Sunday, April 28, 2013

Boston - It is the System not always the Individual.



Some of my readers have asked me about the appalling acts that marred the recent Boston Marathon. While all the facts are still to be discovered a few broad aspects can be discussed without compromising anything.

Causing unnecessary death, injustice, cruelty, torture and general unkindness is wrong, plain and simply wrong. Even though such events appear to be part of the human condition – they need not be so. When a system is in place that encourages – or at least does not discourage – authoritarian attitudes and unquestioned obedience then most people, because we are social animals, will conform to whatever the system requires. There is a great deal of social research which reveals that when the situation people may find themselves in is such that it corrodes human values and creates a “them or us” or a “are you with us or against us” attitude then normal well-adjusted people will be persuaded to perform unspeakable acts on their fellow beings and animals. In certain situations, where the system demands it, usually “normal” people will submit to the “social convention” applicable at that time and in that particular situational environment – no matter what the “social convention” entails.

This is not to say there are no “bad people”, of course there are, but more often than not it is the situation that people find themselves in – the system – that alters behaviour. I am not excusing the killing or cruelty perpetrated by individuals who are deviant in this regard – those who enjoy inflicting pain and suffering – such people may be considered sociopaths or psychopaths. There are definitely such people. Not many, fortunately, but a few. It is, however, generally the system, the situation, that is the real culprit.

In this instance I am talking about normal people in abnormal situations. What determines “normal” is a moot point and an “abnormal situation” is generally an entirely personal experience – what is abnormal to me may not be for you.   This applies to all “parties” – to those in a particular situation forced to submit to authority and those who because of the situation are “expected” to act in an authoritative manner. This also depends on how long the “abnormal situation” lasts and how long any “adjustment” may take.

Think of the situations and the systems that prevailed in the precincts of the financial institutions on Wall Street in 2008 and the catastrophe that resulted; think of the situations and the systems that prevailed in children’s institutions run by the Catholic Church; think of the situations and systems created by the Nazis and the subsequent Jewish “holocaust”; think of the mishmash of perverted religious ideals and politics that is “taught” in some Islamic madrasa (schools); think of the strict Biblical interpretations and “creationist” concepts taught in some American schools; think of the situation and system that resulted in the appalling treatment inflicted on the inmates of Abu-Ghraib prison in Bagdad; think of the situations and the systems that encouraged the illegal practice of  “rendition” – the CIA sending prisoners to countries that allow torture; think of the situations and systems that allowed the cruelty inflicted upon animals in abattoirs that has been captured on video in Australia, the Middle East and other countries; think of the situations and desperate conditions forced on “boat people” or so-called “queue jumpers” by Australian politicians who seem to be in competition to see who can inflict the harshest “punishment” for daring to try and reach Australia (the “lucky country”) by any means possible.

In these cases, without exception, the rhetoric, the propaganda, the “spin” promotes the notion that what is being said is “normal” (Jews are evil and all Muslims are extremists) and that any and all alternative views or interpretations are radical, wrong and “abnormal” (if you are not with us you are against us!). What is deliberately distorted and played upon in these situations is that we, that is all human beings, are “social animals” and need relationships. We all have an instinctive desire to be “included”; if we are included we are socially “rewarded” by the approval of those we are now included with; we feel “safe” because responsibility for our actions is now shared with others and is therefore no longer considered to be our individual responsibility – “I did nothing wrong. I was only obeying orders. I was just doing what I was told”. Sound familiar?

Such systems, such conditions, such environments subvert humanity, compassion and logical reasoning. They subvert the concept of “conscience”. They subvert the inclusive basis of all religions; they subvert the fact that all human beings are related by our very humanity. They subvert the fact that we are human and that our relatedness is conditional upon the creative or productive aspects of this relatedness - love. The “faculty” to love fulfils the vital condition of enabling us to retain our individual freedom while, at the same time, unites us with our fellow beings. Anything else is a travesty; anything else – which causes pain, anguish or diminishes another - is plain and simply wrong.

This is why, I suggest, the origins of the warped thinking that led to the recent appalling actions in Boston lie in the system, in the environment, in the conditions that the perpetrators – the two young men – grew up with or immersed themselves in while living in the USA. Also never forget the corrosive effect that injustice – actual or perceived – has on individuals. Racism, exclusion, bullying, derisive comments about a person’s apparent poverty or appearance or accent or lack of English language skills all have a deep and lasting effect on the victims and are not only unkind but are also unjust. People remember injustice long after the cause has (apparently) been resolved.

Never forget the “law” of cause and effect, of unintended consequences which will always apply in any situation. This is why, as has been stressed many times in these posts, there is no viable alternative to treating others the way you would like to be treated – being ethical at all times.

I will end with a quote from a speech by Frederick Douglas, on 24th anniversary of emancipation, Washington, DC 1886:
“ Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails and where one class is made to feel society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

It is always the system. 

Think about it.

Friday, April 26, 2013

WMD – not again please!



It is now alleged that the Syrian regime has used, or is using, poison gas (a Weapon of Mass Destruction) in the civil war raging in that unfortunate country. If this new allegation is based on the same level of intelligence gathering methods used for the previous (Iraqi) WMD claims I would not base too much faith in the conclusions!

The last WMD claims led to the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent ongoing catastrophe in that country. The presence of foreign “infidels” on Iraqi soil fanned the flames of anti-Americanism that was already present in that country and the Middle East generally. Syria will end up just the same.

While I believe that Bashar al-Assad is just as bad as his father was, this does not mean that I agree “the West” should interfere in the internal goings on in Syria. We are not (at least I am not) a Syrian or someone of Middle East extraction so I cannot know; I cannot feel; I cannot therefore have the understanding and the empathy for a country or a people that a Syrian would have. Nor, might I add, is the CIA or the American Defence Department Syrian in any shape or form.

When someone (or a country) interferes in the affairs of another the result of such interference can NEVER be foretold. When someone (or a country) interferes in the affairs of another based on faulty intelligence the problem will just be compounded. The American “neo-cons” were convinced that “the Iraqis” would be grateful for the invasion of that country and immediately adopt a “democratic” way of life. How wrong they were!

So now how to judge the accuracy and veracity of the current claims of the deployment of poison gas in Syria? I leave it up to you, dear reader, to make your own determination. But in my book the Syrians are no fools and can find solutions to their own problems – the CIA and other “do gooders” have no right to interfere. They will just make matters worse just as they did in South America; just as they did in Vietnam; just as they did in Iran; just as they did in Iraq; just as they are doing in Afghanistan.

Would the Americans like it if someone (or a country) tried interfere in the internal affairs of the USA. In the 9/11 twin tower attacks they did! And what was the American response? And what are the world-wide consequences of that response?

Is there a greater level of peace than there was before?

For the Love of God leave well alone!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Economists – a gloomy bunch



With the events of 2008 (the GFC) still reasonably fresh in our minds and the continuing demands by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for indebted countries to  reduce debt levels it is interesting to learn that IMF demands might have been based on faulty research. The latest information to hand seems to indicate that the “tipping point” of a country’s debt at 90% of GDP leading to negative growth is wrong. There may actually be a low level of economic growth at this figure – about 2% positive growth.

Also isn’t it counterintuitive to demand that Greece, Portugal and other “loser” countries introduce stringent cuts to Government budgets, increase taxation and reduce peoples wages and then to “expect” economic growth and early debt repayment? I mean, really, with lower wages Government income is reduced (even with increased taxation) and with lower income how can debt be repaid and with lower wages how can people afford to buy anything other than necessities?

So how can “growth” occur?

Henry Ford was about right when he said that people should be paid enough to buy what they make.