The Maldives – A theocracy in action – suppression.

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The Maldives project themselves as an ideal but in reality they are a repressive regime. Every person living there is forced to follow Islam. There is no choice.

Out on the island resorts they project a benign image. They pamper the Western tourists and ply them with alcohol and luxury in their artificial sandy beached, palm-treed paradise. They offer liberal relaxation in sun and sea with scuba diving and sea-sport.. But for the endemic population alcohol is banned and religion is imposed.

I found the hypocrisy disturbing.

Not only do I not like imposition – I don’t like theocracies.

The British Empire

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The British Empire

From the shores of this small island,

Reaching out with armies to embrace the whole world,

From the Falklands, through the USA, Canada, the Caribbean,

Africa, India, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines

to Australia and New Zealand,

Great Britain ruled.

The greatest Empire the world has ever seen.

The tentacles of that empire

Probed, exploited, subjugated and menaced.

Its power was extent.

It sent forth its mighty navy.

It invaded, deposed and laid claim.

It deployed its superiority and arrogance

Through its technology and attitude.

A sense of privilege and worth,

It conquered,

Divided and ruled.

With armies of bureaucrats it controlled.

It plundered the world

Bringing back the spoils

To build its stately homes,

To finance its servants and lavish lifestyle,

With fashion, banquets and balls.

To finance its great armies

And maintain its domination.

Yet little, if any, of this vast plunder

Was wasted on the populace of Great Britain.

The public were sentenced to poverty,

Gruelling labour in field and factory,

A life of penury with great penalty

And heartless application

Should they rebel,

Or question their position.

For we were the cannon fodder,

Worthless, expendable,

Without a vote,

No power and no hope.

Brainwashed in schools

To worship mighty God,

King and country

And wave our union jacks on Empire day.

The Empire was a product of the elite,

For the benefit of the elite.

While we, the people, were exploited

As heartlessly as any slaves.

The British Empire

Swaddled the world in pink.

It should have been red –

Red with the blood

The blood of ordinary folk,

Of battlefields,

Of the whipped slaves in the sugar plantations!

Or at least blue with aristocratic blood,

The blue blood of arrogant rulers,

Of those who populated the Public Schools

And assumed superiority.

But it was pink.

The delicate feminine colour

Of charm and romance.

A disguise

For a sinister vehicle of oppression,

Within and without.

All Empires crumble.

But the same privileged elite

Maintain their position,

Deploy their power

And still reign supreme.

Opher – 29.12.2020

Thus it is everywhere to this day. Just because the Empires are less obvious does not mean they do not exist or are not as ruthless. Privilege maintains privilege. Equality is a myth.

Freedom

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We all want our freedom!!

What’s that actually mean?? Can we ever be completely free? I think not.

If we live with other people then freedom is a compromise. One person’s freedom infringes on others.

If we live alone with nature that too has its limitations. The creatures and plants have rights every bit as much as you. Some of them have nasty habits that might well limit what you can do. Then there are other limitations such as the weather.

What is this idea of freedom? Isn’t it often confused with licence?

A few definitions might help – ‘the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.’ Or ‘the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.’

That seems simple enough until you start to analyse it.

To act, speak or think as one wants. Pretty straightforward. I want that. But then I am someone who is not prone to violence or abusing others. What if I was a person who enjoyed punching people, setting dogs on fire or raping children? Should I have my freedom? Supposing I was someone who enjoyed intimidating others with weapons or thought that bullying was fun. Should I have my freedom? Or if I liked to take whatever I wanted from anywhere I wanted? What if I liked shooting endangered species or chopping down trees, or throwing my waste in next door’s garden? Or if I owned a company and wanted to make more money by selling dangerous goods or dumping pollutants in the river?

What is this freedom? It’s a bit of a moot point. In all human communities, there are laws to prevent people from doing harm to others.

Is freedom merely a question of where we place the boundaries for those laws? How much should the state become involved with a person’s freedom? Should it insist that all children have to attend school? Should it set the limits on drinking and driving? What about drugs? Should individuals have the right to choose? Should eight-year-olds be allowed to use heroin?

