» Strange visual Phenomenon in the north
Posted December 9, 2009. By duke_Qa
seen this morning around 0750 over the north and middle parts of Norway.
Here's a picture done with long exposure time, so its a bit bigger than what you see on the videos below, but very eerie.
streaming video 1
streaming video 2
the Astronomers have as of yet confirmed that they don't know what it is, because it sure as hell ain't Aurora Borealis. They suspect that it could be a Russian missile(spinning out of control, but that could be planned), but usually Russia warns us before they launch missiles, and no other launching facilities in the vicinity had anything planned.
The ironic thing is that if it is a Russian missile, you just can't help but find the timing with president Obama coming here tomorrow impeccable
If its not, then i claim it to be a portal to another dimension opening for a short while
28 Comments
seen this morning around 0750 over the north and middle parts of Norway.
Here's a picture done with long exposure time, so its a bit bigger than what you see on the videos below, but very eerie.
streaming video 1
streaming video 2
the Astronomers have as of yet confirmed that they don't know what it is, because it sure as hell ain't Aurora Borealis. They suspect that it could be a Russian missile(spinning out of control, but that could be planned), but usually Russia warns us before they launch missiles, and no other launching facilities in the vicinity had anything planned.
The ironic thing is that if it is a Russian missile, you just can't help but find the timing with president Obama coming here tomorrow impeccable
If its not, then i claim it to be a portal to another dimension opening for a short while
28 Comments
» National Health Reform USA
Posted August 15, 2009. By duke_Qa
I've been observing the noise around the new Health Reform in the USA. For what it's worth, I'm glad that we finally get to see some conservatives demonstrate. It makes for much more interesting situations than with more liberal-minded demonstrations. And it also seems that they are much likely to shoot someone in the foot, their own or their opponents.
US Healthcare reforms cause outrage and fears of a `socialist state` -TimesOnline
US TV focused on Health Anger -BBC
Obama keeps heat on insurance firms -Reuters
So, think that should be enough of an info-dump for now.
Personally i believe that Obama will be able to force through this, but it might get nasty before it gets better. Who knows what the healthcare-business in the US might do to keep their hard-earned money flowing in.
3 Comments
I've been observing the noise around the new Health Reform in the USA. For what it's worth, I'm glad that we finally get to see some conservatives demonstrate. It makes for much more interesting situations than with more liberal-minded demonstrations. And it also seems that they are much likely to shoot someone in the foot, their own or their opponents.
US Healthcare reforms cause outrage and fears of a `socialist state` -TimesOnline
Asked what will happen if the system is not reformed, Mr Specter says bluntly: “The alternative is absolute disaster.” Several protesters storm out in disgust, shouting insults.Mr Specter acknowledges that Mr Obama may be going too far, too fast. “Change is awesome. Change brings uncertainty. I think a lot of people are afraid,” he says.
US TV focused on Health Anger -BBC
"I was glad to see that people were there not to shout, they were there to listen and to ask questions. That reflects America a lot more than what we've seen covered on television for the last few days."
Mr Obama has said that he wants to pass a healthcare reform bill before the end of the year.
Some 47 million people in America currently do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit.
Obama keeps heat on insurance firms -Reuters
BIG SKY, Montana (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday U.S. healthcare worked better for insurance companies than for patients, as he pressed his case for a major overhaul that critics say is too expensive.
Obama, who is in the middle of a multi-state tour to promote his healthcare policies, also accused "special interests" of misleading Americans about aspects of the reform bills making their way through Congress.
So, think that should be enough of an info-dump for now.
Personally i believe that Obama will be able to force through this, but it might get nasty before it gets better. Who knows what the healthcare-business in the US might do to keep their hard-earned money flowing in.
3 Comments
» the Iranian internet revolution?
Posted June 19, 2009. By duke_Qa
As most of us should know, many Iranians have been pushed to far and have soon been demonstrating for a full week.
