WWII A Nazi propaganda poster. In English: “Marxism is the guardian angel of capitalism.” his file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Dontworryifixedit.
by Ian Hansen, PhD
Pointless
War #3: The War on “Bourgeois” Liberty and Democracy
Finally,
consider liberty-protecting electoral democracy. Over in these “Western” parts we adore liberty-protecting
electoral democracy, of course. But
other world players have considered it so evil that Der Fuhrers, Dear Leaders,
Big Brothers, Generalissimos, Chairmans and Commandantes have all felt obliged to
smash and destroy it with totalitarian enslavement, sometimes garnished with
genocide. Though their methods may have
seemed harsh, these figures imagined they were merely breaking the eggs
necessary to make beautiful, radiant omelets, like, say a thousand-year Reich
of Righteousness from the fascist/Nazi side, or True Democracy from
the totalitarian communist side (“democracy” embodied in obsequious
groveling obedience to The Party). In the totalitarian view, legally-protected
liberty and the electoral-parliamentary forms of democracy were the eggs that had
to be smashed in order to prevent them from poisoning people’s minds away from
these utopian projects. Totalitarians
feared that “Western”-style individual liberty and electoral parliamentary
democracy would turn the precious volk
into capitalists, selfish individualists, bourgeois liberals and rejectors of
civilization and sublimity.
But
Kerala defies both forms of totalitarian genocidal expectations by being a liberty-protecting,
parliamentary democratic kind of place where communism flourishes politically
and religion flourishes culturally.
Kerala has hammer
and sickle flags flying all over.
It also bills itself as “God’s own country,” with
ordinary people praying, God-believing and religious service-attending as far
as the eye can see. So liberty-protecting
electoral democracy in Kerala did not destroy either communism or religion
there, as totalitarian genocidals might have imagined it would.
And,
for that matter, declining to destroy communism and religion did not lead to
the implosion of liberty and democracy in Kerala, as anti-communists and
anti-religionists might have imagined it would. If anything, bourgeois
“Western” electoral parliamentary democracy and individual liberty have grown
stronger in Kerala over the years. And
they’ve been growing in a fertile soil that combines regularly-elected communism
with indigenous or indigenized Indian
religions.
In
another article, “Reconsidering
Communism, Religion and Liberty-Protecting Democracy Through the Lens of Kerala” I
present detailed empirical evidence that Kerala is a delightfully free and
peaceful communism-inclined state, a delightfully free and peaceful
religion-inclined culture, and a delightfully free and peaceful
liberty-protecting democratic political entity.
I nevertheless argue that in none of these particulars is Kerala an
“exception that proves the rule,” at least not in the usual sense of the
phrase. Kerala is not, in other words, a
bright spot for X (X being communism, or religion, or liberty-protecting
democracy) that just throws into sharper relief how repulsively evil X usually
is by nature.
When
avoiding post-hoc-ergo-propter-hoc
fallacies and other failures to account for confounds, the
relevant empirical data points in a surprising direction. The data suggests that communism, religion
and liberty-protecting electoral democracy are all somewhat salutary to peace
and freedom and thus are compatible with each other in their most basic,
stripped down, core value-grounded forms.
Want to spend another half hour wading through my prose so you can see
that data? Read
the article here, and don’t forget to click the links.
Sometimes there’s more to see than what first meets the eye. Kathie MM, 2019
by Kathie MM
I have just published a richly detailed comment from LB, a frequent and valued contributor to the Engaging Peace [EP] comment section. She is concerned that a major subtext of EP posts is a subtle but deliberate promotion of the Democratic Party rather than “the perceived higher value of peace, social justice, and moral engagement.” Horrors!!! If LB has reached this conclusion after years of reading EP, others must have done so as well. So today I am publishing my reply to LB (and all others) as a full post. Please read her comment first ,
LB, the purpose of Engaging Peace is precisely the promotion of the higher values of peace and social justice, which I think requires moral engagement. I am horrified that you would reduce our efforts to trying to help elect Democrats. Aaaaack!
