Hi, Benjol it may come as a shock to you, but I’m in the western world in Canada, and I agree with most of what is in the letter in terms an explanation of events. There is a lot of anger in the letter and much of it is understandable. Let me give you a true story to explain why first and this is for everyone to understand what I mean:
Years ago my wife and I had a Chinese roommate - we rented her a room in our 2 bedroom condo. She was very nice and likable and we generally got along. I taught her to make pancakes and she made us a chicken feet dish that I couldn’t stomach to eat, but I did try it.
One day the conversation turned to China and the Tienanmen square massacre which to me was basically historical fact. It was fact brought to me by Canadian and American (Western) news of course. I asked her what happened and why the students were killed. She told me that the army was justified in using force against the students because the students were attacking the military and stealing their things. I was a bit shocked but maybe I shouldn’t have been.
Her husband was in the Chinese government and her family had factories so I guess I’d call her part of the Chinese elite. I found it interesting and it opened my eyes to how your local news is basically propaganda for your government, and this is generally true in most countries. Can you imagine what Russian news says about the US? I do think if there is a scandal the news will publish it, but often the news that is put out there is the news your government wants you to hear. To this day after hearing her account I’m no longer entirely sure of what happened since I wasn’t there to see it with my own eyes and that would be the only way we could be sure.
Many people know, and many do not know, that the US uses its dominant economic and military position to further its interests. Divide and conquer has been used by the colonial powers for hundreds of years. Most of the time it is done as you say in secret with horrible consequences, so obviously why would Western media report on it. I do believe that 9/11 and most terror attacks are in response the actions of the US or the groups of colonial western nations (of which Canada where I live is one). Basically if you have an unbeatable enemy, the lesser combatant when faced with overwhelming force will resort to terrorism as it’s last means of resistance and that is what we see. It was also used against the Nazis in Europe with the underground movements before World War II broke out. We are at the start of a similar situation now. We are also seeing as in the US, a democratic government under the weight of it’s own corruption, will use threats like terrorism to strip its citizens rights and justify that as being necessary for their own protection. The problem is that when one side uses violence and the other side responds with violence it becomes a deadly self reinforcing circle where anger and hatred only grow. What do you think happens to a father in Iraq when he holds the broken bodies of his children and wife killed by a drone strike? What do you think happens to an Israeli father who buries his family killed by a suicide bomber on a bus?
I think we all know that the world is run first by money, that much is clear, and that is yet another reason I stress again we must really understand money and its creation to free ourselves from it’s corrupting effects. Wealth inequality around the world, further reinforces that, and sets brother against brother. It creates masters and slaves. It allows wealthy nations to pillage the resources from poor ones. We also know that this world is neither fair, nor just. Those things can only be found in how we each treat one another, in our basic humanity. Justice must be fought for, or it dies. So I ask you this question, really and truthfully, what is the solution? Where do we start? No one seems to have an answer.
For me, our institutions are morally corrupted, from the money and banking institutions, to the governments, to the business and corporations and the religions. That is why I don’t affiliate myself with them, or trust any of them. I believe, however that the only way forward is not to destroy them but reform them from within, or recreate new ones and let the old ones die. A terrorist will not ever win, nor will a corrupt unjust government in response to that terrorism. We currently as a world are suffering from an extreme lack of morality and basic decency toward one another, and toward the planet. This inexhaustible greed is killing us all. We can all see that, we can feel it. AND we are all overwhelmed by the severity of the problem. If we do not reverse this situation it will lead to our extinction as a species, one way or another. For me the way forward must begin with many great leaders and moral people who will create these new moral institutions that will service mankind for the benefit all, it must begin with us.
It has to start with each of us reaching out to one another as I have done on this blog, as you have done, as Jeff has done starting this blog. We each have to break out of our fixed mindsets and listen to each other. In the end everyone’s point of view is correct as it is their point of view. You may not agree but you must understand, really understand, if we are to go forward. This is not a project for a week or a month, but for years and decades, for our generation and the next. We may not see the fruit in our lifetimes or our children’s lifetimes, but our advantage as a species is that we learn and improve ourselves, and pass that onto our children so that they can surpass us. My solution for you would be to have your children live for a year with Donald Trump and Donald’s children to live with you. You can only hate your enemy when you do not know them. When you have walked in their shoes then you can see from their eyes, from their point of view, and only then things will change. But that’s just my opinion…