Today the Ayatolla had a speech where he basically said "politicians under me should follow my rules and toe the line, or I'll arrest you or worse, if i can get my hands on you before you bail" to the higher-ups. to the grassroot he said; "any more demonstrations now might cause problems that are entirely their own fault", thus warning both the demonstrators and his revolutionary guard and the voluntary branch the Basij: it's ON
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle6539412.ece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Iranian_election_protests
If we get a hell of a turnout tomorrow(2-4mill), and if a large amount of demonstrators gets killed, anything could happen. It's a very fascinating situation as right now its almost impossible to predict what is going to happen.
0 Comments
As most of us should know, many Iranians have been pushed to far and have soon been demonstrating for a full week.
Today the Ayatolla had a speech where he basically said "politicians under me should follow my rules and toe the line, or I'll arrest you or worse, if i can get my hands on you before you bail" to the higher-ups. to the grassroot he said; "any more demonstrations now might cause problems that are entirely their own fault", thus warning both the demonstrators and his revolutionary guard and the voluntary branch the Basij: it's ON
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle6539412.ece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Iranian_election_protests
If we get a hell of a turnout tomorrow(2-4mill), and if a large amount of demonstrators gets killed, anything could happen. It's a very fascinating situation as right now its almost impossible to predict what is going to happen.
0 Comments
» The cultural paradoxes of Iran
Posted May 25, 2009. By duke_Qa
Just read an interesting article about Iran and its contrary culture. And i figured that i would try to repeat those here.
Cosmetic surgery is very common among women, they tweak their noses to look more aryan. A large group also dresses in more western ways, with form-fitting dresses, high heeled shoes, small scarfs showing bleached hair and plenty of make-up. this is something i've mentioned in earlier threads about Iran, so thats no surprise to me. the surprise is naturally that they are going for an Aryan look, which we come to next.
Iranians are Persians, which consider themselves Aryans. Which surprisingly is true.
They hate Arabs with a passion, partly because of the ethnic differences, and partly because of the Sunni religion. For an Iranian its a smaller sin to convert to Christianity*than its to convert to Sunni Islam. They consider the Arab states rise to power the last decades a disgrace, because the Arabs have in their eyes been nothing but farmboys for millenia, until they found oil in their sand. ("These desert beduins only got a civilization when it found oil a petty few decades ago, while the persian kingdom can trace its history thousands of years back through time")
Also, Mein Kampf by Adolf is a very popular book in Iran, although only in farsi. they get irritated when people claim that they want to wipe Israel off the map, because they consider that preaching from the mosques and not foreign policy. they say that their president has been misquoted on the topic of wiping Israel off the map. what he really said was more or less that Israel was a synthetic/fake country created in an unnatural way, and that the Palestinians should get to vote on its existence, and the Europeans should give the Israelis some land in europe for them to live in instead of in the middle east. its not a very politically correct thing to say either, but at least its a bit less war-mongering.
All in all, they hate jews, but they respect them. But they totally despise the Arabs, which they consider fakes and beneath their superior culture.
At the same time, Iran has since the islamic revolution seen itself as the natural head of Islam in the middle east. With the fall of Iraq, its shia Nemesis and main opponent, it has gained more power here. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have lost power and is annoyed because of that. Syria has sided with Iran in the fight for Sunni/persian influence, in exchange for getting Iranian support to help them with Lebanon through Hezbollah. All in all, the invasion of Iraq was a blessing in disguise for Iran.
Homosexuality is still illegal and punishable by death, but some have found out that surgery to change your sex is totally acceptable. I don't think there are many female to male operations though, considering the limited rights women have(as witnesses in court their voice only counts half as much as a male, if the husband in a marriage is not satisfied he can arrange a short term marriage with other women for money, polygami, etc etc.)
Equal rights for women might look a bit dark, but in the universities 65% of the students are women. The professor asked about equal rights started asking how far this would go, because soon the women would be in power and the men would be at home in the kitchen. Might take a while, but at least its a good sign that there is a majority of women in universities.
