Initiate prosecution ICC

 

International Criminal Court must take responsibility and initiate prosecution process against Putin based on compelling prima facie evidences in public space. ICC is quite active in prosecuting violent dictators in Africa -a geopolitically weak region. So now ICC will be scrutinized. It’s about “blue eyes and golden hair”. Ofcourse Putin has committed crime against humanity but evidences emerging from Ukraine doesn’t really show them in positive light -there seems to be entrenched racism. Also, as a faraway observer I am quite intrigued by Putin’s claim to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. There must be some substance in it for him to even suggest and expect it to stick. Charlatans are not stupid.

International community must make an example out of Putin so that no one will ever even think of enacting ventures like these without being aware of grave consequences. There are lots of wannabees across the world who are watching the international reactions and consequences quite closely. Putin is a done deal. Living too much in isolation of grandeur surrounded by sycophants he has lost the sense of reality. It was expected. It happens to all dictators, or else they become paranoid and are kicked out. The note of caution here is that Putin was vehemently against US-UK war on Iraq so when the leaders of these countries where not prosecuted for blatant crimes against humanity did it not embolden authoritarian leaders once they reached a threshold of control? If I have the power I can do anything and get away with it -mindset. It’s not confined to political leaders we see these exhibited through market wherein MNCs and moneybags do wanton destructions just because they have money and clout. It’s also seen in arrogance of money, power, position, at every level of society. Just that the scale and opportunities are lower makes it less destructive but these mindsets thrive. Lack of quality education while education is attuned to competition and acquisition creates adulterated minds.          

Meanwhile there is a strong international pressure against Putin. Russian economy is set to collapse. There is already substantial anger against Putin in Russia.  Widespread unrest is a possibility. Russian elites are one of the most corrupt -the reason why authoritarian Putin survived for so long (opportunists in West also help establish these corrupt moneybags as businessmen -all under the garb of liberal democracy), now when they start to feel the pinch the days will be numbered for the dictator. A country cannot survive in isolation in this deeply connected world. Its over for Putin, it’s a matter of time. Hopefully there is a revolt and he is evicted and, yes, prosecuted. Meanwhile international laws must be strengthened and institutions empowered. Russian invasion of Ukraine must be an occasion to reinforce international laws. Multilateral bodies like UN -that is made ineffective, must become representative and reflect the contemporary reality. Modern technologies like AI must be used to predict problem zones, enhanced peacekeeping mechanisms as also dealing with aggression. In short UN needs to be restructured and modernized. There is an urgent need for effective globalized collective action platforms and mechanisms. Less bureaucratic, more participative and vibrant to changing reality. It seems nobody is bothered. The future of humanity is hinged on globalized collective action. Handling of pandemic (vaccine distribution) and failing of climate crisis leadership shows some deeply disturbing value system. People are quite anxious and angry. The world really cannot be controlled by whims and fancies of few arrogant self-centered people.           

 

The puzzled woodpecker

 

These days the world blast into me

In sights and sounds of horror

Shrapnel hit aches that synapses cannot locate

Muted video of dreadful sights spills all over the floor

limbs, guts, blood 

paused.

 

Woodpecker on the palm rattles like a machine gun

puzzled at the midnight sun

Tree on the street corner takes the full brunt

Burning branches raised to sky

In a trance of great revelation

Taking in the last moments of closing eye.

The tragedy and travesty

International community has failed again atleast they could now work for complete cease fire. Meanwhile Russia cannot continue in UN nor any multilateral agencies (but then one cannot help bring the parallel of US-UK continuing even after attack on Iraq). What a mess, its always the common people who pay the heaviest of price. It's also failure of systems that leads to common people as fodder for bigger ambitions of sociopaths and megalomaniacs. If systems worked to enlighten people -assert their humanistic values, rather than convert them into haggling herds who are manipulated by controllers then they would be vigilant and work for better world. Democracy would have functioned as egalitarian expression. Each one of us nurturing regressive systems are complicit in deterioration that leads to such tragedies. Regressive system's grander worldview isolated from realities coalesces into producing horrible people as leaders. Market Capitalism and Religions are severely degrading societies, and is not allowing humanistic egalitarian systems to work and face the existential challenges.     

Crime against humanity

 Its also a failure of multilateral organization like UN that is least representative of contemporary reality.  Western leaders (expansionist NATO) are complicit too. These are not leaders but herd controllers haggling for power with characteristic ego that see everything disposable, an insatiable urge to acquire, grab and control. These are consolidated outcome of systems that are being nurtured. Its a byproduct of process that segregates and create the other. If you are actively participating in systems that insulates, isolates and dehumanizes then you are equally complicit. War happens when the other is completely dehumanized. Its a breakdown of care. Each death is a wail against systems that doesn't value human life and are least concerned about its impact on life on earth.   

WTF we don’t need this now

What a waste of energy and time. We don’t need this now. We have important things to work on. These are the kind of leaders we have produce when we give primacy to power, ego, greed, control, money and other superficialities. It’s a nation as business venture. These are what defines success in the contemporary world we live in. There is a stampede going on to acquire. These absurdities are what is taught as defining history and graded for future. How can one blame the leaders? 

