When atrocities are committed on
humanity there is only one response that is possible to redeem collective
conscience and that is through shock, anguish, and justice. Perpetrators of
crime against humanity must face full force of the rule of law without any
exception. Enlightened values, ideals of democracy and its institutions are
hinged on retributive justice as also prevent such transgressions in future.
When state is attacked -as has happened in recent times in Ukraine and Israel
-and now Palestine, it is expected that multilateral agencies like UN take
action through peace keeping force and restore order and justice through
international courts so on. This is what civilized people do when faced with
barbarity and crime against humanity. We unfortunately don’t live in ideal
world, and most people are not civilized. So, what’s the deal?
It is always exhibition of power,
and wanton greed, that use common people as fodder. There are no effective
multilateral agencies nor efficient mechanism for synergic response to
safeguard against transgressions, most countries are ruled by authoritarian
leaders with almost no democracy while others are ruled by hereditary despots
using religion or controlled by army or feudal ways to control the herd, and
those that are democratic are mostly controlled by greedy psychopaths trying to
amass their influence. In such scenario we can only be appalled and hope for
better sense to prevail. We can only pray for unfortunate people who face worst
of the world, and also feel fortunate for not being in such situation. In the meanwhile, we can also respond by
making every attempt at our disposal to see that power that sustains such
dehumanizing systems are weakened, people presented with egalitarian choices
and enlightened ways so that they can assert and protest against transgression
on their liberty and freedom. They get educated and understand the importance
of being a human and not reduce to herd. They become vigilant compassionate humans
and not compliant segregated herd (snarling and vandalizing only for ‘our’ herd
and ready to kill ‘other’ herd). There are devious forces trying to trap human
being to frozen histories, fixed identities, and classify for benefits and
control.
In the aftermath of barbaric
attack on Israel -that saw massacring for more than thousand people within few
hours, the scale of brutality should shudder any human being. But what we saw was
appalling display of people in support of this horror. Primitive societies
nurture brutal people, and that is the norm, and always a threat to the world,
more they grow more is the threat. But what was shocking was that these parades were happening in
democratic societies that values liberty and freedom, and as always compromised
Britain leading the way. These appalling celebrations of horror were also seen
in many cities that pride in liberal values, accepting environment and egalitarian
spaces. That some people, despite all the opportunities provided by open societies,
think that brutalities against other humans is to be celebrated is a horrible
statement on values nurtured. It is a caution and a lesson. Each and every
person who supported/supports hamas must be weeded out and face full force of
law (indeed in Australia -of all the place -indicating how things have
degraded, some people were seen shouting ‘gas the jews’). There are videos
available, liberal societies cannot nurture such people among its midst they
are termites, they eat from inside. This was hours after innocent people were
massacred and kidnapped by barbarians. Ofcourse now scene has changed. Brutal bombardment
of Palestine and massacring of civilians has become serious concern, and those
in support of plight of Palestinians -and against Israel state, are on the side
of humanity. What also need to be understood is that terrorists have created
massive underground network in gaza against Israel and are using civilians as
shield. There are complexities but what cannot be denied is that civilians,
specifically children, must be given safe passage to leave the area and
extended all humanitarian aid. Meanwhile Israelis must revolt against state,
and demand complete stoppage of war on Palestine. They can eradicate hamas but
they leave vacuum for increasingly hostile people like what they did in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Death of single innocent human being is a colossal tragedy on
life. Netanyahu has no moral right to be the prime minister.
There is another sinister presence
that needs to be identified and dealt: The leftist intellectual. Let us make
one thing very clear. Marxism is a powerful and liberating idea, and it has
contributed much to the understanding of dynamics of society and power matrix
within. It is an insightful presence and a check on crony/neocapitalism, wanton
consumerism and feudal control through neo colonial agencies. Communism in a
democratic society is a pitch towards socialism and distributive justice. It
has nurtured and consolidated democracy through grassroot social movements all
across the world. Grassroot consolidation leads to high level of literacy hence
awareness of rights and progressive values, efficient public health and
distribution system leading to better quality of life and possibilities. Kerala
is an example of grassroot consolidation of democracy significantly through communist ideas and
socialistic values (ofcourse entrenched feudal ways, corrupt values and lack of
ethical contexts have severely limited the progressive intents). While Bengal is
an example of failure of communism, a failure due to lack of grassroot democracy.