The election, now here's a no brainer. It might be an election in the strictest sense of the name, people go out and vote. but since people are so disillusioned by the system, only the fanatics that believe in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the islamic revolution actually go and vote. And since he now more or less has endorsed Ahmadinejad, his current favorite puppet in promoting his vision of Iran, which means that the more reform-friendly opponent is very unlikely to win. It's almost like wondering if the communist party would win the election back in Stalin's days.
Then again, they just had to block Facebook because it seemed that Mirhossein Mousavi, the reformist's candidate and the biggest opponent to the current president, actually might whip up enough couch-voters to turn the election unpredictable(Technology is certainly a blessing).
on the topic of nuclear weapons, they don't really want them and claim that their nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes, or else Israel would attack and make a mess of things. but it seems that their biggest wish is to gain respect from the nations of the world, and by getting a nuclear weapon would be a way to do that. in fact, they are playing this on the edge, claiming that they are not making nuclear weapons while making it look like they are. For them its a victory in itself that we think they are making it. But not too much, because then Israel would bomb them. they arent too scared of USA because they think the US is too busy in Iraq and Afganistan, so their main threat is Israel.
A very short summary of that article. It was fascinating. I didnt know that the Iranians hated the Arabs so much, or even that there was a difference in there. strange what you can learn. Another thing that is strange is how they can be fans of Islam when it seems that its primarily a Arab religion. And at the same time, they want to be in charge of Islam, even though they are primarily shia, which are like 10-15% of the total muslims in the world. a dangerous train of thought imo. But still its fascinating.
*=(though you can still get executed for it, but you can at least be Christian at heart and keep it a secret, going over to Sunni Islam would be impossible to hide they claim)
8 Comments
Just read an interesting article about Iran and its contrary culture. And i figured that i would try to repeat those here.
Cosmetic surgery is very common among women, they tweak their noses to look more aryan. A large group also dresses in more western ways, with form-fitting dresses, high heeled shoes, small scarfs showing bleached hair and plenty of make-up. this is something i've mentioned in earlier threads about Iran, so thats no surprise to me. the surprise is naturally that they are going for an Aryan look, which we come to next.
Iranians are Persians, which consider themselves Aryans. Which surprisingly is true.
QUOTE
(Aryan roots)...Its history starts with the ancient Indo-Iranians, peoples who inhabited parts of what are now Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India."[1]
They hate Arabs with a passion, partly because of the ethnic differences, and partly because of the Sunni religion. For an Iranian its a smaller sin to convert to Christianity*than its to convert to Sunni Islam. They consider the Arab states rise to power the last decades a disgrace, because the Arabs have in their eyes been nothing but farmboys for millenia, until they found oil in their sand. ("These desert beduins only got a civilization when it found oil a petty few decades ago, while the persian kingdom can trace its history thousands of years back through time")
Also, Mein Kampf by Adolf is a very popular book in Iran, although only in farsi. they get irritated when people claim that they want to wipe Israel off the map, because they consider that preaching from the mosques and not foreign policy. they say that their president has been misquoted on the topic of wiping Israel off the map. what he really said was more or less that Israel was a synthetic/fake country created in an unnatural way, and that the Palestinians should get to vote on its existence, and the Europeans should give the Israelis some land in europe for them to live in instead of in the middle east. its not a very politically correct thing to say either, but at least its a bit less war-mongering.
All in all, they hate jews, but they respect them. But they totally despise the Arabs, which they consider fakes and beneath their superior culture.
At the same time, Iran has since the islamic revolution seen itself as the natural head of Islam in the middle east. With the fall of Iraq, its shia Nemesis and main opponent, it has gained more power here. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have lost power and is annoyed because of that. Syria has sided with Iran in the fight for Sunni/persian influence, in exchange for getting Iranian support to help them with Lebanon through Hezbollah. All in all, the invasion of Iraq was a blessing in disguise for Iran.
