The madness of humanity
Shock and awe. That's the only way one can describe what has transpired in Mumbai in the past 48 hours. The mayhem unfolding before the world's eyes there in Mumbai and other places like Palestine and Congo just goes to show that humans, driven by some form of ideology, can destroy lives and bring the world to a standstill in a matter of seconds.
There are only two popular movements behind the attacks in Mumbai: politics and religion. The effectiveness of the kind of lunacy, both in the greed and corruption of politics and the harebrained ideologies of religion (any religion), has been proven over the centuries. Among these, religion alone, by way of its deeply rooted interest in politics that span continents and transcend race, sex and age, is by far the most destructive and evil psychological tool in the world.
Want a little oil from that country? Add a bit of religion. Want that piece of land to yourself? Add a pinch of religion to spice things up.
George W. Bush has described his war on the Iraqi people's sovereignty as a holy crusade and killed more Iraqis than the total number of people killed in Sadam's two decades of rule. Shia and Sunnis go at each others throats, decapitating and slaying, as if it is Eid and Ashura everyday. Israeli snipers target practice on innocent Palestinian children and women. Hamas militiamen kill Fatah supporters as if there isn't enough killing already going on in the struggle against occupation by Israel. Pockets of self-described Muslim terrorists everywhere go about senselessly killing innocent people using bombs or, as we are seeing today in Mumbai, indiscriminately using firearms and hand grenades. Hindu extremists butcher Muslim neighbours with rage burning in their eyes. Muslims return the favor.
In all these situations, when you extricate the mundane diplomacy and the political rhetoric what are we left with? Yes, religion. It has the power to fuel racial tensions. It has the power to inject pure raging hatred towards others of differing faiths. It has the power and all the features required for it to be exploited as a social tool to control the masses to the advantage of a few.
But religion alone could not bring out the killer in otherwise normal people. For people to become really violent religion works best with other social dividers. Hardship, poverty, social class systems, modern day slavery and discrimination based on social hierarchy, all these contribute to the global problem. And behind the scenes in all this injustice is the monetary system, the money supply and the so-called economy that ensures the poor remain poor, in debt, ignorant and uneducated forever while the rich few become insanely rich. Globalization exploits religion and religion exploits globalization. They make for strange bedfellows.
But beyond all this there still remains, standing fervently, the seemingly superior ideologies of religion. For when men go on a killing rampage or blow themselves up to bits, beyond the thoughts of suffering brothers and sisters there is the promise of a life in Heaven. The promise of this Heaven awaiting those who fight and die for their ideology is a powerful one. Heaven is hell on earth.
My thoughts are today are not just with the victims of terrorism in Mumbai but all those innocent men, women and especially children caught in the line of fire the world over. Every one of them is a victim of the conflict between competing ideologies and global greed.
Over the centuries humanity has plunged deeper into this madness.
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anon | November 29, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply
"For people to become really violent religion works best with other social dividers. Hardship, poverty, social class systems, modern day slavery and discrimination based on social hierarchy, all these contribute to the global problem. And behind the scenes in all this injustice is the monetary system, the money supply and the so-called economy that ensures the poor remain poor, in debt, ignorant and uneducated forever while the rich few become insanely rich."
"Every one of them is a victim of the conflict between competing ideologies and global greed. "
Well, we haven't failed you completely old man of the bogosphere...
Let us not be too hasty in pointing blame at Moslem terrorist just yet... Do not make the mistake of assuming Governments/Nationalism is incapable of the kind of terror that religion based ideologies are of.
State Intelligence apparatuses, paramilitary forces, Black-ops elements- the unseen face of 'national' security assets in India are no less vile and incapable of reigning down terror on their own populations than the Pakistani ISI; Hindu Nationalism/ fanaticism in India gives new definition to the terms inhuman and terror... all too familiar and at the same time sad is the typical manner in which the international media has failed to bring to the limelight the unique culture of atrocities Hindu Nationalism and it's orthodox doctrines and the way it has subjected much of it's population to untold horrors- esp the minority groups, women, children and caste based discrimination, particularly the case of adhivasi's and the untouchables.... female infanticide, EXTREME violence against women by men, local panchayat tribunals (the persecution of women for being "witches" is a particularly chilling example), by the in laws of their husbands (failure to pay dowry, which is banned in the constitution and even in hindu doctrine!- has resulted in wives been torched alive by in in laws)......... Global Justice has such a soft spot for Moslem atrocities, and in this atmosphere of complacency State Violence, Violence against women and children, against the defenseless and the poor, the exploitation of both groups for sexual and labor purposes proliferates everywhere from Eastern europe, the Caucasus, Africa, Haiti(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7750568.stm), China to india..... obviously one would not see the crusaders of democracy beckoning on the door steps of these nations.
Such terms as freedom, peace and justice emanating from within the innards of these fork tongued exploiters of the 3rd world, that we call as industrialized nations is therefore nauseating beyond description... the Congo, Niger delta are perfect examples of the reach of western governments and corporations in their conquests of plunder... Africa and the Middle East remains the greatest sources of natural & even human wealth (the african brain drain amounts to the efflux of 70,000 graduates to the west), with the exception of that part of the continent that falls under the Russian federation, and so it is no surprise that all only too convenient that they remain the most volatile regions on the planet. What is not obvious is what Thomas Friedman calls the "hidden hand of the market", and the money trail(and the blood) that tracks to the pristine nerve centers of western economy.
For any person who spends even the minimum amount of time documenting for himself the level of injustice and 'terror' being inflicted on human populations by Governments- Directly and indirectly, driven by Greed, power and even God (and this far outweighs that wrought on by non state elements), it is enough to keep them awake for nights on end;....
Every act of individual terror or organized mayhem against State apparatuses is an indictment of the latter, and it requires one to have quite the acumen (or the attention span needed to divert oneself from Hollywood or cable tv long enough) to come to this realization.... the data for example, on the state of Moslems in india, the violence wrecked on by Indian security forces in Occupied Kashmir against Civilian populations (terror is a mean of control for State apparitions as well!) is ample... It is no surprise that the government of greater India and by default it's 'sleeping population' is periodically having to feel the backlash from the human suffering resulting from therein....
State Intelligence apparatuses have been proven in many instances to have been complacent to and even party to attempts by external or non-state elements to generate terror in home soil, so called false flag acts... these have strategic, long term, geopolitical agenda's depending on the State or the politie involved.... there is an acceptable level of collateral, even among their own 'kind', that a State seems willing to endure for the sake of achieving long term objectives and goals.... so yes, religion is both the ideology prima dona as well as the ideal tool for both State and non-state elements in their quest for land, resources, power and justice respectively.
some example of how the biggest "democracy" in the world is faring-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7738259.stm
An INITIAL analysis that goes beyond the usual terror rhetoric-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7753603.stm
I'll stop here before I go mad again
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2008/War-Roots-Bhagwat10mar08.htm
jamee | November 29, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply
agree with you. the common man is the pawn to be used and abused in the war of capitalism.
even we have been duped by current president. his priority seems to be strenthen the clutes of few business men controlling our economy 1000% and give us a raw deal.
wud appreciate if you write a piece on 50 year resort lease
Altec Lansing | November 29, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply
For the first time in a long while you have written an unbiased article. Congratulations on that.
The barbaric conspirators behind the Mumbai attacks should be brought to justice and punished accordingly.
Idea | November 29, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply
Dude...add a digg button to your site..
You need focusocus