The motto for Engaging Peace is “From study to action,” which is shorthand for “From research and ethical considerations to activism on behalf of peace, social justice, and human rights.” We believe that despite the creation of vast destructive technologies threatening life on the planet today, not all science is evil, not all research is evil, and not all progress is evil. Some of what researchers have achieved can benefit all of humanity and not just the privileged classes. Such benefits can come not just from developing remarkable medical interventions and preventions to fight pain, disability, and premature, agonizing deaths, but also from recognizing and promoting the benefits and wisdom of behaving humanely with each other.
A genuine democracy, as conceived by those of us who believe in universal peace, social justice, and respect for human rights, seems like the political system with the most potential currently for the greatest good for the greatest number. However, in this country and most others throughout history, people have failed to achieve genuine democracies; mostly, let’s face it, the “democracies” primarily have served particular groups of privileged men.
Right now, our “democracy” seems pretty much a mess, a mess that is sliding rapidly into another brutal fascism. I think hand-wringing and opting out of any active effort to find ways to join with others to resist that slide is not a path to greater peace and social justice, and certainly does nothing to foster human rights.
From its beginning in 2010, EP has promoted engagement—engagement through demonstrations, resistance, protests, petitions, and yes, even through looking for and supporting like-thinking, peace-seeking individuals willing to engage in an imperfect political process to the point of seeking office. Such people are not totally nonexistent–and are not necessarily either Republican or Democrat.
To promote peace and justice and human rights, EP has spoken out on behalf of replacing a corrupt two-party system with a genuinely multiparty political system, and ending the Electoral College, which is a serious impediment to true democracy. In the past (hold onto your hat!), I have on occasion voted for and/or otherwise supported Republicans who I viewed as people of principle and integrity and not just mouthpieces of the military-industrial complex,. Today, it seems to me, most politicians of both parties serve the military-industrial complex and the power elite; however, I also see some advocates of resistance and positive social change emerging. How will they be able to fight the “old boys” (female as well as male) without support? How will things get better without active participation in any efforts undertaken to reform our system, however daunting that effort is.
I find fault with most members of both political parties because they have contributed to getting us into the mess we’re in. (I was enraged at the way the Democratic National Committee rigged the last primary.) I think it’s tragic that sometimes the only alternatives to truly horrendous political candidates are either the lesser of two evils or an opting out of what may be the last best chance for trying to make things better. Call me a naïve, cockeyed optimist trying to feel good about myself if you want, but please don’t assume my real goal, or the goal at EP, is the promotion of the Democratic Party.
Truly, you are correct that you and I share a general horror at the ruthlessness and corruption of the political system ruling our country (and most others in the world today), but that system is not what I call democracy and is not the democracy we are fighting for at EP. In my view, you and I are part of the same sisterhood with the same ideals, even if we have very different ideas about how to promote those ideals.
P.S. I was crazy about my biological sister, as she was about me, but we sure had a lot of differences between us in how we approached life.
The Falling Gladiator.Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
by Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D.
He wanted desperately To roar in laughter, Hold his sides Gasp for breath, Experience glee, Know sheer hilarity! But all manners of pleasure, All moments of happiness, Eluded him! His mind was sealed by trauma! He knew loss! He lived pain! He witnessed horror! He experienced terror! He suffered misery! Lifetime imprints!
He wondered: How could others abandon control? Escape past, feel joy? He looked at them: bewildered: How? Why?
No answers but “destiny” came! He recalled Verdi’s opera: La forza del destino! Aria: Morir! Tremenda cosa! (“To die, a momentous thing!”) He knew death: seen it, smelled it, touched it!
II. Exuberance . . . impossible! He was confined to slight smiles, An occasional toss of the head, “Sniffs of the nose!” No intentional mirth. Somberness! Laughter with cynicism! “What do you know?” Do you know what I have seen? Momentary pleasures: Painting with oils, Carving wood, Sculpting clay! Crafting a delicate rosewood mandolin! Making guitars with no training. An artist absent agony, Passing quickly!