Homosexuality is still illegal and punishable by death, but some have found out that surgery to change your sex is totally acceptable. I don't think there are many female to male operations though, considering the limited rights women have(as witnesses in court their voice only counts half as much as a male, if the husband in a marriage is not satisfied he can arrange a short term marriage with other women for money, polygami, etc etc.)
Equal rights for women might look a bit dark, but in the universities 65% of the students are women. The professor asked about equal rights started asking how far this would go, because soon the women would be in power and the men would be at home in the kitchen. Might take a while, but at least its a good sign that there is a majority of women in universities.
The election, now here's a no brainer. It might be an election in the strictest sense of the name, people go out and vote. but since people are so disillusioned by the system, only the fanatics that believe in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the islamic revolution actually go and vote. And since he now more or less has endorsed Ahmadinejad, his current favorite puppet in promoting his vision of Iran, which means that the more reform-friendly opponent is very unlikely to win. It's almost like wondering if the communist party would win the election back in Stalin's days.
Then again, they just had to block Facebook because it seemed that Mirhossein Mousavi, the reformist's candidate and the biggest opponent to the current president, actually might whip up enough couch-voters to turn the election unpredictable(Technology is certainly a blessing).
on the topic of nuclear weapons, they don't really want them and claim that their nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes, or else Israel would attack and make a mess of things. but it seems that their biggest wish is to gain respect from the nations of the world, and by getting a nuclear weapon would be a way to do that. in fact, they are playing this on the edge, claiming that they are not making nuclear weapons while making it look like they are. For them its a victory in itself that we think they are making it. But not too much, because then Israel would bomb them. they arent too scared of USA because they think the US is too busy in Iraq and Afganistan, so their main threat is Israel.
A very short summary of that article. It was fascinating. I didnt know that the Iranians hated the Arabs so much, or even that there was a difference in there. strange what you can learn. Another thing that is strange is how they can be fans of Islam when it seems that its primarily a Arab religion. And at the same time, they want to be in charge of Islam, even though they are primarily shia, which are like 10-15% of the total muslims in the world. a dangerous train of thought imo. But still its fascinating.
*=(though you can still get executed for it, but you can at least be Christian at heart and keep it a secret, going over to Sunni Islam would be impossible to hide they claim)
8 Comments
» Russia wants NATO to arm down/reform
Posted April 20, 2009. By duke_Qa
Russia Gives Cautious response to Obama nuclear plan
Found this interesting, as the facts that Medvedev comes with are true enough. NATO is a cold war entity that has not seen the same change that Russia has.NATO has since the fall of the wall taken in former USSR states, and this has naturally pissed off Russia. the war in Georgia last summer was probably alot worse than it would have been if NATO and Georgia haven't shown such interest in getting together.
I wouldn't want to live without it, but what could be a good replacement for NATO? a EU military force, or a refurbished NATO?
7 Comments
Russia Gives Cautious response to Obama nuclear plan
QUOTE
Medvedev also repeated Russia's call for a new security pact to replace NATO, an idea that initially got a cool response when first broached at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) meeting in Helsinki in December.
Russia has said NATO is a Cold War relic. It wants a legally binding pact enshrining arms control, a commitment not to use force, and guarantees that no single state or group of states can take a dominant role in the continent's security.
Russia has said NATO is a Cold War relic. It wants a legally binding pact enshrining arms control, a commitment not to use force, and guarantees that no single state or group of states can take a dominant role in the continent's security.
Found this interesting, as the facts that Medvedev comes with are true enough. NATO is a cold war entity that has not seen the same change that Russia has.NATO has since the fall of the wall taken in former USSR states, and this has naturally pissed off Russia. the war in Georgia last summer was probably alot worse than it would have been if NATO and Georgia haven't shown such interest in getting together.
I wouldn't want to live without it, but what could be a good replacement for NATO? a EU military force, or a refurbished NATO?
