FOUR BODHISATTVA VOWS: CREATIONS ARE NUMBERLESS, I VOW TO FREE THEM. DELUSIONS ARE INEXHAUSTIBLE, I VOW TO TRANSFORM THEM. REALITY IS BOUNDLESS, I VOW TO PERCEIVE IT. THE AWAKENED WAY IS UNSURPASSABLE, I VOW TO EMBODY IT.
For What Am I fighting? - George Orwell
Nowadays, over increasing areas of the earth, one is imprisoned not for what one does but for what one is, or, more exactly, for what one is suspected of being.
Yesterday I noticed a little story on the net about America and ICE. I did not know that members of this foul organisation really existed, yet I have seen enough footage of people being taken off the street or chased down in fields to realise that they exist. They had taken a young boy of the street, who had been out walking his dog. They tied the dog to a tree and took the boy. Yes I was reading a story about a dog left tied to a tree, but the young boy will disappear into the system of a holding cell, his family terrified to reach out.
No wonder I have started reading George Orwell's essays as he tries to understand his world in the 1940s. To see the parallels between America now and its government and the Nazi regime of earlier times, the tactics are quickly recognised. Bringing fear to the streets, makes everyone fearful.
We are treating such figures as Vance and Trump as clowns, we should not, they are just sitting on the top of a pile of greedy human beings, instead we should be calling for democratic change. Terrible things happen in history, war is just one of them, but the subjection of ones own people is a crime in its own right, and American autocracy and authoritarianism strikes a hollow note.
We have two wars in the news now, the Russia v Ukrainian war, which the government in America will not condemn the Russians for their expansionist aims . Then there is the monstrous crime of the starving of the Gaza people by the Israeli government, again ignored by America.
Is it a game of chess, the large pieces moved on the board? for what? In this country maybe for that wretched word called 'growth' as our government kowtows to its bigger partner/enemy. Though the argument is against the need for growth, because the Earth is straining to survive already with us onboard.
Freedom of selling minor papers in 1945 George Orwell
Steve Bell was sacked by The Guardian being 'anti-semetic'. Bollocks.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely not anti-semitic but look on at what is happening in the world. I looked at the sacking of Steve Bell and it was again the feeble mindedness of an editor not wishing to allow free expression, he definitely did not see himself as antisemitic. Today I read about a flotilla of boats from Genoa with food onboard for the Gaza people. The union there of dock workers have promised that should anything happen to the young people on these boats that they will close down European shipping. Whether this is a boast they can keep is another thing but there is anger all over the world. And glad to see you around Tom.
ReplyDeleteOkay, "the news" does report on two "wars" - the Russia v Ukraine war and the happenings in Gaza which are not really a war at all but a brutal genocide by a country that has effectively been given free rein by the oaf in The White House. But what about the wars in Yemen and Sudan? We hear nothing about them.
ReplyDeleteThe crimes perpetrated by "ICE" in America are indeed chilling. Those unidentifiable masked thugs have targets to meet.
The human presence is tribal by nature. We have wars everywhere Neil, I am aware of them through the NGOs that pour through our emails and social media asking for money to alleviate the repercussions of war. We cannot push back against war, it is a threat that is hung over our heads to make us fearful but at least we can remind ourselves of its existence.
DeleteTerrible things ARE happening here, Thelma. There are many fighting back through the courts and through demonstrations but these events do not often get covered by the media. Many are disgusted and anxious for him to be gone but you are right about the many rich manipulators working behind the scenes. Terrible things are happening around the world. It's hard to imagine how it will all turn out. Terrible things are always happening somewhere - what shall we do?
ReplyDeleteWhat we have always done Ellen, push against that which is unsavoury in public. I am so impressed by people in America as they protect the people being taken off the street by ICE. I just can't understand how it all could have unfolded so quickly.
DeleteWhat can we do? We have no say in any of it. Votes are fiddled by lies. But we have had nearly 80 years of peace (for most in the West) because of questionable, dodgy deals in which we had no say, like Churchill and Stalin. The only way to end the Ukraine war, as I see it, is to give territory to Putin, even though I don't like it. The alternative could be the end of peace for us all.
ReplyDeleteYes Tasker the compromise, the easy way out. Tough luck for those who lose. And yes I agree war is never the option to arrive at.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is difficult at times to not laugh at them, you are quite correct. We need to take them seriously as very dangerous people.
ReplyDeleteThe unimaginable can all too soon become fact. ICE is just one example. There are more, hidden.
ReplyDelete