Amusement! Sinful! Disrespectful! Insulting! Demeaning, Do they not know? Have they not seen?
He forced a grin For sake of others, Nodding! Unspoken acknowledgement! Others tried to please him! A good meal! A good cigarette! What do you need Stefano?”
Dark humor was worse! A meeting place for pain and pleasure! No Schadenfreud for him, No satisfaction from someone’s pain. Who benefits from suffering?
Empathy, sympathy, sorrow! These he knew well, He lived amidst them! Images returning with ease, Overwhelming him! No satisfaction in revenge, No consolation!
He tried to survive! Sought refuge in a new land! It was impossible! Lived experience sealed his fate, No changes with time or place. Torment omnipresent! Inscribed, carved, painted, In body and mind!
His life caught in time: Fixed in an artist’s fragile imagination, Sensations crying for release, Redemption from sorrow’s grip! War, poverty, hunger, Starvation, poverty, death, Demons!
III. He walked: From Torino to Messina — 1943: 1381 kilometers by air! 2000 kilometers on swollen feet! Avoiding roads, German troops!
He pondered: War over for Italian soldiers, Partisans fighting! Germans contemptuous! Firing squads! Sites before him engraved! Life intaglios!
He walked: Rome spared, Even Nazi Generals understood: “Do not destroy eternity.” Destroy only human lives! They are expendable For grand designs!
He walked: Before him destruction, deprivation, Disgrace, dishonor! Open-mouth corpses, Sagging buildings, Dust in every breath Children begging, Women – young and old – Offering emaciated bodies, Lira! Lira!
He walked: With each step, Memories! Soldier! King Victor Emmanuel’s Italian Army! Spain, Libya, Italy!
He walked
Sopportare! Bear the unbearable! Smirk! Hell is life! Life is hell! Fire and brimstone! No escape! No sanctuary!
He walked: Is this what Dante understood? Where is Beatrice? How prophetic: “Inferno!” Poetic words from Petrarch, Paintings from Leonardo! Sculptures from Michelangelo! Carvings from Cellini!
He Walked: Preoccupations! What matters beauty? What matters heritage? What matters time, If time can be erased in moments.
Chest-thumping dictator in balconies, “Better one day as a lion, Than a lifetime as a lamb!” Ancient Rome restored. Metaphors? Meaningless!
IV.
He welcomed death!
Not for a glorious cause,
But to flee life!
His thoughts went beyond impulse:
He considered place, means, time!
Somber detachment essential!
He went to confession:
Begged for forgiveness,
From God,
From priests,
From self!
Why was he begging?
Priests!
Agents of god . . .
Why does god need agents?
Whose side are priests on?
Priests share confessions with bishops,
Bishops share with Vatican,
Vatican stores secrets for posterity!
Know the truth!
Hide the truth!
Vows cast aside!
Betrayal!
V. Spanish Civil War: Two years, 8 months, 1 day: A lifetime of scars! Barcelona, Madrid, Guernica: An enduring legacy!
Prelude to WWII!
Cold-War harbinger!
Middle-East omen!
Ideologies, prophecies, grand designs!
Global military-industrial-banker complexes,
Vultures feasting on death and destruction!
New nations, faces, places,
Old wine in new bottles!
New wine in old bottles!
Factions: Republicans! Popular Front! Stalinists! Communists! Unionists! Socialists! Latvian, Polish, Czech, Garibaldi, Soviet brigades! Most volunteers, Jewish idealists! Lincoln Brigade! Hemingway! Did he grasp for whom bells toll?
Nationalists! Monarchists! Dictators! Franco! Carlists! Fascists! Falangists! Catholicism at stake . . . in new ways! Opus Dei! A rebirth! Godless communists! Jews seeking revenge!
Statistics! Maps! Reports! Dead, wounded, MIA, Symbols, songs, words: INTERNATIONALE: Stand up! All victims of oppression, For tyrants fear your might, Don’t cling to your possessions, For you have nothing, If you have no rights!
