happy new year

It seems like such a long time ago that I wrote the first News from Zoos. We had been part of a peace march in Athens and I had peppered my article with photos, humour and the smell of tear gas. The world has changed so little since then. War and destruction teaches so little to the despots of the world who, high on their perches, are so unaffected by world events. Unfortunatley it is those same people that affect world events. War is waged with mathematical accuracy and has been for the last few thousand years. The rules of conflict have not changed since the days of the ancients. What has changed in the last century is the perception of peace, democracy and the ideals of civilization. It is a dark day that we witness the hanging of a former dictator. It would be a bright and sunny day if we were hanging all former (Pinochet) and active dictators. It would be the dawn of a new age if the institution of dictatorship were being abolished. However what we are witnessing is an attempt to raise the popularity of a leader of a democracy and not a stab at despotism. Worse than that the hanging of Saddam clearly serves American interests in Iraq, if we see the USA as an imperialist force that is.
The west has suffered an inferiority conflict form the getgo. Even the word doesn't describe anything in particular, the western civilization is not something that realy exists. It is an attempt to lend to the anglosaxon world an air of culture and a connection to the past. In some dark imaginative way this monstrocity of "interests" and capitalism is suppose to be somehow connected to the ancient Greeks and Romans. To the Romans possibly and with many common points. To the Greeks no way. I am not a historian but I do know some of the basic differences in two totaly different world views. The Romans were very busy with taxes, aquaducts and colonization of the world, both east and west. The Greeks were very busy with trade, alliances and the much ignored practice of spreading the light of civilization around the world. This last practice was symbolized by the transportation of a living flame from their home city to their outposts in other countries around the world. Keeping this flame alive was the Hellenic way to light the sole of the barbarians wherever they may be. The Roman view was to squash other cultures and then tax them while maintaining some Greek teachers in their estates to lend a philosophical air to the whole affair. For the glory of Rome as Hollywood so aptly puts it.
So we have this western civilization that is busy expanding and invading, squashing local cultures with the brute force of its economic might or, if the seeds of Coca-Cola and Mcdonalds prove impotent, its military superiority. At the same time that the huge corporations behind these western interests make gross profits the western leaders sugar the pill of reality with some bullshit of how this is the road to democracy for Iraq. Certainly a momentary walk through the dark ages should scare the people of Iraq enough to pray for the lights of civilization even if the bearers are not wearing a condom whilst delivering. Who wants to take a bet that Americans will rally around their leader after a near public hanging? Hate is so much a part of the "western" world. Don't forget too that although dictators are sometimes held responsible for their crimes against humanity elected leaders have immunity and charges against Bush may be made by amnesty international but will never stick. Not as long as his popularity stays above the 40 percent mark anyways.
Let us not forget of course the little people that make it all possible. So long as the majority is silent everything is possible. This is the one aspect of democracy that most people do not understand. Democracy is not a once every four years event. Silence is consent and all people need to do is to whine. Whining of course is not part of western tradition, unless of course it is about taxes or big government. Then it is encouraged. People should at the very least grumble. The good thing about a democracy is that a disgruntled population may change some descisions and directions of foreign policy. Grumbling has never lowered taxes. Maybe that is why it is encouraged. For instead of lowering taxes public grumbling usualy lowers public services and raises profits. Tax cuts to the rich and powerful... So while the general population sits silent and content watching the noose tighten around Saddams' throat profit margins look good.
News flash: one of the guards during the execution managed to film the whole thing on his phone. So now to the hanging we have the added disgrace of it become public and we can all be witness to the maltreatment by the guards. Personaly I don't realy care but there are many that do. A situation that is guaranteed to further divide the Iraqi population. A firing squad would have been too honorable for the thief of the desert. Unfortunately it is the little people that are going to end up paying the price. My alast comment on the whole issue is that the likes of Bush shouldn't feel the need to hang former friends and allies. Jake the ape just broke wind so I better go too....

All the best for 2007. Sending an attachment with my views on the world. Pretty much mainstream over here...

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