Morning Comrades.
It’s one of them mornings when after a 48hr period the world once again changed, as Lenin infamously said: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”. Make no mistake, we are once again right in the middle of such a moment. Obviously, I had planned to dedicate this week of writing to a set of pre-planned topics but that has gone out of the window - or has it? I never really had a job description as a writer, yet when momentous events that gave global impacts arrive at your door step I certainly feel like a comment is warranted.
Again, is it though? I am clearly referring to the events in Palestine over this weekend. I know everyone knows, or thinks they know, what has happened and is continuing to happen. Due to the conditioning taken place via social media over the past 15 years an instant “reaction” feels necessary - a stance, a position that acts like a public statements on where one stands - the creation of a dopamine hit via identity posturing on social media is one of the most harmful “side” effects of our existence since social media took over our lives. This includes myself, make no mistake and with the onslaught of opinions, and opinions they are, not facts, or truths for that matter, I myself have been making notes, writing tweets and composing more refined opinions on matters in Palestine, this weekend.
To be clear, the question of where one stands on the matter IF a genuine revolutionary life is aimed for is simple, and was clearly stated by smarter people before me, and most certainly will continue to be explained by smarter people after me. I have always made my opinion on Palestine very clear but more importantly, I didn’t want to use up this time and space, your and mine, to make it about that - a posture, an identity on the backs of oppressed people, that suffer. Doesn’t feel right to me and this is where my head is at right. I read a tweet over the weekend that read, and I will have to paraphrase it, something along the lines of understanding the difference between not giving into the immediacy of posting/posturing online and still giving a shit. I give a shit, a great deal and we all should because this shit hole is on fire and we are being led into oblivion by bloodthirsty psychopaths in a time when greed reigns supreme over reason and compassion.
With that, I don’t feel it necessary to add another comment, from a person thousands of miles away to a torrent of western posturing while people die. I abhor war and the meat grinder that this violence represents to the millions of working class people but being a pacifist does not equal passivity, it never has and the conflation of the two is the same bullshit praxis that turned MLK Jr. into a Buddhist Monk. The idea and historical / material reality of Internationalism, the reality of one class rather than nations demands support and interest of any and all oppressed people. Again, logic should bring you to this position, not some 100 year old position paper from a gathering of 20th Century communists. I realize that in order to arrive at a position via logic information is needed, and that is in rare supply these days, again thanks to the nefarious nature of who is behind the internet and the dopamine kicks from infoslide online do be hitting. Nevertheless, a simple truth exists, irrespective of assumed political identity:
“We were told that violence in itself is evil, and that, whatever the cause, it is unjustified morally. By what standard of morality can the violence used by a slave to break his chains be considered the same as the violence of a slave master? By what standards can we equate the violence of blacks who have been oppressed, suppressed, depressed and repressed for four centuries with the violence of white fascists? Violence aimed at the recovery of human dignity and at equality cannot be judged by the same yardstick as violence aimed at maintenance of discrimination and oppression.”
― Walter Rodney, The Groundings with My Brothers
Seeing that whatever it is we can and are able to do is reduced to signs of solidarity, mostly without the necessary follow-up action, that truthfully, exist predominately to assuage a need for morality rather than materialism - this is all you really need to know. If one were to genuinely be willing to help an oppressed struggle, please but be aware that our safe from harm morality posturing will be met with one of the most uncomfortable truth-isms of our time:
Political power grows out of the barrel of a Gun -
Mao
Naively, I for one and I do not speak of this lightly, didn’t think of that and these days I am not allowed, legally, from entering the state of Israel, not for any outlandish reason but for working for the UNHCR in the West Bank. I know, I am drifting here but that’s kind of the point also - these are times when history is being made, and made quickly, as it so often does. I find it important to understand and reflect what our public positioning & posturing means and why we do it. Don’t mistake this as an insult to anyone, this more about me reflecting on what feels like a manipulated knee jerk-response to events I have no control over, until I do.
It is important to give a shit, and equally important to know why we give a shit. Morality is a fickle beast yet it plays a huge role in our thoughts and actions. Starting with the idea that service to others is the prime directive of or time on earth helps.
I hope this all makes sense. In a way I wanted to create some calm(ish) sense of reality in a distorted world in flames. For you and I equally.
As always, thank you for your time & attention,
Yours,
V.