War is an expression of entitlement of few over other. It’s an assault on humanity. It’s a gross violation of nature. What a waste. Despair. Cry.

History is iterative

 

History repeats itself first as tragedy then farce said Marx. How incapable must humans be if they are incapacitated to learn from experience or are unable to perceive their reality? Life learns from experience and every life form evolves with iterative involvement with its surrounding. Our senses are attuned to perceive. Every cell is open to experience the surrounding to survive. It learns, assimilates and grows. This diversity of life wouldn’t be possible if life was isolated from realities of its existence. Even mutation, the one that are successful hence replicated, is a not really a blind shot. It’s a sprint for survival that is very much hinged to existence. It’s a determined attempt to evolve, to latch the chaos, the potentialities and opportunities to survive and thrive. Life is in continuous iterative relation with its reality -immediacy of habitat and constancy of natural laws and limitations. 

History repeats itself if it is moving in a circle and is isolated from reality. History therefore can repeat if societies are incapable or are incapacitated to learn. This can only happen when societies nurture systems that insulate them from reality. Therefore, individually we perceive the threat while collectively the system makes us incapable to respond. We are incapacitated to trust our senses or use our mental faculties. If the reality becomes too oppressive we get into survival mode, it’s a short-term reaction to maintain the status quo that favours the powerful. The impasse Homo sapiens face is very much due to this disconnect. Religion and market are systems that worked for short term gains, its exaggerations and myth building enterprise are having serious ramifications with its overwhelming influence. Systems like religion that came into existence when humans rode donkeys, scooped water from nearest pit to drink, shat in the corner and sat around fire in caves open to elements, created myths to fill in the lack of knowledge and to feel secure while they perished from minor infections deemed as wrath, have become anachronistic nuisance that attracts dead minds and putrefied souls. Ridiculous holy books (that are understandings in its historical cultural context with some insights) have become sites for sickening sanctimony that attracts rabidity not seen in decent humans. The situation is dire. Humanity is on the verge of collapse due to ever encroaching signs of catastrophic reality that is framing the bleak future. The absurd show of grand conceptions cannot go on.          

For history to not repeat and end itself societies must invest on systems that are vibrant and attuned to senses and sophisticated to nurture the symbiotic relation with surrounding. It must evolve to be responsible and perceptive part of greater whole.          

 

Sculpting the social landscape

 

It’s a constant endeavor of controllers of institutions and narrations to convert human being into herds. The more unthinking they are the better it is to manipulate and control. This then takes the society away from social realities and contemporary crises. There is a reason why the power structures across the world have failed to address the urgency of climate crisis. There is a reason why media till recently tried to undermine, obfuscate and divert these existential crises (I was expecting the high-end British media like TheGuardian -that has wider audience due to colonial advantage and narrative control, to fail when it came to understanding movies like Don’t Look Up. And boy didn’t they mess up. The arrogance was typical). Self-assuredness of grip over herds and easy manipulated binaries leads to complacency. They really didn’t factor climate crisis would be this disruptive (likes of BBC taking their sweet time as they survey the scene for control). 

They are incapable to sense the reality of the situation since they are too preoccupied to manipulate the narration for control, as also showcasing themselves as some kind of saviour in this little world that they try to bludgeon us in. Facts becomes victim to narrative flair of emotions. Every news therefore becomes an occasion to control and manipulate, to give it the needed narration that seeks to undermine the reality. Systems that are hinged on this make-believe world consolidate the fake. Influencers like market feed this chicanery while religions ask us to strive. When you undermine the reality critical faculties of human beings get undermined. When senses are weakened, or told not to trust, the mind gets confused. The perpetual insecurity that follows is an indication of humans losing their grip into herds or are atomized as frustrated lives into escapism. They lose their capacity to use their intellect. As social landscape gets manipulated and sculpted in isolation it loses its vigor to face the reality. Systems failing to face the contemporary challenges is a clear indication of how much reality has shifted while herds are kept occupied in binaries of absurd and inane entertainments. There are reason why indigenous people -who are deemed primitive, are aware of the urgency. It isn’t a coincidence. Their society may not be as sophisticated to get the science and technology to travel to mars or edit genes but yes, they are well attuned to sophisticated world and natural systems that we are indelible part of. They know the waft of the dung and mind of the bird. It shouldn’t therefore surprise that science began its journey with this searing probe into reality. Somewhere down the line technology gave the herd their collective will. Its been downhill since. If we don’t become humans again, dismiss systems that dehumanize, and assert our humanity, reject vehemently and vociferously each and every attempt to undermine our being then it’s truly over for us. It’s a wake-up call.         