Bengal remains low on social indices but high on left intellectuals and amazing
level of hypocrisy that it breeds. There is a reason why communism in Bengal
was uprooted without any trace. It is a study on depravities of left
intellectualism. Abstraction into theories that alarmingly loses any connection
with reality, essentially an ego ride, so much so that humans are abstracted
for elitist indulgences -the kind that has roots in Britain. In some market
driven circle it is also fashion statement, and with gandhian mix it becomes extremely
virile power display for the sake of proletariats.
So, although Marxism is an
incisive understanding on society it is flawed as model for governance and can only
complement within the democratic framework. Leftist intellectuals worked on
binary narration of society as class, and as they abstracted these into spheres
of dealing in their zeal (and characteristic indifference) they abstracted
humans too. So in the absence of individuals empathy had no value. Theory and
control over narration was the game. Unique context of human condition was
systematically ignored in favour of the narration. Left thinkers are therefore perpetually
trapped in the binary narration of historical dialectic. For them every
contemporary event has to be controlled and evaluated through this narrative prism.
They already have semantics abstracted to fill narration, carefully abstracted words
that is used to compress class wars from history to the present, hence presenting a neat
version of contemporary that they parrot devoid of the complexities. With this
characteristic positioning, that essentially lack empathy, they can easily side with
barbarity since it suits the leftist narration. Like capitalism, which only values
humans as profitable cog in the system, communism has created binary of
collective where human is lost in abstraction. This abstraction is now their only
concern, to work their narration, and since leftist intellectuals almost always
emerge from feudal frames with all the benefits and regressive values intact, a
high level of sense of entitlement over fellow human being, they work their
abstraction through comforts of debating clubs and increasingly narrower
coterie of writings and dehumanized esoteric arguments dangerously disconnected
from sense, this then is applauded by the group. Enthused they pretend to be in
the pole position as moral arbitrators on all critical issues. They eventually get
trapped in the hypocritical justification of their own loop of narration. Abstracted
ideas and narrative control becomes more important than basic ethics or even
decency. A normal human being will shudder at brutality on another human being
but for leftist intellectual this is a paradigm justifying moment, they do suppress
their winning smile though -a glimmer of humanity. Meanwhile any deviation from
prescribed narration is taken as a personal failure, an affront on theory, and lacking
compassion they hedge their emotion on ego. Thus, what we get is a boorishly rude
person as left intellectual, lacking empathy or concern for contemporary or
compassion for human predicament but ever ready to elaborate with high sounding
words and exceeding articulate performance that do charm the youngsters. Idealist
youngsters are susceptible, and by the time they unravel the layered chicanery
they have already compromised their soul. Ofcourse, I do agree deeper
involvement with ideas are important and a necessary stepping stone to
understand world better. Or else there is always the herd hauling abyss of
religion and mediocrity of market capitalism. Marxism is a compelling viewpoint
to evaluate the world. It though is woefully limited and dangerously insidious
like religion and neoliberal values. In the end it too is virulently
dehumanizing and segregating. What is sinister is that it poses as an
anti-thesis to market and religion, and glimpses a better world -that is a
mirage. Communist atrocities that have led to mass killing and misery are
rarely condemned by left intellectuals. It is not about compassion or
reevaluating their worldview or position but a personal failure to
communicate. Dead people could easily be explained with abstract words into
abstract humans. Hence it is about chiseling the ideology, against the binary of imperialism.
What they don’t realize is that they are increasingly the worst side of the
coin. Leftist intellectuals have made Faustian deal with power. Be very concerned.
As thoughts get sophisticated
words get evolved to express the nuance of the complex world we live in. Ideas
get evolved and consolidated through words. The problem is when it loses
connection with reality -importantly with humans and environment that are essential
part of it. It is a passion devoid of humanity or habitat. It therefore becomes
sinister manipulation to sustain their position in the argument. You
will see how least concern left intellectuals are when some humans don’t fit
their narration -even when they are brutalized or killed, concern is to
articulate the logic. Since marxian world is a historical struggle of binary,
they will also rarely show any concern for environment -it is not something
that is factored, and like its adversary capitalism, nature is an exploitable
means. Abstracted human as an agent is their concern everything else is usable
for bigger cause. They see human as
an abstraction in historical progress -struggle. This also makes them extremely
sensitive about history. The use of abstract words and thoughts are therefore
not for awareness of contemporary reality -the complexity of which has
miniscule connection with history (past is exaggerated by devious forces to
work the status quo of misery and trap humans for power struggle). There are therefore ‘colonial’ forces. If Israel-Palestine conflict is frozen as ‘colonizing’ -that
is sought to go back to early last century, then there are many colonial angsts
all across the world. Hindu herds will say it was colonizing forces that divided
their land, it was an injustice that they would like to rectify. And they have ample
history to prove their claim for pure land, extending from whole of south Asia
and beyond. So why not invade Pakistan and rectify colonial injustice (some
nutcases do hold this view, as an unfinished agenda). Vice versa, muslim herd from
Pakistan would claim that India is part of their pure land, since muslim king ruled for centuries.