What about guns and knives? We see the madness in the USA. There were 39,707 deaths from firearms in the U.S. in 2019. I wonder how many were injured? In the UK there were  In 2020/21 there were 235 homicides involving a knife or other sharp instrument in England and Wales. Should the state say that it’s too dangerous for people to have knives?

What about the right to speak – to say what we want? Elon Musk has just bought twitter. He says it is to promote the right for people to say what they want. Should we be allowed to say what we want?

I was watching some old episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It was hilarious but………………. there were a number of scenes with people blacked up and expressing racially stereotyped views that were highly derogatory. It made me cringe. Society has moved on. But should the racists and fascists have a platform to intimidate, demean, threaten and bully? Should they have the right to take away the rights of whole races of people and create a society with institutional racism that generates second-class citizens on the basis of their colour, religion or race? Isn’t that promoting hatred and division, depriving society of many skills and artificially creating a hierarchy that doesn’t exist?

We say Trump, Johnson and other populists using Twitter and other social media to spread lies, fake news and false information. They undermined experts and scientists for their own ends and in so doing spread misinformation and conspiracy that generated hatred, division and even death. It has resulted in thousands of deaths from covid, the storming of the seat of democracy, racial hatred, the spread of ridiculous conspiracy theories, a disillusionment with all politicians, an undermining of democracy, the spread of superstition, the undermining of science, the ridiculing of the media and the spread of propaganda on the internet.

Now there is no doubt in my mind that politicians need holding to account, that the media lies, that democracy is a sham and scientists can be bought by big business ….. but do we want to replace experts with snake-oil merchants? Replace science with superstition and propaganda? Replace democracy with fascism?

That is what is happening.

Then we have the right to think as we like. That seems reasonable. Do we have that right? No. Definitely not.

In Putin’s Russia the views of the bulk of the electorate are controlled by the state. The only information they have is what they are told. The same in China. But is it any different here? We have a media run by the establishment spewing out propaganda and polluting minds. It is so obvious with the likes of the Daily Mail, Sun and Daily Express but it’s the same with The Telegraph and Times and the rest are not much better. Even the BBC is far from impartial.

The establishment owns the media and while the propaganda is less draconian the effect is the same. That is why we have the political system we have. That is why a party that only really represents the top 5% gets elected. That is why the non-establishment parties have to become establishment parties in order to be elected. The media controls minds.

Those who chose to get their news from the internet are in an even worse situation. The right-wing have that sewn up. They pump out even more extreme propaganda under the guise of free speech and unbiased news. A lot of it is pure hate and put out to stir up division.

If you live in any society your mind is not your own. NOBODY is immune to the constant drip of propaganda. We are not as free in our heads as we might think we are. Even our cultural (and religious) upbringing is simply brainwashing. Our own families are probably the worst source of brain control.

Unless you’ve been brought up by wolves you have already been indoctrinated.

The Hell’s Angels seem, in one sense, to epitomise personal freedom. Their hedonistic lifestyle is the very essence of freedom. Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, freewheelin’, out on the highway doing what they like. Except when you scratch the surface and you find misogyny, racism, violence and intimidation. Their freedom comes at the expense of others. They remind me of the robber barons of long ago who would ride in, slaughter, rape and steal. They thought they were free too.

Freedom huh?

I think I might move on to not being enslaved or imprisoned.

Well you get imprisoned if you break the law. For the most part that is for serious stuff like killing, stealing, raping or violence. That seems reasonable. But I’ve known people harassed, fined and imprisoned for possessing marijuana. It’s these grey areas that seem to cause the most problems. What should be illegal and who should decide. In places like Russia you get locked up for opposing Putin, opposing the war or being against the state.

In Britain we supposedly allow protest (though they are trying to take that right away) and can call out our politicians as lying criminals. That is not against the law.

We do not have slavery – or do we?? We all know about the laws and also know that many people are still be held in slavery – girls brought over for the sex industry, the drug gangs holding people, illegal factories. Slavery takes many forms.

Isn’t work really a form of slavery? We have to work to live now that our natural way of life has been taken away. We sell our time and bodies. It’s all a question of degree. I certainly am not free when much of my life has been tied in to having to work. Someone else has been demanding I do as I am instructed for a good part of my working week.