Hail, People of heroes! Hail, Immortal Fatherland, Your sons were born again With faith and ideals! Warrior values! Youth, youth! In the hardship of life!
Realities. . . Idealism in an age of want! Nobility in failure! Romanticized war posters! Dying for country! Blood sacrifices!
Republican brigades in Red Bandanas!
Men . . . women . . . youth!
Standing nearby:
Staring, spitting,
Contempt-filled faces,
No tears!
Loyalists taking notes!
Spread the new Gospel of the Age . . . Communism!
How glorious to die for cause!
Do not hesitate!
Our cause is just!
(USA supported Franco silently:
“Fear of Communism!
No profit! No Investments!
Better dead than Red!”
It never ended!)
Bodies: Headless, limbless, blood-soaked!
Priests, nuns, altar boys . . . shot!
Churches filled with people praying!
Youth, women, old men!
Burned alive!
Statues shattered!
Myths broken!
Loyalists:
You want freedom?
You want equality?
We give you equality,
But for a price!
Your life!
The Artist in Agony: Confess! Reality blurred! Unsure! Confess for imagined sins! Confess for sins of others! Confess for being alive! Unable to remember! “Father, Forgive them . . . !” Forgiveness . . . for what?
Confess . . . What? For failing to shoot prisoners! For refusing orders! For witnessing firing squads! For offering water to a dying woman, Blood-saturated blouse, Blue eyes, blonde hair, Conscripted for cause! “Gracias, Senor!” Dying in your arms!
Confess . . . What? Madness on all sides Massacred nuns, priests in black, Fascist soldiers in brown and grey! Jewish zealots avenging history, Still fighting Rome! Religious fanatics, Loyalists, Protecting God, Mary, Saints, Statues, candles, incense, mea culpa!
Confess…What?
For living! For turning from torture, For wanting to breathe air free of dust and blood, For chewing stale bread, When bread no longer mattered; For quenching thirst, With mud-slaked water!
Confess…What?
Confess . . . What? Once my Stepfather told me: “Hunger does not know bad bread! Fame no conosce pani malo. Manga!”
“Finish your food! Mama worked hard to cook it. I worked hard to place it on the table.” I nodded in agreement: “Si Padre!” He was right! How could I know sources of his words?
VI.
His mind began crumbling,
Years before,
An absence of hope!
Can tapestry be weaved
From broken strands, fibers . . . burned embers?
In his life: Mother lost to war, Sister to disease, Father to work, Home to bombs!
Brother, Prisoner-of-War: Insults and humiliation, Barbed-wire fences, British guards pointing rifles, Eager to shoot, Taunting, mocking, insulting, Daring prisoners to run, For rifle practice!
Post-War Italy:
Chaos! Confusion! Deceit! Betrayal! Communists, Fascists, Socialists, Anarchy! Fifty governments in ten years!
American CIA, Italian elites, Vatican, bankers:
Communism must be stopped in Italy,
At any cost! Blood in the streets!
Assassinations, beatings, torture, prison!
Choose sides! Choose cronyism! Choose evil!
Escape to America!
He wrote to his brother;
He came to America!
His new land, not what he expected,
Not what he needed,
Not what he wanted,
No respite offered!
Poverty!
No opportunity!
America: Illusion!
His hopes failing!
Every word an offense!
Every day a burden!
His wife and son . . . kind and caring;
He needed more!
Escape from past, Freedom from present! Renewal! Return to place! Comfort in old habits, reflexes, routines?
VII
I once saw him laugh . . . uninhibited, Unrestrained! Almost hysterical Vino et veritas! I welcomed his joy! It never returned!
He was slightly inebriated,
Too much wine!
In our house
A dinner party, a small gathering,
My European friends!
He told a story of a night in Barcelona,
As a soldier in King Emanuel’s army,
Amid the horror of Civil War!
He was drunk – Spanish wine!