7 Comments
» "Defamation", a movie about anti-semitism as a business and indoctrination of young Israelis
Posted March 20, 2009. By duke_Qa
This is the sort of movies that i want to see.
official trailer
more clips/trailers (on norwegian website, but the videos are easy enough to get to)
one of the things we get to see in this movie is a group of schoolchildren going up to Poland to see the concentration camps. along with them they have an Israeli Secret Service agent that is telling them that they should stay inside the hotels because they will meet anti-semitists outside. At home they are told everyone are anti-semitist and they should avoid contact with them at all cost.
On a topic that might have gotten its own thread(but meh, save some space): Israeli soldiers admit to deliberate killing of Gaza civilians - TimesOnline
Its good to hear some of the soldiers tell of the things they have seen aswell. its not like we didnt know these things happened but without someone within the system saying something about it you can't really go any further on the topic. The picture you get out of this article is a dark one. Not just on the soldiers killing civillians because of orders and confusion, but because you get to hear about the religious nutjobs running around preaching aswell.
2 Comments
This is the sort of movies that i want to see.
QUOTE
Defamation starts out as a film about anti-Semitism and about people who have set out to expose and fight anti-Semitism around the world. In the course of his research, however, the director discovers that insisting on anti-Semitism can also be a profitable business. The other, perhaps even more dramatic finding of Shamir’s film is the systematic indoctrination of young people in Israel, who are taught on a mass scale that the whole world hates Jews and that the only way to define oneself as an Israeli is on the basis of this worldwide animosity. Defamation is about the use and production of these kinds of negative stereotypes.
official trailer
more clips/trailers (on norwegian website, but the videos are easy enough to get to)
one of the things we get to see in this movie is a group of schoolchildren going up to Poland to see the concentration camps. along with them they have an Israeli Secret Service agent that is telling them that they should stay inside the hotels because they will meet anti-semitists outside. At home they are told everyone are anti-semitist and they should avoid contact with them at all cost.
On a topic that might have gotten its own thread(but meh, save some space): Israeli soldiers admit to deliberate killing of Gaza civilians - TimesOnline
QUOTE
The Israeli army has been forced to open an investigation into the conduct of its troops in Gaza after damning testimony from its own front line soldiers revealed the killing of civilians and rules of engagement so lax that one combatant said that they amounted on occasion to “cold-blooded murder”.
Its good to hear some of the soldiers tell of the things they have seen aswell. its not like we didnt know these things happened but without someone within the system saying something about it you can't really go any further on the topic. The picture you get out of this article is a dark one. Not just on the soldiers killing civillians because of orders and confusion, but because you get to hear about the religious nutjobs running around preaching aswell.
2 Comments
» more demonstrations to come
Posted January 21, 2009. By duke_Qa
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5559773.ece
0 Comments
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5559773.ece
The financial meltdown has become part of the real economy and is now beginning to shape real politics. More and more citizens on the edge of the global crisis are taking to the streets. Bulgaria has been gripped this month by its worst riots since 1997 when street power helped to topple a Socialist government. Now Socialists are at the helm again and are having to fend off popular protests about government incompetence and corruption.Its pretty true though, we've seen them in Greece, and recently we had the worst demonstrations since the early 80s here in Norway. naturally the reasons for those were police murders and the gaza-situation. but its apparent that more and more people are willing to go out in the streets and make a bit of noise. if i had to guess myself, England is the country with most potential for a proper riot these days; old politicians that nobody really likes, and a bad economic situation.
0 Comments
» minor rant on the current Gaza situation
Posted December 30, 2008. By duke_Qa
Israel blocks journalists from Gaza to win PR war
Analysis: The options left for Israel in Gaza
Interesting how quick things derail once a ceasefire is not prolonged. I wonder why the Israeli didn't go further to actually try to maintain it, but i guess for them it was more a question of weighing the pros and cons.
