Funny how 129 French deaths get the entire Internet going red, white and
blue, but 224 Russian deaths went unmorned by the same keyboard
warriors a couple of weeks ago!
But then...Slavs? Not much better than brown people huh?
The false wailing and gnashing of teeth, the metaphorical wearing of sackcloth and ashes, the mawkish sentimentality, the idea that millions of people were taken by surprise...again! Fuck Off! Middle-class, middle-aged, pro-establishment (the real problem), uneducated, fakery.
Grow up and educate yourselves, before it's too late. Read
1984 and watch the rush to push through draconian law-enforcement legislation with open eyes, read
Catch 22 and listen to the politico's speeches through open ears...I'll be standing over here in despair!
and I´ll be Standing next to you
ReplyDeleteGood...we can talk toys! Nothing wrong with immersing yourself in a frivolous hobby, but too many hide in it!
ReplyDeleteH
For the sake of the victims and their families and loved ones, I don't think this is an appropriate matter to make a political point out of, Hugh - however acute the observation that led to that point of yours may have been. I think it's cruel.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, as Paris is one of the most multi-cultural, ethnically diverse cities in the world the victims are likely to have come from a wide variety of backgrounds, races, nationalities and creeds. I do get your point that the murder of non-combatant civilians in similarly large numbers is going on every day in locations outside of the 'western' world. I feel though that when somebody loses a loved one it's the same depth of grief the whole world over whatever class, culture or gender that person is. At the end of the day, the victims were mostly young people who had their whole lives ahead of them but who were cheated of their right to life by a handful of suicidal mentally ill people.
I hope there is not a backlash either against France's Muslim community (by the Islamophobic right) or France's Jewish community (by the anti-Semitic left) and/or that this tragedy is successfully exploited by extremists such as Le Pen. To turn French people against each other is exactly what the extremists want.
Things that affect thousands, tens-of-thousands or millions of lives are always appropriate to comment on, especially as I will be affected. And it's all political, so any point made on it will be too!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the measured response, but you lack the strength of your conviction to identify yourself, so I should only need acknowledge your reply...done!
However, I have an idea who you are (well - I've narrowed it down to one of two people - both of whom I respect), so I will try to answer more fully.
Both my posts this weekend are about the stupidity of the Western Citizenry, not the terrorists, nor the victims. I am as appalled as anyone else, but first; I'm not surprised (as lots of people are doing a good impression of being) and second; I'm not going to join the hysterical over-reaction to something predictable - as 25% of my Facebook friends and several Bloggers have!
You say they are "mentally ill people" - they aren't. They have an agenda, and a philosophy that you (and millions of others) - with your Western sensibilities - can't fully comprehend, as a result you misunderstand the situation from the start, so any potential solutions you arrive at will be skewed.
As far as they are concerned, France has been bombing them, now they've bombed France, you can see the logic there surely?
You say you don't think my comment is "appropriate"? If global terrorism, war across the Middle East, the move to right-wing reactionism and the peoples response to it, isn't appropriate; nothing is! We should all shut-up about everything and go hang!
As I predicted (hardly high-level guru stuff, a five-year old could have predicted it) on Saturday: today there is a call to fast-track the spying-bill, well, maybe you want to surrender more of your freedoms without a fight? I don't. Politics again, firmly linked to the events of Friday.
Take a look at your taxes, benefits, work hours, job security, pension and retirement date and tell me you're happy with the governance of the last 20 years.
We were told it would be a bad thing if global temperatures rose an average of 1% by 2050, it's happened - two weeks ago.
All these things are related, it's all 'politics', we're running out of time and I will do my little bit to get the grey, complacent, middle-class's heads out of the sand before it's too late, but waving flags when we are one species on one planet is as medieval as the mentality of the jihadis.
Now; usually I confine my activism to Facebook or such-like, but the Blog is as good a place as any, and those who think it should only be about toys, should either ignore the posts they don't like or broaden their minds!
The victims families couldn't give a stuff what I do, don't care who's adopted a flag, or what colour it is, the victims are dead, worm-food, they're not bothered what we think, or what we do.
But...we have a duty to try and keep living, to make the world a better place for all, not just the white ones near home, not just the humans and it's fair to point out to people that they are being over-excited, brainless, sheeple.
This weekends events have nicely taken the world's media from the fact that half of Indonesia is burning...and the villagers are beating to death (for food) anything which escapes the flames. Our planet is dying, and I'll do what I can to stop that...getting people to examine their motives, their believes or their conscience is a start. I wish they'd examine the people they vote for!
The people who die; in Paris, in Sinai, in Lebanon...wherever...die because the people we elect (hoping for a slightly smaller tax bill than the next guy) have mismanaged the Middle East since at least 1798, in pursuit of power and profit...terrorism comes in many forms and terrorism be-gets terrorism.
If you got my point - hopefully someone else did!
H
Outstanding post and additional comment Hugh. I was thinking of something similar myself but decided a wargames blog wasn't really the right place. I'm not sure if I'm right about that.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's cheering in a small way to know I'm not the only one thinking these thoughts.
Keith Flint.
And the love of most will grow cold...
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding to my comment, Hugh.
ReplyDelete"You say they are "mentally ill people" - they aren't. They have an agenda, and a philosophy that you (and millions of others) - with your Western sensibilities - can't fully comprehend..."
However, although the definition of what constitutes 'mental illness' or who is mentally ill is always going to have a certain degree of subjectivity attached to it, I'd say that generally speaking the people who carried out Friday's atrocities would fall into the category of what most reasonable people (whatever their cultural or religious background) would describe as mentally ill.