He was unable to walk!
To demonstrate,
He rose from his chair,
Got on hands and knees!
Mimicked crawling back to camp!
Saluting gate guards from a prone position!
He laughed hilariously!
All reserve gone.
How wonderful to see his laughter!
My guests laughed less!
They were from Eastern Europe,
Family members served
In Stalin’s Communist Brigades in Spain!
Relatives lived in Post-War Italy.
No word spoken!
Glances sufficient!
He did not notice!
I did!
Endless vengeance!
What does one do? When suffering is daily fare? Trauma sealed in mind, muscle, bone, Images, sounds, smells! Puncturing soul! No respite! Again and, again! Freud knew: Repetition-compulsion!
Distance, detachment, somberness!
Energy absent! Frivolity foolish! Happiness elusive! Life questioned! No escape! An artist in agony!
Meditation . . . In the years following WWII, the USA Government was obsessed with stopping the spread of communism Greece and Italy. The CIA invested billions of dollars in Operation Gladio, authorizing any method to halt Communist and Socialist rise to power. More than 50,000 Italians were assassinated, murdered, or killed in open protests. Many were arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. There was total social and political upheaval and chaos. Scores of governments were formed and collapsed. As in years before WWII, Italians fought against Italians. A government, favoring ties to the USA was sought, imposed, required. CIA efforts won. Italy became a puppet state for USA military forces. I do not know my step-father’s experiences during this post-war period. He spoke little of them. He also spoke little of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. He was a soldier in King Victor Emanuel’s Italian Army, a different army from Mussolini’s Fascist Black Shirts. For many, however, there were no differences! He painted scores of oil paintings, giving almost all of them away as gifts. He sculpted with clay and plaster; no one in America wanted statues of saints. He also carved wood, turning wood scaps on a lathe he made from an old motor, automobile engine belts, and rusted iron, sanded and oiled to look new. He was a creative genius, a mechanical whiz, and an artist across mediums. My step-father, Stefano, died in my arms at home at age 66. In the days before his death, he said to me: “The great tragedy of life is so few people have an opportunity to develop their talents.” He knew the agony!
Footnote 1: This poem was originally written in 2014 and published in Anthony J. Marsella (2016): Gatherings: A Collection of Writing Genre. Mountain View Press: Alpharetta, Georgia. ISBN: 978-163183-023-5 Amazon Books.com Some changes have been made in the original, but no changes in the intent and purpose: to honor respect, courage, and endurance in my step-father’s life.
All over the world, we are seeing the rise of authoritarianism that is rejecting the norms of democracy, freedom of the press and individual rights. In many countries, we are seeing leaders using political position for personal gain and watching the deliberate instigation of bigotry and intolerance toward the “other”. We are witnessing the undermining and imprisonment of public officials, opposition leaders and journalists. Russia, China, Hungary, Brazil and Saudi Arabia are only a few of the countries moving in this direction.
Most of us who live in democracies believe “it cannot happen here”. But, for many of us in America, it has been stunning to see how quickly President Trump and his administration are shattering the cultural norms of the world’s oldest and most powerful democracy.
All of this is not happening by accident. European and American right-wing factions are in close contact with each other, share tactics and goals, and are organised, led and sometimes even funded by some of the same people.
Democracies, such as ours, that assert equal protection under the law and government accountability to its citizens are foundational to a healthy and humane society, must comprehend the scope of the ultra-conservative movement if we are to effectively confront it.
These organised groups are actively tearing down a post-second World War global order and replacing it with autocratic leadership based on self-interest. Unfortunately, the establishment is defending the existing order and ignoring the fears and insecurities of the people that this outmoded status quo has wrought.
Neither is conducive to a positive future, as neither will provide what so many are asking for: simply put, a decent quality of life. If we are to prevail, we must clearly articulate a vision of shared prosperity, personal freedom, economic fairness and, most importantly, human dignity – the basic tenets of a vital democracy.
