because I was not partial to foul language. Now, of course, thanks to rap, the F-word, the P-word and S-word tend to occupy 40 % of many people’s polite conversation, so I’ve stopped noticing.

Thanks to Glenn Greenwald, I have just been introduced to a taste of Carlin’s acerbic humour. Not just a taste: I was instantly mesmerised and spent the better part of the afternoon digging up Youtube clips of his angry diatribes.

I case you haven’t heard George Carlin, and in case you don’t follow Glenn Greenwald on Rumble (in which case you are missing an extremely eloquent source of lots of well-referenced information) I am pasting, below, a Youtube clip of “You have no choice”. The sound clip has been embellished with animation. You may or may not approve. Moreover, it skips the previous part of Carlin’s talk, presumably because that part ridicules not only obesity but makes rather cruel fun of obese people. You will find it, however, searching for Carlin HBO 2005 Life is worth losing. And I must shamefully admit it is hilarious. But here is the part “You have no choice”.

Palestine

Quoting Aljazeera 19 June: “Israel is ready for an “all-out war” in Lebanon and has plans approved for an offensive targeting Hezbollah, officials have said.”

How about “talking” to Hezbolla? How about “talking” to Hamas? How about actually listening? While Israel and the USA kill and maim and starve people right, left and centre in the name of “Democracy”, more and more people are getting very, very angry,

Some people are even saying “if this is Democracy, stuff Democracy.”

Is it or isn’t it?

What is “democracy”? I’ve been asking the question ever since I was a kid. Just as I asked what is “good art”?

Is it at all possible to arrive at a universally acceptable definition of “art”? Let alone “good” art? Art historians and critics maintain it is. I suspect that in any case, there is a lot of humbug involved, but not only humbug. There is an ingot of the sublime in there somewhere, in art, that is, but I have long since ceased to even try to grasp it.

Likewise, most of us in so-called democratic countries fervently believe in “democracy” without necessarily knowing just what we are so passionate about or why?

What we do know is that we don’t want to live in certain other countries. The thing is, most people living in most countries – except in those that have been rendered uninhabitable, and even in some of those – want to continue living there. I very much doubt that our rationale for living where we live has anything to do with democracy, even in the USA, which considers itself the mother and the father, of democracy.

Why do I doubt that? Well, for one thing, because I don’t consider the USA a democracy. And whereas life has been, until very recently, easier for most people in Europe than for most people in the USA, democracy in Europe, too, is slithering down a slippery slope.

Democratic features in so-called democratic countries

1) Elections

It is true that every few years we are allowed to vote for a person or a political party to represent our district. It’s called “parliamentary system”, and it worked well enough – although it wasn’t infallible – when we were few, when we knew the contesting parties and could assess the results of their labours. We knew whether A. was a “man of honour”, whether or not B.’s financial enterprises tended to be solid and beneficial to the community.

Nowadays, we cannot possibly know all the individuals who run for office. The contestants, be they individuals or political parties, all formulate their programmes as ambiguously as possible so as to attract people who might have very different, often opposing, needs and wishes. We no longer have even an inkling of the real aspirations* of the contestants. We therefore depend on political analysts. In short, we depend on the media.

*Explanatory digression about aspirations:

A school of economic thought associated with Friedrich Hayek quietly started with a whisper in the 1930s in the almost secretive Mont Pelerin Society. But it rapidly gained in popularity among the “filthy rich”. “Neoliberalism” – as we now refer to it, or “market fundamentalism” – has seeped into our pores and infiltrated all economic activity, not only in “democratic” countries, but also, and not least, in dictatorships.

The economist Maynard Keynes tried to stop the neoliberal avalanche, but he died shortly after the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), where he was a key player but lost to the USA which has dominated most of the world ever since. Neoliberalism was violently imposed on the global south and has reluctantly been embraced even by European “labour parties” (which explains their dwindling popularity).

For a long time after Keynes’ death, market fundamentalism had few heavy-weight opponents. No corporations were going to protest, obviously. Intellectuals in frayed shirts were unable to move the electoral “masses”. Thus it has been until fairly recently. Even now, though there are several brilliant economists opposed to neoliberalism, they are basically ignored by the top dogs.

What I am trying to say is that a politician may say that he intends to improve care of the elderly. However, he may not tell you whether or not his approach to care of the elderly is “neoliberal”. Believe me, it matters!

End of digression

Voters know nothing of the ulterior motives of the man or woman they vote for. He/she may be sincere, but is more likely to be an inveterate liar. Voters are kept in the dark about the machinations of the political party they vote for. So we, voters, have no choice other than to vote for “the nice guy” or check our favourite sources in the media.

Candidates that cannot entirely conceal that their aspirations are neoliberal (i.e. that they prioritise capital (the haves rather than the have-nots) are assisted by the media (the “respectable” press, TV-channels, news networks, social media, etc. etc.) The mainstream media serves the important function of dressing up capital because it is owned by capital. For example: If capital is in favour of a war, the mainstream media will sugar the war.

So: Regardless of who wins an election, nothing much ever changes, except for the worse – for most of us, that is. Yet, they have the gall to complain about low voter turnouts.

I’m pretty sure people in so-called democratic countries do not know how the people of Palestine have been mistreated for decades and how the entire population of Gaza is being tortured to death. I have to believe that most people in so-called democratic countries are not deeply immoral, not evil, and that, had they known what is going on, they would never ever, ever have allowed it. I have to believe that they allow it only because they are being kept in the dark. I have to believe that, because if this were not so, we would have to welcome the impending demise of the human species.

Anyway, I know that the mainstream media does not inform us, because I, too, read the mainstream media.