Pros of ceasefire: less dead people(some general in a dark corner of a meeting room coughs dryly to cover a involuntary snicker. Except for that, apathic silence)
Cons of ceasefire: Hamas looks like something that works and gets their hands on more weaponry(many officers mutters sceptically)
Pros of ending ceasefire: kill off a few of the Hamas leaders we know of, blow up a few of their armories, show them who's boss, give nationalistic Israeli citizens a reminder of who's "protecting" them before the election, get a "win" after the horrible war in Libanon
Cons of ending ceasefire: Homemade rockets will land near Israelis("Most Israeli have bunkers, so who cares" says some admiral. "The pacifists that are too slow to get into bunker is none of our concern... And if they die we call them heroes and retribute, win-win"), middle-eastern and arab countries/people will hate Israel more("Big deal" Says some general. "It's not like we are going to put on the straw that breaks the camel's back this time, either."), Western countries and nations will be annoyed that they get blamed for supporting Israel by doing nothing("this is a good thing" says some spindoctor. "no western nation dare to do anything but push paper at us when we do these things. And in the eyes of our hostile neighbours, we have trustworthy allies that are just waiting for an excuse to attack any enemy of Israel. And so their anger is focused as much on them as on us, and once someone attacks a western nation, they are even more bloodthirsty than we are. It's a perfect downward spiral to sustain our way of existence". many officers sigh in awe)
All in all, I'm getting tired of these situations. the more shit Israel manages to do without any major western powers doing something against it, makes us bigger targets for counter-attacks. I really hope Obama dares to say something against Israel once he comes to power. Though I have my doubts.
I could say something about Hamas being a pain in the ass and at fault. But I find it hard to believe that 310 palestinians vs 4 Israeli deaths can be blamed on Hamas beyond being what the people voted for. (Besides, if i covered all my bases there would be no argument)
45 Comments
Israel blocks journalists from Gaza to win PR war
Analysis: The options left for Israel in Gaza
Interesting how quick things derail once a ceasefire is not prolonged. I wonder why the Israeli didn't go further to actually try to maintain it, but i guess for them it was more a question of weighing the pros and cons.
Pros of ceasefire: less dead people(some general in a dark corner of a meeting room coughs dryly to cover a involuntary snicker. Except for that, apathic silence)
Cons of ceasefire: Hamas looks like something that works and gets their hands on more weaponry(many officers mutters sceptically)
Pros of ending ceasefire: kill off a few of the Hamas leaders we know of, blow up a few of their armories, show them who's boss, give nationalistic Israeli citizens a reminder of who's "protecting" them before the election, get a "win" after the horrible war in Libanon
Cons of ending ceasefire: Homemade rockets will land near Israelis("Most Israeli have bunkers, so who cares" says some admiral. "The pacifists that are too slow to get into bunker is none of our concern... And if they die we call them heroes and retribute, win-win"), middle-eastern and arab countries/people will hate Israel more("Big deal" Says some general. "It's not like we are going to put on the straw that breaks the camel's back this time, either."), Western countries and nations will be annoyed that they get blamed for supporting Israel by doing nothing("this is a good thing" says some spindoctor. "no western nation dare to do anything but push paper at us when we do these things. And in the eyes of our hostile neighbours, we have trustworthy allies that are just waiting for an excuse to attack any enemy of Israel. And so their anger is focused as much on them as on us, and once someone attacks a western nation, they are even more bloodthirsty than we are. It's a perfect downward spiral to sustain our way of existence". many officers sigh in awe)
All in all, I'm getting tired of these situations. the more shit Israel manages to do without any major western powers doing something against it, makes us bigger targets for counter-attacks. I really hope Obama dares to say something against Israel once he comes to power. Though I have my doubts.
I could say something about Hamas being a pain in the ass and at fault. But I find it hard to believe that 310 palestinians vs 4 Israeli deaths can be blamed on Hamas beyond being what the people voted for. (Besides, if i covered all my bases there would be no argument
)45 Comments
» is it the age of the autocrat?
