The Global Community Tribunal

It is interesting to realize that, in democratic government, politicians approach their constituencies in terms of morality and personal principles. They talk to us in a simple language we can understand and they relate to things that have meaning to us. Being principled and of high moral standard are, as far as we are concerned,  the characteristics of great leaders. Therefore they try to portray these characteristics.

When we discover that this is all an illusion, we feel betrayed. We find it difficult to understand that, what we see is only an illusion while the ugly reality is hidden from us. The art of successful politics is keeping the illusion up whilst executing reality.  Democratic government has nothing to do with government by the people for the people. It has everything to do with government by vested interests for the benefit of vested interests. This naturally does not exclude ‘national interests’ or party interests.  

During the Cold War Russia was falsely portrayed as this diabolical super power with the same strength and capabilities as the US. The US constituency was forced to pay-up for armament at a grotesque scale. Guest who benefitted? Then the Berlin Wall came down and the whole world suddenly realized that the USSR and its satellite states was all but an empty eggshell.

George W Bush may be a Christian and he makes a real effort to keep the illusion alive that his foreign policy is founded on high moral principles and directed at the national interest of the USA.  With 90% of his electorate behind him due to 9/11, he invades Iraq on the false premise that this country poses a real and imminent threat to the safety and security of the US. When the truth is revealed (of which he was aware all along) and reality dawns on the world that Iraq was incapable of any threat, he changes his approach. He is the victim of bad intelligence and CIA inefficiency. “However, while we, the pinnacle of freedom,  democracy and high moral values, are  now in Iraq,  we in  any event need to stand up for the poor oppressed Iraqis and depose this vicious dictator called Saddam Hussein!”  

The fact of the matter is that politics has nothing to do with morality or character. Politics is a cold hearted, covert business. When we chose between democrats, conservatives or liberals it’s only a matter of orientation and the choice of vested interests to which candidates are committed. When oil-rich, Saudi connected George W Bush came to power, could you have guessed in what direction his commitments would lead him?

So what?  I guess what I’m saying is that when Americans are called upon to choose between the various candidates for the upcoming election, don’t bother to question them on principles and morality. Rather ask them whether they too are prepared to kill a million innocent Iraqis to get hold of their oil reserves. Ask them whether they too are prepared to accept the nuclear capability of an unstable Pakistan and a ruthless Israel but arrogant enough to attack an oil-rich Iran for developing nuclear energy. Ask them whether they too would be prepared to contract with the Devil in the person of a Saddam Hussein or an Osama bin Laden only to see them later become the biggest enemies of your state. Ask them whether their morals and principles too only stretch as far as the US borders and whether phosphorus bombs on civilians at Fallujah, torture at Abu Graib, indefinite detention without trial at Guantanamo and criminal abductions worldwide  vis-à-vis extra-ordinary rendition, are part of their moral make-up.  

J. C. Grobler, administrator.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Share This

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.