 

Wanted 

A threat to humanity 

Deeply saddened

****

The other shore

You will only know when you reach 

You sense in the presence

Ecstasy, and sadness

Glimpse the profundity of stars and flowers

And what connects

Getting the context

History is also about intersections. It has repercussions on contemporary world and interactions. I wasn’t aware much about Blacks and Jews and the context of intersectionality. Indeed, I wasn’t much aware about genocide of Jews either. I came to know about Concentration Camps in school history (most likely in 10^th or 9^th standard), it was a minor mention in international history. What I recall was me thinking it to be a place where people went to concentrate. One word that was drilled into me was: concentrate. I recall an English teacher (in KV Jaipur) who taught English in Hindi and used very few English words. And the word she used quite often was “concentrate” as she randomly hit notebook on the head of anyone giggling, talking so on. It was only later, in my 20s, I came to know about cruelty of Hitler, Nazis. Then I watched documentaries, read books, as also watched movies to get the full impact of the horrific events. I recall feeling extremely uneasy watching footages. What I wasn’t aware of was semantics used and the gravity and import of it, and recently I too have been keenly working on these usages and the contexts. Whoopi Goldberg incident is helping to get the grip. Last week I read Maus by Art Spiegelman that was banned in some school in USA by the Christian inspired administration (note I stopped using terms like far right/far left, no more fueling binaries. Looking for context of issues, and not polarization into baying groups). I immediately ordered a copy online. I am also reading much postponed Victor Frankl. Yesterday while thinking I recalled reading this (pic herein). It’s an instance of blatant racism on Black (Afro-American) by a Jew who had ironically survived the holocaust (ofcourse there is a context of him being paranoid about food/groceries but nevertheless there is something here). Black-Africans who were captured and sold as slaves have a history of horror and trauma of centuries that is beyond human imagination. And they still suffer and face discriminations, and what makes it singularly revolting is that it is because of something a human being is born with -the color of skin, and not because of believe system or voluntary choices. It is therefore is blot on humanity. It is in this context I find the rebuke of Whoopi Goldberg quite painful. There is a context that is being willfully neglected. It is much complicated than one cares.  

The more I read more I am convinced that Jew as a race is a construct. “Features” of Jews are caricatures based on prejudices that were generalized hence capitalized by Nazis to create the other. There doesn’t seem to be any other explanation however hard one tries. Religion is a construct, and any attempt otherwise is a violation of human right, a sinister attempt to segregate human, and negating contemporary reality. In the last few days I was trying to understand why this view a “profound ignorance”, none forthcoming. It is as if these are commonly agreed, understood and is a closed matter. Upstart like me has no business to poke, indeed not qualified or too insignificant. I keep an open mind. 

Controlling the narration

 

Religion is not a race. It’s a believe system. Nobody is born with, or into, a religion – if so then it is a violation of child’s right and restriction on humanity, a persistent threat. People are born into a race, into a region, into a gender. As societies evolve even these shouldn’t matter. Race, region or gender are insignificant in evolved society. What matters is worth of human. Worth of every life. Diversity then will be diversity of understanding, ideas, thoughts and expressions that contribute for better realisation.

Whoopi Goldberg is right when she asserts that holocaust "was not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man" or rather human being’s inhumanity to another human being. We shouldn’t forget that women were also equally active member and facilitators of Nazis. Nazis "deemed Jews to be an inferior race" doesn't make it a race issue. Surely what Nazis “deemed” shouldn’t be point of reference for any discussion at all. Almost all Europeans in 1930s were Caucasians. So, it’s clearly about religion being used to perpetrate and justify genocide. The narration must be about how religion is the cause of misery, and how Nazis used it to create myths hence enemies among friends and neighbours. It shows the hold of religion and fiction on psyche of people that they could condone murder and extermination of innocent people whom they knew. It’s the depth of depravity and must be recognised with all its cruelties and facts. If ever Ms. Goldberg can be faulted it could be the tone (“it’s about them the white people”), and that accusation too is tenuous. She was just asserting the facts. We live in crude, crass and increasingly polarized world where nuances get lost in the din. Also, the attempts at hyperbolic extrapolation of events in 2022 to 1930s is dangerous distraction. The world has evolved much since 1930s in a way that was unthinkable even few decades back. Few Nazis in some corner of USA is now flashed all across the world. The contemporary complexities are different. Likes of Trump (one feels violated to even mention his name) were mollycoddled and nurtured by greedy crass media looking for eyeball catching histrionics without any concern for repercussions. While people were too tired of mainstream politicians manipulating and using correct meaningless words while they sided with rich and powerful, and status quoist abuse and lack of innovative involvement in systemic exploitations. That this con artist carries on blatantly despite breaking law many times shows how much the deep state is compromised. The role of dark web and BigTech were also not taken seriously (the gravity of which the policy makers at the highest level must have been briefed). Attention seeking manipulative algorithms have polarized and degraded democracies all across the world. They have severely undermined critical thinking, subjectified facts and framework for sane discussion or communication. While billionaires becoming richer during pandemic points to serious flaw in the system. Climate catastrophes seems to be least of concern indicating even bigger existential malaise.             

Religion is not race. It cannot be. It’s important to be aware of semantics used and narrative control, the context and complexities, and repercussion on contemporary world. Racism is an important matter and shouldn’t to be diluted. It has serious repercussion on contemporary world. There is an attempt to sanctify and fossilize religions into race hence identity. It’s a gross human right violation and imminent threat to humanity.