So they have compelling reason to attack India and free their pure land. What
kind of ridiculous arguments are these? Left intellectuals are notorious for
working history to bring their besotted godforsaken dangerous narrations.
Abstracted human herein is no longer struggling against historical exploitation
but is a conduit to power that nurture herds into their pre assigned ascribed
roles to repeat and replicate historical dialecticism. Intellectualism
essentially boils down to ego ride of psychopaths who use humans as fodder for
narration.
It is through semantics of
abstracted meaning that we try to understand, and then attempt to deal with the issue.
Words helps us to understand the complexities of the world we are in. We really
need to therefore critically analyze these crucial words that keys the issue as
also the power play within. Most thinkers, in their growing phase atleast, are
influenced or have engaged with left -since left had deeper involvement as
their concern is collective struggle against power, so words gets accepted and
with that the context. Now this is problematic. When you control the context of
the word you also control the narration and intricacies of engagement. The
narration of abstracted collective lacking humanistic concern, as a mass of
people evolving in the binary struggle. History therefore is the lynchpin of
context from marxian viewpoint. Historicity their weapon of choice to cleverly
work into leftist narration of struggle against power. The problem here is
history is always incomplete, manipulated, controlled, and significantly, has increasingly
limited value (indeed nuisance) to understand the complexities of contemporary
-we live in an increasingly complex world with catastrophic challenges that
were inconceivable even few decades back. Since historical dialecticism is the
foundation of marxian history, history is the wound that has to be kept
festering. This is how you work the binary of us and them. The way left
intellectual look at the world one would think human beings are divided into
two unrelated species. And the one with which left intellectual sides are
essentially human while the other has to be destroyed -far left doesn’t rule
out violence the reason why they must be contained within democracy and strict
rule of law.
Since the world is complex, and
with profusion of technology and comfort as also social media and easy access
to global world, individuals have found their voice and have become assertive
to express their reality. Simultaneously lacking deeper engagement, or nuanced
approach, to whatever is there to deal. The world is increasingly attention
seeking, superficialities rivet. This is where words become even more
important. People are not reading long incisive articles and insightful
understanding but throwing words at each other which carry deeper meaning -many
a times without realizing it. Words that invoke history is what we need to be
beware of since it brings in fracture of the past that surely has no, and must
not have, relevance to contemporary. Systems that invoke these words are
persistent threat to the world we live in. Communism and religion are systems that
seek relevance from past. They really have nothing much to offer for the
contemporary. The binary -us/them, segregation, dehumanizing values lacking
compassion or concern is how these systems consolidate. They persistently bring
words from the past to degrade the present. With words they bring the context
of dead past as festering wound, and so the world loses much of humanity. So, eventhough
communism steadily lost its influence across the world due to its incapacity to
abstract human for their collective dialectic they are able to control the
narration through the words used that percolate into common parlance and claims
of historical wrongs and counter claims -that use same semantics of deal devoid
of contemporary context.
Communism spread in 20th
century and held hope for better world but very soon major flaws were apparent. In the last few decades, it has failed or had to morph from core ideology
to garner support. Failure to abstract human for collective dialectics is a
fall out of the changed world. Technology leading to individual assertion and
increasing awareness of nuance of world we live in -individual context and
human condition. Communism though has much left to offer against work place
exploitation through unionizing collective voice against neoliberal neocolonial power
structures spreading through market capitalism and their nefarious attempts to control
through insidious technologies. Socialism remains a significant understanding for
public policy. Technology, and easy access to world, has also led to lack depth
in dealing and understanding. In this superficial, and increasingly fake and
manipulated, world human seeks collective -being social animal as also dreading
loneliness, isolation or incapacity to face frightening human condition and
absurdities of life. Superficial values of unthinking minds find juvenile
premise of religion comforting, its assured association with other compelling.