The mainstream media tells us that the US economy is doing brilliantly, so US citizens should vote for Biden and EU citizens should continue to bank on the USA. Indeed, the US economy is doing brilliantly, but the gems are not trickling down to the average US citizen. In October 2023, US debt was 33 trillion USD, probably more like 35 trillion now – yes, that’s trillion!

A US default on the national debt:

… would trigger the domestic economic equivalent of a nuclear carpet bombing. —

In the U.S., a staggering 7% of federal spending goes to servicing debt. Those taxpayer dollars are no longer doing anything to strengthen the economy or improve the lives of its citizens. And every time we run an annual budget deficit, that spending on debt service goes up.

Source

I put to you that this is not what the average US citizen voted for.

I put to you that the average citizen of so-called democratic countries is not raring to go off to the upcoming Olympic war games, which are being prepared and sponsored by Biden and his ilk, together with Stoltenberg, Cameron, Macron, Baerbock and St. Ursula, etc. Top dogs in so-called democratic countries will, of course only see the “action” they hanker for on their screens, they hope. Alas, or should I say fortunately, once the really heavy punches are delivered, even they might not be spared.

The Russian deputy foreign minister has allegedly suggested that these people should devote less time to video games and somewhat more time to reality, over which they seem to have a slim grasp.

2) Freedom

Those who can afford it, can do almost anything they want to do, short of murder (or even murder if they can afford to conceal it).

But: Such freedom is also enjoyed by the privileged few in fascist states.

It is true that there are countries where religious mores or prevailing values and attitudes impose limitations on what you can wear and how you can behave in public. Even in democratic countries, there are many such communities. More often than not, the restrictions are supported by a majority, but a minority will feel heavily suppressed.

No matter where you live in the world, there will be minorities. Some minorities will have a tougher time than others, it is true.

3) Freedom of expression and of information

This is the most important and possibly the only, real asset of a democracy. This is the truly invaluable ingot!

Those who express seriously dissident views will not be prosecuted or imprisoned or tortured in a democracy. Those who want to know what the powers-that-be are up to can access that information in the mainstream press of a democracy.

But that most invaluable of rights, one which is absent in many of the countries we “don’t want to live in” is no longer guaranteed in the the so-called democratic countries either. True, small-fry dissidents will only be ridiculed, ignored, maybe even spat upon. They will be jeered at in social media, eventually blocked from all forums and isolated, but they will not be imprisoned.

However, we have now learnt that if a dissident really manages to unmask the powers-that-be and reveal their crimes, as did Julian Assange, he will be prosecuted, tortured and slow-motion-killed.

We have seen that the mainstream – i.e. “respectable” – press is no longer available to heavy-weight dissidents who truly challenge the establishment. There are intelligent and very well-informed people who question the wisdom of US forever-wars, into which European allies are dragged, and many more who question the wisdom of US and EU support for the ongoing genocide. Those who speak out are paying a price. They are labelled “conspiracy theorists” and are blocked from all platforms, including not least the “respectable” press. Many are expelled from universities or lose their jobs. Many will undoubtedly have to get heavily into debt to cover legal defence fees.

Those who seek knowledge about the forever-wars search in vain in the mainstream media, where views preferred by capital, and by extension any ruling party, will dominate.

I put to you that most people in the USA/EU would be furious if they knew that their taxes were contributing to the death by starvation of Gazan children, to the stunting of those who do not die.

I put to you that voters in so-called democratic countries are not free to make “informed decisions”.

I put to you that we are nearly as brainwashed as the citizens of Oceania in 1984 by Orwell.

Admittedly, those who doubt the magnificence of whatever party is the ruling Party are not killed. They are just not heard or seen. They are “vaporised”.

The inscrutable ways of the brain

Climate and ecology activists, e.g. in Extinction Rebellion, are often bitterly accused of moralising. The rest of us, all who do not follow their rigorous precepts, are made to feel we are an abomination to the planet.

I am certainly not innocent in this context. Although far from being an activist, I tend to consider all but basic consumption morally reprehensible, and you may have noticed how I refer to Norway’s former prime minister, Mr ProudRock and his ilk. After all, I’m only human, and if I feel that somebody has committed treason, I refuse to apologise for being very angry.

On the other hand, I know perfectly well that neither anger nor for that matter any other emotion helps solve the crisis at hand. Only a conscientious examination and a level-headed analysis of the situation will yield sensible solutions.

I happen to know somebody who has taken part in atrocities under Mr ProudRock’s command, committed war crimes, that is. Yes, that person is actually a very dear friend of my family. Notwithstanding his participation in war crimes, he is one of the most gentle-mannered people I know. His generosity verges on self-effacement and his willingness to care for the weak and disabled far outshines that of most people I know, certainly mine. How does he do it, I wonder?

The one-word answer to the question popped up at once in my mind: “Compartmentalisation”.
“Compart- what?” was the next thought. Is that a word?
Well, it must be, since I used it.
Does it mean what I feel it means?

I looked it up. Yep, compartmentalisation, on the dot. Exactly what I thought it meant … “to avoid cognitive dissonance”.

Now I am not going to pretend that I invented the term all over again. On the contrary, I must have heard or read the word so often that I actually stored it. I will even have come across a definition of sorts, probably on several occasions, and stored that too. I just didn’t know it, because neither the unwieldy word nor even the concept was of any use to me.

Until now, when all of a sudden, the word was eminently useful, pin-prick accurate, in fact.

Our dear friend has compartmentalised his life. And my friends, who almost all fervently clamour for more weapons to Ukraine, must believe that I am compartmentalising too. After all, what I defend with regard to Ukraine (inter alia a cease-fire in Ukraine and a negotiated long-term end to the war – be it cold or hot – between Russia and the USA/EU) is deemed morally reprehensible, though most people consider me relatively decent in other respects.

The ways of our brains are indeed inscrutable.

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