Furthermore, as the news has revealed that most of the attackers hailed from the west themselves then their sensibilities would have also been what one might call 'western sensibilities' too (whatever those are). Fact is, I've met people from places like Iraq and Syria and they'd conclude that the people who join groups like ISIS are mentally deranged individuals too.
Sources seem to suggest that the majority of the attackers in this latest case come from deprived backgrounds and so maybe they didn't have the same opportunities as someone from a wealthier background would have in terms of their mental illness being diagnosed earlier on so that an intervention could be made to prevent them doing something as awful as this.
I don't see religious extremist violence as a purely Muslim phenomenon as there are people with similar beliefs - particularly about women and LGBT people - in the Christian and Jewish religions too. You only have to look at the violence and legal discrimination perpetuated against LGBT people in Putin's Russia on the instigation of the Russian Orthodox Church to see Christian nutters causing similar damage to people and this year's Jerusalem Pride march actually saw a teenage gay girl getting stabbed to death by a deranged Orthodox Jew.
Again, I hope this will not be seen as 'racist' as there are many good, rational people in all three patriarchal religions. However, it just goes to show that the religious and political aspect is almost like something that certain people who are already violently deranged attach themselves too and use as an 'excuse' for committing the acts of horrific sadism that they were going to do anyway. If it had not been religion, maybe such an individual would attach themselves to a particular football club - like Millwall, for instance (*sorry to any Millwall supporters out there;) That's why I'd say that the people who belong to ISIS are little different from the average psychopath who hears voices in his/her head and after going on a murder spree reveals to the police that 'God told them to do it.' Food for thought?
Keith...thanks for that, much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteJan...I think we're in agreement? That we can find another Hundred Billion for the increases cost of Trident Replacement (down the back of Whitehall's sofas?), yet must continue to reduce welfare by 14 billion is a sign we are becoming everything Orwell told us we would!
Annon...although you attempt a medical angle, what your point boils down to is name calling, and on that I would agree with you...all religion is an illness of the mind. There are no pan-dimensional mega-beings watching over us, coming to save us or deliberately making our lives an arduous trial. Religion was the Establishment's preferred method of controlling the people before terrorism was invented!
But that illness expresses itself as 'belief', or a mind-set. These terrorists have a mindset that differs from ours, but they are not clinically retarded...or no more so than the sweet little old granny toddling down the Church on Remembrance Sunday, convinced that all 'gay people' are going to burn for all eternity in the fires of hellish damnation...or the mystic who believes he must live a 'holy' life to prevent himself coming back as a worm!
Logically; you've rather argued yourself out of you own point!
I read your political comments with interest, although I almost always disagree with them!
ReplyDeleteIt had occurred to me that the deaths in Beirut and also on the Russian plane deserved more attention, although Maybe some remembered the role of Russia in downing an airliner over Ukraine. That would be wrong though because we are talking about targeting of innocent civilians in both cases although the rebels in Ukraine made an error of targeting; Daesh does not as it targets civilians deliberately and to create terror.
Although the mourning over the Paris bombing might seem disproportionate it may be occurring for the same reason Daesh targeted it; it is perceived as the cultural centre of Europe. People here in Australia and in other Western countries, of course, react because Paris is not so unlike London or Sydney so, with our Islamic migrant trojan horses, could see the same thing happen here as Daesh preys on young impressionable Muslims who see the West as vilians. this is helped by the educational and intellectual 'establishment' which vilifies the West in an orgy of self loathing instead of extolling its technological and cultural achievements that will eventually lead to man's colonisation of Space. France did not actually have a major role in targeting Daesh in Iraq ans Syria, but now Daesh has what it wanted; 'look at me. I am playing chicken with the West". Daesh is desperate because it is now on the back foot in Syria and Iraq as it has so many enemies it is just a matter of time before it loses its 'caliphate'.
To the extent that I criticise the pro-France tri-colour and Eifel tower motifs it is the namby pamby peace symbols so we can all feel saddy waddy and therefore somehow help France and defeat terrorists; we can love them to death. The only way to deal with them is to kills them. We need Western and Russian elite forces on the ground to help with the targeting of Daesh, starting with their leadership and finishing with the death or capture of their followers. At the moment Western planes are returning without dropping bombs because of the wish to distinguish Daesh from the civilians held hostage in Mosul and elsewhere. People with nothing to lose, like the Yazidis have joined with the Kurds in driving back the Daesh fighters. They have done so even though only lightly armed but aided by American bombing.
I am not interested in the politics of envy that condemn our so called 'ruling class'. The upper classes have contributed to our national identities and culture and whatever our real or perceived class we are all interested in preserving our security and destroying Daesh. Deprive Daesh of its territory and it no longer has the base to offer sex slaves and loot to new recruits.
Keep up your great contribution to the toy soldier fraternity but i could not resist replying to your comment. Viva France!
Hi james
ReplyDeleteI think we broadly agree and I'm sure the Ukrain thing has a part to play in the lack of sympathy for the Sinai indecent! I am not in anyway a supporter of Islam, Islamic fundamentalism or the terrorists who claim Islam! Nor am I a hater of France or the French, or the US &etc...
It's the hubris of the media and leadership that gets my goat, the shallowness of the sheeple following trends on twitter, the fact that 'serves them right' can field the humanity we should feel for the Sinai victims...occasionally I feel the need to say something...really I am what I say I am at the top of the page...a sardonic cynic! And an iconoclast?
H