Friends, last night I watched a movie set in WW2. It was called ‘The Man Who Is To Come’ (the title, I worked out, refers to Jesus). It detailed a small massacre by German troops of a group of civilians in Italy, mainly women and children, who were accused of being partisans. The movie left a very bad taste in my mouth and I had nightmares last night.
This morning, I found a site that featured 12 Famous Massacres (the link is at the end of this post). It also had details of 10 massacres caused by bombing which showed killing on a much larger scale. As well, it also detailed political massacres complete with photographs. It is an interesting site for those who are interested in history and who want to learn from it.
It was all too much for me however. The photographs were disturbing, proof (as if we needed it) of man’s universal, never-ending inhumanity to his own kind (and every other specie who gets in his road).
I suppose the point I am leading up to can be summarized in the following question: did the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan permanently let the destructive war genie out of mankind’s bottle?
History shows clearly that the mass killing genie has been set free at various times in history as Empires fought for dominance. Slaughtering ones’ enemies by putting them to the sword has always been a favourite pastime of the two-legged ape. But the numbers were relatively small.
With the advent of gunpowder, killing became easier. We quickly moved from the muzzle-loaders to the machine gun. The discovery of aeroplanes allowed us to drop bombs on those who displeased us. The emergence of tanks allowed us to move powerful cannons around the battlefield without the problems created by gun carriages and horses.
Then, in WW2, some genius came up with the formula to make atomic bombs. What a hero! WW2 culminated in the killing of over 200,000 people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in the space of a few seconds whereas the Blitz in London only killed 43,000 and it took years to achieve.
Since WW2 ended, many wars have followed. America killed 3 million people in Vietnam alone for a loss of only 58,000 of its own troops. Ever since, wars have raged, not on the scale of WW2 of course but consistently.
More than 1.5 million Iraqis were killed during the invasion and occupation by the Coalition of the Killing and untold others will die as a result of exposure to depleted uranium. The numbers killed and injured in Afghanistan are largely unknown because no proper tally is kept of civilian casualties.
Ever since Vietnam, war has been continuous. It’s almost as if people expect it, as if it is considered to be normal. The world is filled with conflicts with more in the pipeline. Iran and Syria are being threatened. Many nations in the Middle East are burning. Drones are now slowly filling the skies and enemies can be dispatched without any danger of being hurt or killed.
Have we reached the point where war is acceptable to most people? Have we been indoctrinated to think that killing others is the only way to solve problems? Do we now think that waging war and taking the resources of others is entirely proper?
Fifty years ago, people did not think this way. We didn’t aspire to own a MacMansion. We didn’t demand a luxury car. We didn’t think that greed was a virtue. We respected our elders and paid our taxes and helped old ladies across the street.
There has been a huge shift in human thinking. We seem to have been conned by the warmongers who are making huge profits from waging war. We are told the world is filled with evil enemies who want to destroy our way of life which is patently nonsensical. Fear and greed are used as tools of manipulation by our leaders and the Predatory Corporations.
But the added complication is that we live in a world filled with nuclear weapons. We know what they can do via Hiroshima where the explosions were relatively small compared with the fearsome devices that some World Powers have now. That they will be used is as sure as the fact that the sun will get up tomorrow because the crazies who rule us think that nukes can be used safely. Have they not heard of MAD (mutually assured destruction)?
We have been relentlessly conditioned by the Rulers of the Universe who are using us for their own selfish ends. America, Britain, France and other European Nations are fanning the winds of war. They are seeking global domination which will precipitate WW3.
We, the people, have to stop the madness which is leading us towards extinction. Our leaders are clearly insane. They must be deposed before our world is destroyed.
We must put the war genie back in the bottle and ensure it never again is released. Our lives depend on it!
40,000 plus Germans killed in Dresden by Allied bombing!
22,000 Poles executed by Russian soldiers in Katyn!
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/29176_12-infamous-massacres-in-history
At 50+, in my life time.
M.A.D, (Insert ‘them commies are commin’); W.M.D. ( insert ‘them scary men with beards are commin’), China Bad, (insert ‘re: M.A.D’)
Question is really what are we going to do about it.
My family are all grateful immigrants did exit the decaying UK 1968. Most friends are from all over this tiny world. As most all immigrants have come from harder times and appreciate what we had in OZ, expect a fight from our ilk. There is nowhere else to go, is time to make a stand in every which way we can I think.
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We humans become more & more efficient at killing each other.
In the 60′s,70′s & 80′s I had ‘nuclear nightmares’.Iwasn’t alone in this experience.
Recently I’ve been having nightmares about weaponized nano-technology,and environmental catastrophes.
It seems to me we are collectively hell-bent on self annihilation;because we keep allowing criminal psychopaths to run things.
I believe that most people (99%?) want to live in peace & harmony,and to equally share resources.
However,how we go about this is beyond me. I actively fought,with others,against Thatcher & Reagan’s social darwinism & voodoo economics,and we were ridiculed and beaten down. 30 years later,and look at the way things are now.
All I have left is Hope: that was the last thing to come out of Pandora’s Box.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the horrors to come out of Humanity’s ‘Box’,but I can hope that when we’re done,whoever is left can live in some kind of tranquility.
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Gryph, one thing is certain: we cannot rely upon politicians. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
Politicians turn their attention to us during a brief pre-election period then, once it is over, they forget about us and the promises they made and join with the folks who have the money whether corporations or individuals!
The answer, of course, is rebellion. But how one gets the bulk of apathetic, ignorant Australians to even become aware of the huge problems facing this country and the world is beyond me. “She’ll be right, mate,” is the catch-cry.
When the nukes start falling, that might grab their attention!
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Just a thought : how psychotically insane was the human who came up with the acronym ‘M.A.D’? And how psychotically insane were the humans,with power,who thought that it was a good & apt descriptor?
These are the kind of humans who have run things,for a long time now,and they’re not in the least abashed to put it all up there in giant capital letters.
This is what we’re up against…and they ccouldn’t care less.
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MiKi, the most dangerous enemy we have lives within us. We are genetically-motivated to kill and plunder.
It wasn’t so bad when we only had swords and bows and arrows, but gunpowder blew that equation apart. Now we have nukes and, like children playing with petrol and matches, it’s just a matter of time.
The only choice we have is to dispossess our Rulers of their power, get rid of all weapons, then set up a rigidly-controlled Government that keeps the power-hungry and the greedy on a tight rein.
Of course, we also need to properly educate people, show them that greed is bad and violence is for fools.
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Yes. But it is a huge task,and of the kind that usually wrecks your life.
I should know. I used to be an activist. In some countries I’d have been shot.
Here, I was simply relegated to the scrapheap,and watched as ‘The Left’ destroyed itself with infighting & zero strategy for counter-propaganda,and no way of counteracting the massive brainwashing campaign mounted by ‘The Right’,with its allies across ‘the media’.
Now, the x factor generation has no tools to combat the horrors of ‘our way of life’ in The West. Our societies are preponderantly comatose,preoccupied with their financial woes,and are sleepwalking into neo-mediaeval serfdom,while the elite take even more & are more than willing to wage nuclear war. I still rail against this,and I still hope things can be changed.
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Like the clarity of comment here folks. ‘If it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck’ comes to mind.
“one thing is certain: we cannot rely upon politicians. They are part of the problem, not the solution.”
Greens to are part of the political bubble shows with their apparent lack of imagination saying 100% green by 2020 is doable. Why not with citizenry input, 400% by 2020 and export?
Go alt power as nation building exercise be first priority. Given the citizenry can chew gum and walk at same time, we start cleaning up the outstanding toxins all around us by pressuring local members or boycotting despot operators.
Get rid of global crop mining industry and give land to community member farmers know how to think sustainable. Good food grown in OZ for OZ. Not some smelly fund over seas.
We are not shy on solutions.
Entering the era of NoMore is saddest for the most despot 1%. BooHoo. For the rest of the global community and our planet, we have reason for hope next gen of next gen may have a future back.
Help me sleep also if things would just start to turn.
Thanks for reading.
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Gryph, you must believe that things are turning. This blog and people like you demonstrate that it is. We must hope for the best even when things look darkest.
We have one thing on our side. The Rulers of the Universe are not only stupid but they don’t know what they are doing! They are profoundly incompetent. They mouth the lines written for them but they don’t know what they mean.
And they are cowards!
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My recurring dream has to do with how we prepare villages and countries for war. We go in there first to help them and then the ground is set. They are ripe for attack and only a few flee. The ones who are active are aware of what is coming and escape the village before the attack with modern weaponry of all varieties.
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From what I read you are quite correct Grace.
The wealthy and the educated do exit. Some of Syria’s current problems came from influx of escaping Iraq citizens creating a lower class. Heavy Metal In Baghdad is a movie does explain what happened in Iraq from view of young band members. ABC ran the movie last year, don’t know if it is still available at ABC but website link supplied below if interested.
http://www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com/
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if rebellion is demonstration then i am not for it the only way to beat this War Mongers this are actually bankers is to cutdown our own material greediness we dont need big cars and Houses cell phones 3D Screens to make our life good .by simply not buying these thing will mean not taking loans from the parasites .let us all live very simply as our forefathers cut down spending leave with the bare minimum have your own farm your own water if all of us do this this bankers will literally starve to death.
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Your words have sense in them, IMTIAZ. If enough people could carry them out we could bring down the Parasites very quickly. The main problem is that too many of us believe the indoctrination we’ve received over decades!
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