It’s called the Silly Season not because the season itself is silly, but because people are silly. There was a time when I believed that the majority of humankind was blessed with the noblest of qualities, when nobody was an island and when everyone, in their own way, strove towards collective ideals of goodwill.
Today I am sorry to say I believe none of these things. I believe the vast majority of humankind is good and believe in fraternal relations with their neighbours in the international community, I believe the vast majority follows the basic precepts of the mainstream religions without necessarily being religious, I believe people prefer to laugh than to cry and I believe tears taste of salt, whoever sheds them.
I do not believe, however, that the majority of people on our Planet are minimally interested in what is going on outside their door, so long as it does not affect them personally. They take the latest news with a shrug and carry on as it nothing had happened. Does it matter to them that NATO is committing war crimes and breaching international law in Libya? Does it matter to them that the politicians who represent them are responsible for actively or passively taking part in an act of slaughter in which children are getting bombed and killed from pilots flying at 30,000 feet?
Does it matter to them that NATO is actively engaged in supporting terrorists? Does it matter to them that the main faction of the Libyan “rebels” is a terrorist organization banned by the British Authorities? Does it matter to them that the rebel military leader, Hasidi, has links to al-Qaeda? Does it matter to them that the elements they are supporting fought against NATO in Iraq and Afghanistan? Does it matter to them that NATO forces are bombarding Libyan government positions to aid a rebel attack at this moment on al-Brega and on Zlitan? Does it matter than this is outside any of the clauses in the UNSC Resolutions?
Does it matter to them that by sitting back and doing nothing, they are themselves guilty by association? How can the American, British and French public sit back and do nothing, how can they contemplate voting for their political representatives in future, if their Governments and a large part of the political Opposition in their countries support NATO’s criminal acts of murder?
Does it matter to them that this entire war is about oil and does it matter to them that it was planned long ago, long before any “suppression” took place and does it matter to them that the entire “Gaddafi dictator” story is a tissue of lies from beginning to end?
No, it does not matter because they are not directly affected by any of this. Many don’t even know where Libya is, the majority just accept what their media tells them, namely that Gaddafi is mad, he is a dictator and ra ra ra our troops are protecting the civilians from him. They may as well believe David Cameron is in fact a waxwork automaton puppet controlled by Hague and Osborne, that Barack Obama is a post-op transsexual who hides his boobs in a bodice and that Nicolas Sarkozy was born on Mars, teleported to the Elysee Palace and sleeps in a wooden box under the Louvre with a crucifix in his hand.
Have they been informed that Colonel Gaddafi has taken Libya from the poorest country in the world to the richest in Africa? Have they been informed of his excellent humanitarian record? His acts of inclusion, speaking out against Islamist fanaticism, for women’s rights, against the stoning of women and killing of gays? Have then been informed about his work in the African Union, bringing humanitarian programmes to everyone? Have they been told his money was not used for personal gain but for humanitarian projects? Do they know he was to get a UN prize for his humanitarian record in March 2011?
Do they know the Libyan army did not and does not attack civilians, but instead heavily armed terrorists? Do they know they Libyan army calls on the terrorists to lay down their arms before they attack? That they ask civilians to clear the area so they will not get hurt? That these same civilians thank the Armed Forces for freeing them from this scourge? That the terrorists rape and sack and pillage and loot and steal and kill? That the terrorists themselves launched events and blamed Gaddafi?
Do they know that while the West was crippling Africa, Muammar al-Qathafi was building satellite networks to bring e-learning and telemedicine to the Continent?
No, they know nothing of this, they sit in their comfortable homes, surrounded by their comfortable little world, their thoughts controlled by the silly little TV set with its silly little programmes – the massification of ignorance and stupidity by the globalization of the inane. They are societies in which soccer stars who cannot speak their own language get to be opinion makers. This massification of inanity brainwashes these hundreds of millions of vapid, empty shells of human beings into being manipulated into doing nothing.
They accept the easy media package of dodgy places abroad (which they label “shitholes”) so they feel safe at home and can more easily be controlled. They don’t question, that would be dangerous. They just swallow it and accept along with the daily dose of silly soccer stars calling their kids silly names, silly voyeuristic programmes of nonentities in toilets, silly comedies with references to bodily functions while silly youths drink themselves silly outside.
This is not only the silly season, they’re silly societies. And until someone stands up and gets people moving, interested and informed, nothing is going to change. Their public services will dwindle, their cosy little capitalist model will continue to morph into a corporatist model controlled by elites. After all, the Big Space has already devoured the butcher and the baker. Where are the greengrocer and the fishmonger?
And then maybe they will wake up and see what their governments are doing abroad. Then they may question whether Cameron’s strong point is his judgement, then they may ask why Cameron, Sarkozy and Obama are involved in supporting terrorists and then they may question their part in the murder of Colonel Gaddafi’s three grandchildren.
Then they might ask how would THEY like it if THEIR families were targeted like that? They wouldn’t, would they? Ah, never mind. Sorry to have disturbed the Simpsons, or was it Big Brother?
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru