In the chaotic �West� it is often difficult to gain the
attention of the public, but one must be committed to trying due to the
severity of our current existential crisis.
We are psychotic as a society, we have become so dumb and
manipulable that we are truly being led towards digging our own graves and
smiling while working. We cannot go on like this. We cannot pretend that we are
a decent society with good intentions any longer. We are not! The �West� as a
civilization is corrupt and decrepit; �we� are not the bearers of morality in
the eyes of the �other� peoples. We are not an exemplary civilization which
people admire and adulate. We are too arrogant and ignorant to realize, that we
are seen by the �others� as the enemy, because �we� are.
As a collective of people, the �West� believes itself to be
the holder of the truth, the one which understands what is good for the world.
This �West� doesn�t exist however, it is a figment of our imagination, a
division which has been indoctrinated to make us feel we are superior. Through
�our� education systems, �our� media, �our� governments, �our� corporations,
�our� art. We are so indoctrinated in industrialized information societies,
that we regurgitate to each other the propaganda which is fed to us on a daily
basis. This situation must change, because we are collapsing and it can only be
reversed by the collective strength of the whole population. Otherwise we will
be bombed out of our homes by those we so love to call terrorists. They are
terrorists, but terror is what �we� are bringing to their lands and their
homes, and that is why they are terrorizing �us.�
As peoples in industrialized information societies, we are
looking at the world like a big videogame in which we can solve everyone�s
problems because we are civilized. We are not! We have huge internal problems.
Inside �our� walls, big CEO�s are earning $400 million for their exploits in
the oil of other countries, while illegal immigrants are scrambling for work
inside �our� factories. We have millions of people loosing their homes, while
banks are being saved thanks to our taxes. If inside our walls, we are leaving
our own people behind, we are watching our neighbors lose their jobs and doing
little to help them, how can we expect those outside of our walls to trust us
when we tell them we are going to help them?
How can we expect the evil military dictatorship of Myanmar
to feel comfortable accepting our help? After all, the last time Cuba offered
Americans help with Katrina, their help was rejected and the �world� accepted
it as normal. Normal, while American people where dying and there were not
enough professional hands to help. We in the industrialized information society
believe that while �they� have evil dictators, �we� have benevolent democratic
institutions which are the choice of the people. But we are blinding ourselves
from the reality which we are blatantly living. Our democratic institutions are
in the hands of very powerful organizations, our corporations are not ours,
they belong to very powerful groups. Our legal system is built to defend those
interests, and the media are one of their many propaganda tools. Even our
churches are infested with blood money, yet many go to church to feel good
about themselves.
How can Christians for example feel good, when they see the
cross-blessing Western soldiers going to kill in Iraq? We have destroyed that
country; we should all be confessing our guilt, not blessing our soldiers. The
biggest blessing those innocent young �killing machines� could have is to be
brought back to their land, with all their limbs in place, and given some
therapy. They need it after having been manipulated into committing such
terrible crimes against the people of Iraq.
How can we honestly believe that while our governments have
done such a horrible thing in Iraq, their intentions are good everywhere else?
But that is a very difficult question to ask oneself and, therefore, only the
bravest make the effort. The answer is not a pleasant one. In the
industrialized information society, we should all go to bed tonight trying hard
to see our own reality. We must understand that we are the oppressors holding
the rest of the world hostage in order to maintain our power.
In Iraq last week our media announced that while the whole
country is in ruins, a Disney-like amusement park will be built adjacent to the
Green Zone, and nobody reacted. After the Tsunami in 2004, five-star beachfront
resorts for the rich were raised where once laid the foundations of fishermen
homes, nobody reacted then. Yet, we do react when Myanmar rejects our help. I
would reject it, looking ahead at the consequences for the country.
In the industrialized information society we only have two
ways of offering to help. Either we come with the barrel of the gun backed by
fake diplomacy, destroying countries to borrow their resources or we send our
NGOs to help and then our companies follow for the reconstruction, building
factories and offices for our companies, resorts for the rich, and retirement
homes for the old. Either way, the locals always end up working for us. I have
seen it with my own eyes, I do not need the television to tell me.
Once in Laos, I saw a group of fat rich and ugly European
NGO directors getting drunk inside a posh restaurant, discussing the future
development of that country. In the meantime, the local chauffer waited outside
for hours in his impeccable white uniform with white gloves, in an impeccably clean
white luxury 4x4. That pretty much defines, through my own experience, the way
we like to go around the world helping. It is sad but it is very true.
I understand why the Myanmar government is rejecting our
help. This doesn�t mean that I agree with dictatorships, it just means that we
should look at our own belly before observing that of our neighbor�s. People in
Haiti or Gaza a few weeks ago, or today would welcome the help we are willing
to offer Myanmar. Give it to them, after all there are so many to help in the
world, that we shouldn�t be making politicized media events out of the misery
of others.
Pablo
Ouziel is an activist and a freelance writer based in Spain. His work has
appeared in many progressive media, including Online Journal, Znet, Palestine
Chronicle, Thomas Paine�s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.