There is also primal subconscious angst for known that get satisfied, as also
fear of unknown assuaged through fantastical claims and grand stories. The
reason why religion despite its anachronistic degrading values gets primacy.
Laughable claims that don’t stand basic scrutiny is found acceptable, and in
complete horrifying dehumanization are ready to kill another human to justify
the absurd. Such absolute lack of connection to reality of existence and faith in
fantasy is what religion presents. More the number of herds increases more it
stands as a challenge to humanity.
The paradox of lacking followers
but firm control over narration is where left intellectual workout their
devious plan to establish their entitled self on the world. Instead of high
stand of abstracting humans for collective struggle they now find readymade
collective -albeit herd with entirely different concern but equally dehumanized
and segregated. So, the left intellectual doesn’t have to dehumanize people
into abstract human collective, herd is already dehumanized and incapable to
think. The binary of imperial forces, colonial atrocities and fascist agenda
are words that are freely used. Herd has to be a victim. While herd controlling
state is the aggressor, indeed, imperial fascist force. There are no
complexities. Period. Left intellectual has his or her work cut out. And in the
luxuries of feudal trappings, they pronounce the verdict in spellbinding
semantic flourish that encompass vistas of history to how we landed into
the present. This is the danger we face.
The essential and abiding identity
of human being is to be a human, a vibrant life with all unique possibilities. There
is providence of race and gender which shouldn’t matter if societies have
evolved. Any other identity is a choice. It cannot be imposed on people, to classify
and segregate. Ofcourse societies can be primitive, individuals insecure and
crass, but that is not the reason to dilute progressive thoughts and evolved ideas.
Being a social animal human being must have the all the option to associate
into collective of their choice and identify as they wish. What matters is
humanism and understanding, and a connection with reality of life. If you
persistently classify people -and piece of land, under religion then you take
away the choice of being a human -it is an assault, and ofcourse also the absurdity
of branding land as a claim for religion. These absurdities are deviously worked
into history, and then into contemporary to create recurring loops of misery
and wasted future. It places humans as replication of past generations and as
such lack faculties to think or express, or the capacity to identify with vibrant
present. It is an attempt at negating human, and bracketing into preconceived
identities. The reason why progressive societies must actively remove religion or
its influence from education space that impress young minds. Education is meant to
equip to be a human and assert one’s unique individuality.
To relegate crisis to past -the history,
as definitive reference is to trap people in a sinister loop wherein devious narration
control act as arbitrators and moral authority. The claim of history can easily
be challenged since it is based barbarism of past -which shouldn’t be a
reference for present. To claim victimhood from past is spurious attempt at obfuscating
complexities of present. Victims were in context to time and space in which
they lived. Their choice were denied. The claim of victimhood from history is based
on the fallacy that you represent the victim and that you don’t have choice, or
that past is about you. What is needed is to deny the past, and attempts to
invoke it. What is needed is to see that systems that denied choice in past is
relegated. Feudal structures and regressive values that denied humanity is dismantled.
Democratic ideals and institutions are nurtured, freedom and liberty asserted.
Recently there are calls made to apologize
for colonial atrocities of past from british monarchy. This is precisely the ridiculous
level to which narration are controlled, without any care for contemporary. Where
do you draw the line of where history ends or begins? Or to whom do you apologize?
Where the societies democratic with each individual enjoying freedom before western
colonization? As we stretch history back in time the list of apologies will
grow. Similarly, many religions and faiths controlled land over centuries, and
much before that early human settlers from hunter gatherers. If anybody has claim
on land then it should be early humans, much before any contemporary religions
existed. Where do you freeze the line of history,
and why? And who decides? This invoking of history is dangerous and futile. There
is no doubt that monarchy is a regressive presence and sustains feudal values
and carries the fractures of past and must be dismantled. Its continuation is
an insult on each and every human being on earth. Colonialism is a source of
festering wound across the world. It is however failure of society to blame the
past, it shows incapacity to deal with the present. Many societies,
specifically in east Asia, were poor swampy regions only a few decades back but
through investment in education as also progressive values are able
to reclaim. Britain need not apologize for its past, it is absurd. It must surely apologize
for the present.