That means creating policies that effectively tackle economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues. We must not be satisfied with incremental, transactional change that makes little progress and carefully avoids affecting those in charge or offending their lobbyists and large donors.
We must fight for transformational change that shifts the balance of power back to ordinary citizens and makes a real difference in their lives. The United States and Ireland have each had recent successes in terms of individual rights and economic justice.
These victories were hard won by people standing up and fighting back together – the only way real change ever takes place. We need to build on these successes and expand our partnerships on both a local and global basis.
The issue of war and peace is central to this fight for democracy. The United States has long used “democracy” as a reason to wage regime-change wars which have resulted in serious “unforeseen” consequences – whether it was overthrowing Mosaddegh in Iran, Allende in Chile, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, or a whole range of clandestine operations, interventions all over the world.
Many of these military actions might not have taken place if the public had been educated about the issues, if those with different ideas and foresight had not been marginalised, if there had been a civil debate of ideas rather than a group-think acquiescence.
I’m an educator. And I believe democracy depends upon an educated populace. Some of the important elements of education – inclusive with respect to human rights, accessible regardless of economic status, and essential in preparation for global citizenship – are also some of the most important aspects of a strong democracy.
Recognition that public funding for pre-school through university is not only an investment in the individual, but an investment in the future of the country, could shift the spending priorities of a nation while enhancing democratic values.
As we prepare our teachers, doctors, childcare workers, economists, lawyers and other professions for their chosen careers, we should also educate them for democracy. Perhaps we could learn from the Native American culture and cultivate a practice for our students – and our policymakers – of determining how today’s decisions will affect the next seven generations, impact the environment, and influence the growth and development of our children. Perhaps the media could assist by offering broader perspectives and fostering more debate on the facts, ethics and morality of particular stances regarding the economy, income inequality, budget policy and democratic principles in general.
In our schools and colleges, we need to put greater emphasis on economists working with students on global inequality and poverty. We need more scientists exploring the root causes of the planetary climate crisis and the necessity of sustainable development and renewable energies. We need greater focus in teacher-education programs on sharing the latest neuroscience discoveries and considering their implications for nurturing curiosity, creativity and confidence and cultivating a thirst for lifelong learning.
“We need to set the bar higher for our elected officials, candidates, the media and ourselves…”
A consistent interdisciplinary approach could bring students in various fields together to work collaboratively, in teams, in respectful civil discourse. And, since we’re discussing democracy, there could be discussions about why policies that are best for the largest number of people, fairer for all, are – or are not – adopted in our nation’s capitals. Perhaps we could incorporate real-world case studies that review policies and actions not just from a what happened perspective, but why, what were the results, and how could we have done better?
Educating for global citizenship requires the ability to think critically, write clearly and communicate effectively. It requires media literacy and analysis. It requires an understanding of sustainable development, and the ability to identify and research complex issues. And it requires ethical behaviour.
Which brings me to our current electoral process. In today’s politics, the conventional wisdom is that it is no longer enough to defeat your opponent in a contest of ideas. According to the omnipresent highly paid consultants, the politics of today requires you to destroy them.
Negative television ads and mailings, paid for by special interests and large donors, bombard voters with reasons not to vote for this one or that one. The result is, they often decide not to vote – at all. We need to get money out of politics and, in the meantime, we need to not listen when money speaks. Don’t believe the negative messages. Demand that candidates give reasons to vote for them, not against their opponents.
In terms of civil discourse, we need to set the bar higher for our elected officials, candidates, the media and ourselves. We need to voice our opposition when we see the harsh, divisive and partisan rhetoric or the politics of personal destruction at work – regardless of whether we support or oppose the speaker or the target.
We can ask, and ask, and ask again that they all actively resist this coarsening of our culture whenever they observe it. We can let the candidates and the media know that we expect in-depth questions and answers about issues that affect our lives and that we expect them to engage in issue-oriented civil debate.
Published on Tuesday, October 09, 2018 by The Irish Times. Republished in Common Dreams, Tuesday, October 09, 2018.