We all want our freedom!! Getting it is something else!!

For me I am satisfied if I have the right to live how I want, wear what I want, practice whatever religion I want, believe what I want, vote for whatever political party I want, drink and eat what I want, read what I want, go where I want and say what I want.

I would like a few more liberties but I am aware that I have a pretty liberal existence. I don’t mind having laws to prevent people hurting others; I don’t mind having laws to stop me (or anyone else) from inciting hatred and violence; I’m glad we have laws to protect the weaker members of society and the environment.

For me freedom is about compromise. It is a question of getting the degree of compromise right.

Barbados – A Plantation

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Barbados had its history as a Caribbean tropical farm. Slaves were used for the production of sugar, bananas and other crops. A lot of people made a lot of money.

Walking around a plantation with its mansion was salutary. There were lots of thoughts.

Was it any different to the Stately Homes back in England.

Here they exploited slaves. In England they exploited the poor. In practice there was little difference. The same callous people lived like lords. The same poor people gave their labour for very little.

Desperate immigrants and the colonial reality.

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How do you think the ruling class got so rich? They were exploiting us too! They lived in mansions with servants. We lived in slums and worked in factories six days a week.

Poetry – Welcome to the New Slavery

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Welcome to the New Slavery

Welcome to the new slavery!

We work so that others might get paid!

The world is run for the few!

My – how they scream and shout

If you dare to suggest

That any other way will do!

‘It may not be perfect

But ‘the system’ is better than the rest!’

Bellow the media crew.

Shady people press the buttons

To nudge us towards what to believe.

They who own the media own us too.

Unseen fingers control the markets –

Buy and sell us for a song;

Laughing as they tighten the screw.

Dreams, like candy, are passed around

For us to suck in our sleep –

Telling us the lie that we can join them too.

But it’s an exclusive club

And they always guarded it well

So that their fortunes grew.

Trickle down is the new mantra

As they deceive with their lies

And keep us caged within this human zoo.

Opher 18.1.2016

Welcome to the New Slavery

I have arrived at the conclusion that everything we do is for the benefit of a few. We work and they cream off the profits. That is a form of slavery. We prostitute ourselves. We sell our time and bodies.

There are tiers. There are tears.

We are paid well in the west. Our unions have wrestled our wages and conditions out of the hands of the employers. They are not so lucky in the third world. Their labour is cheap, jobs few and numbers many. That is the ideal combination for the capitalist money makers. Those on the bottom tier live in poverty and are grateful for the crumbs.

The capitalists made the system that way.

We live in an age where we can vote on game shows but not on political issues. Democracy via representation is not democracy – not when our representatives can be lobbied, bribed and bought by the corporations.

Democracy is when the voice of the people is making the decisions. I might not like the decisions made by the majority. They might not be arrived at through intelligence or knowledge. They might be spurious, self-centred, ignorant and prejudiced. But I would prefer that to the way it is done right now – controlled by wealthy minds that put up the money for candidates and pull the strings for self-interest.

If I had a choice I’d prefer government through the people that via a small group of the wealthy. The problem then would merely be – who controls the media?

Patriotism – Proud to be British???

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Patriotism – Proud to be British???

I am British.

So why do I feel so torn about my heritage, so conflicted?

Am I not proud to be British? To be the descendant of people from a tiny island who went forth to conquer the world and create the greatest Empire the world has ever seen?

At one time the British Empire ruled most of the globe. Our Kings and Queens ruled over the USA, Canada, Indonesia, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, India, Pakistan, the Caribbean and the Falklands.

We were the supreme world power.

Yet, was this a good thing?

Was this anything to do with my kin?

I think not.

My people did not rule or create an empire. Neither did we benefit.

The empire was created by the establishment – the aristocracy and wealthy traders. They raised armies and navies and went forth to invade, capture and plunder. They set up companies to use indigenous people as cheap labour in order to harvest, mine and manufacture the goods that made them richer.

The wealth poured back from the empire but it did not find its way to the likes of us. We were every bit as abused as those indigenous people abroad.

My people were the poor working people. We were the ones pressganged into the navy, used as cannon fodder in the conquering armies, exploited at home in mines, factories and shipyards.