Posted September 7, 2008. By duke_Qa
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/is-this-t...yf.html?page=-1
0 Comments
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/is-this-t...yf.html?page=-1
"ARE WE entering the age of the autocrat?Although i can't say I'm a big fan of Fukuyama's neoconservative position, this philosophical angle on the future i can agree upon. as mentioned earlier, the world looks like it's in for a new sort of conflict this century. And although I'm generally sceptical to such outcomes, I like to think that this is one of the better outcomes.
It's certainly tempting to think so after watching
Russia's recent clobbering of Georgia. That invasion
clearly marks a new phase in world politics, but it's
a mistake to think that the future belongs to Russian
strongman Vladimir Putin and his fellow despots."
0 Comments
» The Renaissance of fascism?
Posted August 9, 2008. By duke_Qa
This is more or less a summary of an norwegian article written by Erling Dokk Holm. But i found it to be extremely enlightening and wish to share if with you.
The two biggest elements to change this development is imo:
4 Comments
This is more or less a summary of an norwegian article written by Erling Dokk Holm. But i found it to be extremely enlightening and wish to share if with you.
When Amnesty International criticizes China for breaking vital human rights, it sounds great in our western ears. But in a large amount of countries this criticism falls on deaf ears. China stands as a model of how a state should be organized. A strong centralized government that does not allow political opposition or individual freedom in the political field, still manages to keep the wheels spinning. Ten percent economic growth, year after year, is an argument hard to match.So, wow. this article really turns my view upon ourselves around. mixed together with Russia attacking Georgia now, we in the west are in for a much darker time than what we have anticipated. If Russia continues down the path of fascism together with China, we will quickly be outmaneuvered by hard-line governments that have the right to kill their own citizens in the name of victory over other opposing nations.
Once upon a time - that is during the aftershocks of the ending of the cold war and the collapse of Soviet -practically everybody thoguht that the western democratic model would become the standard model for governments. The american philosopher Francis Fukuyama gained world celebrity in 1992 by postulating: "what we may be witnessing is (...) the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government".
[...]
China is in many fields today most likely the worlds most capitalistic society. Workers without independent unions to protect themselves, the capitalist have very little to worry about. Competition between children, even at kindergarten-age, are extreme. And even the most competition-oriented western parents would be apalled if they got to see what their children would have to go through to gain success in the Chinese system. The chinese leaders are not just holding their 1.4 billion citizens together with the help of suppression and control, but also patriotism. how much support the system has nobody knows, but its not unlikely that the communist party would have won an free election.
200 years ago Great Britain became the world's leading superpower. throughout the entire medieval age and up to that time china had the biggest amount of power. the biggest amount of citizens, the biggest territory, the most developed economy, the most advanced industry, the most sofisticated government, no other nation could reach China. Although China have been invaded many times and its influences and borders have varied in size, the central government have been very stable, compared to the chaos of royalties and kingdoms in Europe.
The Olympics shows us that this 200 year break has now ended. the Chinese are back, and it should not surprise anyone that they have returned. The Chinese model works, its a neat package og market economy, suppression and nationalism. Russia under Putin adopted a related form of this model and it worked out alot better for them than during Jeltzins west-european democracy-model. A large number of countries looks up to China. The countries of the middle east especially. What makes matters worse is that the Chinese model looks alot like Fascism, and its this beast that we see the contours of under the waving Chinese flag. It takes time to realign and see the world as it really is, but the fact is that its about time to give up the dream that China will become like us, and rather admit that Fascism is the ruling system of the 21st century.
The two biggest elements to change this development is imo:
- Spreading knowledge of democracy and freedom to the grass-root of such countries, making the wish for more freedom an dangerous undercurrent to the aforementioned countries.
- Keeping up our own economic growth and influences with more and more hard-line and neoconservative thinking, ultimately gazing into the abyss long enough to become a monster ourselves.
4 Comments