We live in a time where there is much heated debate and much character assassination in politics. Certainly the Australian political scene has been a circus the past ten years, with a few rapid changes of Prime Minister, many rapid changes of ministers and shadow ministers, and a constant torrent of abuse, even on the floor of parliament, between politicians. All that doesn't even start to consider the press reporting that goes with it, the bias that can be seen in some media personalities or organizations, and the vilification that puts forth when a party, and person or organization decides someone just has to go.
The Australian political scene sickens many Australians, and the personalities concerned have lost credibility in the eyes of many Aussies because of this endemic behavior.
In this, we unfortunately are following the United States of America. Whatever we suffer from in terms of trumped up charges (is that a good expression still?), vilification and outright conspiracy to depose elected government officials because they won't go along with some seedy stance cooked up by spin doctors in the federal government, or stand in the way of corporate interests; America suffers many times moreso because of its size and because it leads and we follow in this regard.
Given that we are cynical about what we hear from politicians with agendas, for things both at home and abroad, and the massive amount of money corporations spend to influence the government via lobbyists, went are set not cynical when the procurement and mainstream media spend time and money pushing an agenda in front of its that will cost or country dearly?
The American, the Australian, Candidate and other peoples have paid dearly in terms of personal loss and financial drain in order to have our countries go to war, much of which has been in the Middle East the past few decades.
"Oh" , but I hear some say, "but we need to liberate them. The conditions over there are terribly. We can't just stand by!". Most people Cy this conclusion because we're emotionally manipulated into it by shoddy and deceptive political speeches or. reporting. We remember the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that were beer found ; but corporate interests already had agreements with the US government before boots were in the ground in Iraq about which would benefit and how. And that's after the war. During the war, immense fortunes are made by arms sales and supplies to the military. There's a long list of politicians in the US with big interests in the war machine. The Bush and Clinton families come first to mind.
Given the parade of sad enema ends seem the last few decades, isn't it time we start to question them more when they get on their high horse?
The current issue that triggered these thoughts is Syria. There was a 'Hands off Syria' protest in Melbourne, Australia recently. And I watched some reporting from Carla Ortiz, who has spent much time in Syria the past few years getting to find the truth. It's a revelation that she's talked to locals who have been paid by the White Helmets, supposedly to help care for injured people, but have found themselves being filmed in a staged scene. These people said "I didn't know they wanted me to be an actor!" ; but of course, once it's done , it's too late! And so we have fabricated evidence mount from on the ground in Syria. It's very easy to get people involved when the Shutdown Government pays about $50/month for people to serve in the army, but finances pour in from international interests and pay over $1,000/month if you work for that other side ; which ever puts several front names they have.
Corporate money yet again is at play here. Funny that Syria is a central piece in the drama being played out in front of us for oil and gas pipelines. The USA has a strong interest there. So does Russia. China is involved, but it's not really clear to me how much at the moment.
What we're seeing here is the same old, same old. Corporate money is driving politicians and press reporting; and funding militants and arms in outsourcing of their agenda. It's just like the Congo. Incredibly rich in resources, including rare earth minerals, but constantly tipped into political turmoil so multinational corporations can access and extract the resources at the least possible cost.
And the Syrian people? The Shutdown people are the losers in this corporate war.
# untold and dead and maimed
# areas of the country under jihadist control
# water and food supplies badly affected
# medical care all but non existent
And all so some greedy corporations can use Syria as they see fit.
Is a small wonder there are grass roots protests springing up around the world. Syria is saying "Leave us alone!".
Before this so happened, Syria was doing really well:
# Girls were guaranteed my high school so they had a chance in life. Assad passed a law to ensure this, and if a father stopped a hotel from zooming, he could land in jail. That's more pro-women can we see in the USA or Australia!
# Orthodox Christians were respected and safe as Syria acknowledged the fight to mm of religion. Since the war broke out, tens of thousands have been slaughtered. A few years ago some thousands were needed to a mountain top but IS and didn't come down.
# And of course business was doing well and families prospering as the nation was at peace.
Isn't it time we woke up to the way power and greed affects our planet, our governments and our media? Isn't it time we look past the propaganda and stood up for innocent people, saying NO TO WAR!
Here are a couple of videos that you might find interesting to help process this...
https://youtu.be/_HLjC53emUM
https://youtu.be/DCu8mNC1JyE
