A social worker in Paris once spoke about
how Islamic fundamentalists recruit from the poorest areas in the city. They
provide food and shelter and understanding and create huge gratitude and
loyalty. It’s an easy step to convincing those they’ve rescued that their ills
stem from the animal West, that purity of soul and heart rests only in Islam
which needs to be defended even at the cost of life and limb.
It’s called grooming. It has nothing to do
with Islam. Pedophiles do it. Christians have been doing it for a long time and
they still do. I’ve seen it happen in Cape Town, where there are a lot of
people living on the street. Christians take them in and brainwash them. If
they refuse to do what they’re told and accept the tenets of whatever brand of
Christianity is being foisted on them they’re thrown out and harshly judged—not
by people, you understand. By God, or Jesus. Of course. We all understand the truth
and wisdom of that.
The French social worker said that if
societies don’t deal with poverty and inequality of opportunity realistically
and humanely poverty will deal with those societies.
That was over ten years ago. Some leaders
and many social workers, international organizations, celebrities and citizens
of different countries have worked hard and still do to try and stem the rising
tide of everything that’s unjust and inhumane in societies.
But it’s kind of like dealing with global
warming; too many people just don’t want to face reality and deal with it. They
don’t like change and their comfort zone is denial that there are consequences to
their actions—including to their denial. So the right in politics gains ground
everywhere and laws that should be secular and independent of religious bias
are poisoned by zealots with huge financial backing. Right wing media
brainwashes millions every second of the day and the line between Good and
Evil, so often portrayed as easily identifiable Black and White, is unutterably
blurred.
Now ISIS is an international problem,
inequality in western societies is beyond the pale, too many poor people live
right alongside too many people with so much money they can’t possibly use it.
There’s too much demoralization, too much exploitation,
too much crime and too much of a violent backlash against criminals, too much
rage all over the place, directed towards even perceived criminals, immigrants,
people of color. Too many guns, oh my God, so many guns and weapons of
destruction. Too much entitlement in law enforcement to beat suspects up, shoot
to kill for no reason. Many of us think of the Wild West in America with
fondness, as a romantic thing of the past, thanks mostly to Hollywood. But
actually, the Wild West is on the rebound and not in cinematic form. In real
life. Maybe it never was overridden by civilization but just took on different
a different medium.
There’s so much good happening in the US
right now, with President Obama working tirelessly to build up the middle class
and diminish inequality in his own country, and to forge democratic, peaceful
solutions in foreign policy and particularly in the Middle East. As always he
constantly faces a powerful and vocal Conservative Right, but it doesn’t stop
him. It’s inspiring to watch him and members of his Administration, like John
Kerry in the Middle East and Eric Holder, dealing with corrupted police
culture.
Now that’s a big job. We’re living in an
era where in the US police can do whatever they want, shoot to kill an unarmed 12
year old or a man for no reason, chase and beat up a suspect.
The latest brutality to hit the news comes
from San Bernadino. Yesterday sheriff’s deputies tried to serve a search
warrant on Francis Pusok who lives in Apple Valley on the edge of the Mojave
Desert, north of LA. He ran and they gave chase. Pusok passed Deep Creek Hot
Springs, grabbed a horse and rode off into the desert. He was followed by a
helicopter and 11 deputies. One of them Tasered him and he fell off the horse. He
lay unarmed, face down, with his arms outstretched. But the deputies descended
on him and beat and kicked him senseless in the head and groin, for minutes. Then
they stood up and looked down on him as if he was a piece of dead meat.
And they were captured
on video by a NewsChopper4. It’s a 6 minute video; hard to watch for the
inhumanity it shows. Interestingly, the video starts with audio, until the
deputies start kicking the life out Mr. Pusok.
The whole murderous incident is being internally
investigated, but of course the police haven’t released the truth of Mr. Pusok’s
state; they’ve simply said he’s in hospital with unknown injuries. What a load
of rubbish. I wonder if he survived. I hope somebody gets to the truth of that
pretty soon and that there are huge consequences to the criminals.
Good versus Evil; somehow it’s always David
against Goliath. This is nothing new; it’s how humanity does itself. When I
first learned about the Dark Ages I presumed that everybody knew it was a Dark
Age. But now I reckon it was no different to how things are now, except that there
are so many more people. And millions can record their lives and those of
others and spread the word around the world. Maybe social media is the modern
version of David’s sling.
What’s kind of miraculous about it all is
that even when the Dark is very dark and depressing and seems overwhelming, the
light part of humanity finds a way to fight. That’s the human spirit for you.