We lived in poverty and slums while the establishment built great mansions, with fancy carriages, banquets, balls, fine clothes and servants.

The empire was not of our doing, neither was it of benefit to the likes of us. Its foundation was based on racism, arrogance and superiority. It spawned slavery, greed, exploitation and division. It was based on might, force, violence and cruelty. It subjugated and controlled.

Am I supposed to feel proud about this?

No. I refuse.

I refuse to own this empire or take delight in its accomplishments.

But I am proud to be British.

I am proud of the working people who stood up against this establishment and fought for justice and freedom, for rights and fair conditions.

I am proud of the ones who fought for the right to vote, for fair government, fair pay, fair work conditions.

None of it was easily forthcoming.

It took time for men like me to be given the vote. It took even longer for women to be afforded the same.

It took blood and guts.

We formed unions, struck and starved, marched and were massacred, just so that we could be afforded fair pay and good work conditions. We fought for a better, fairer society and it had to be wrested by struggle and loss of life from the hands of the establishment.

So I am proud of those brave women and men and the sacrifices they made. I’m proud to be descended from them.

I look around at this society we have fought for. It is still not as good as it should be. There is still injustice and gross inequality, exploitation and slavery. I look at the wealthy becoming wealthier while people like me slave on zero-hours contracts for poverty wages.

There is still much that needs addressing.

So when it comes to patriotism I think it’s a con-trick.

I’m not going to wave my flag for the Queen or celebrate battles and empire.

I will stand up for the Diggers, for the Chartists and the victims of Peterloo.

They make me proud to be British.

Plantation House in Louisiana

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There was incredible wealth to be made from these huge plantations. Slavery created wealth.

It’s a different type of slavery now but we’re still being exploited and the same level of inequality thrives.

Poetry – Once we were in Heaven

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Once we were in Heaven

Once we were in heaven;

Part of everything,

In harmony.

Tempted by the apple

Of agriculture;

Its parsimony.

We gave up our hunting band

For worthless diamonds in the sand.

Opher – 19.10.2020

The worst idea we ever had was to give up our natural way of life, hunter gathering, and trade it in for servitude.

Once in harmony with nature we are now out of control, our numbers swamping everything.

Instead of a life of excitement, skill and brotherhood, we have work, slavery, war and subservience.

The worst idea we ever had.

Democracy – The long and often bloody fight for freedom – The Abolition of Slavery in the United States of America.

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Democracy – The long and often bloody fight for freedom – The Abolition of Slavery in the United States of America.

Freedom is relative. The fight isn’t over. It isn’t ever over.

slavescottonculture-1875

The use of slaves was widespread in America though there were some opposition from certain groups. They were used as domestics, artisans or field workers. These Africans were imported via the Arab slave traders in what had become a lucrative trade.

With the American War of Independence slavery was maintained. The Southern States had the greatest numbers as their agricultural practices of growing tobacco, cotton and rice was very labour intensive.

In 1808 an act came in prohibiting the importation of slaves. The Northern States began abolishing slavery. In 1830 abolitionists such as John Brown favoured armed force to foment riots among black slaves. Baptists and Methodists preached for the abolition of slavery.

It all came to a head in 1860 with the civil war. The Northern States renounced slavery and the Southern States supported it. In 1863 Lincoln’s proclamation of Emancipation promised freedom for slaves. At the end of the war in 1865 the proclamation was enforced throughout America and slaves were freed.

Unfortunately that was not the end of the matter. The aftermath of slavery is still felt today with a legacy of racism that pervades many parts of the States. Up until the civil rights movements of the 1960s blacks in the South were not permitted to vote, were forced to use second rate facilities and institutions and treated as second-class citizens. The White Supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan maintained an apartheid system through force and terror.

In the modern age this racism, which still persists, is intolerable.

The hope that the election of a black president signalled the dawn of a new age is still perhaps premature. There is a way to go.

Freedom is won through the bravery of men like Medgar Evans and Martin Luther King and the determined struggle of those white and black activists and people who stood up to be counted, protested and marched despite the intimidation and threats. Many were killed in that struggle. It still is not complete.