Saturday, 15 February 2025

TAKING LEAVE OF OUR HUMANITY

 

TAKING LEAVE OF OUR HUMANITY

 

‘And times are a changing’, a line from a ballad sung by Bob Dylan and indeed there is a shifting global mood around the world, a world far less confident and struggling with a multitude of issues.  Every language has certain phrases or expressions that can sum up a single feeling or emotion just perfectly, but they defy an easy translation and the German word “Zeitgeist” is one of them.  It reflects upon the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of our history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.  Historically it is used in reference to turmoil and uncertainty, when once more the human race seesaws like a pendulum, from order to chaos, from peace to war.




Humans have always excelled at turning up the heat and the inevitable rhetoric that accompanies it shows an abysmal failure at diffusing tensions through diplomatic solutions.  For some strange reason cranking up the volume and bellicose posturing seems to attract a following.  It is almost like a siren song we can’t resist once we start listening to it.  And it affects all sides of the political spectrum.  Even individuals and groups clamoring for positive changes are sounding increasingly angry and dispirited as they see all their efforts ignored or trampled.

We’re once more turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy.  We’re joining the chorus and taking sides.  We’re like matches in a matchbox, absolutely harmless when we take out one matchstick at the time to either lite a fire or a cooking stove.  But if a matchstick inside the box catches fire they all go up in flames.  When common sense, reason and decency leave us, our humanity becomes once more like a contagion that affects everything and everyone around us.  We’re affected by a radical change in “Zeitgeist”.

All around the globe the posturing and tough talk is increasing at an alarming pace and we witness this in the behavior of the leaders elected.  America’s democracy is on shaky grounds and the difference this time around lies in who is in charge of the guns, of the judiciary, of security forces, of policies.  There is a massive shift to the extreme right and we’ve already seen evidence of hooligans and criminals pardoned for crimes like sedition, rebellion and for inflicting grievous violence and bodily harm.  People at their worst, do the worst.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote the following lines in “Beyond good and evil” in 1886.

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.  If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

Male insecurity comes shining through

The fact that Nietzsche used HE, rather than he or she, is due to the simple fact that he was raised in a male dominated society, replete with all the notions that come with assumed male dominance and superiority.  Trump’s appeal with many young, male voters, can be traced back to male insecurity, turning back the clock on rights women fought so hard for; ignoring the gains made by people belonging to minorities.  The fragile male ego is once more on full display.


You may find it odd that I infer to male insecurity as the root cause of so many problems currently facing our world.
  Males don’t like to give up their power and position; their “right” to rule and dictate, to strut and give orders.  Once more it is this typical male behavior that stymies all efforts to proactively reach for solutions that are equitable and fair.  Males don’t like to share, or heaven forbid, acknowledge that a female voice or vote has equal value.


Male dominance when threatened takes on a radical form and you can see it in how the White House attempts to consolidate power and exercise control.
  Internal and external distraction accompanied by an awful lot of posturing and belligerence.  The other is a re-writing of justice . . . especially where it concerns women’s rights and diversity . . . and overhauling and neutering the judiciary.  And the excuses are as hollow and pathetic as those used by all autocratic, dictatorial regimes.




Nationalistic fervor ramped up to unprecedented heights and of course reinforced by demonizing enemies, both new and old, and with exaggerated threats.  Within record time the nation is transformed into a boot camp.  Ramping up for battle.  Conflicts and wars are shaped by fear and intolerance and from those two spring forth all others.

Demonizing minorities

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is a textbook example of how we lose control of a situation, of our humanity, especially when ramped up male testosterone seeks an outlet.  Take a close look at the Knesset or the military command structure and what you see is male faces.  Israel’s Prime Minster, Benjamin Nethanyahu, if he were to lose power, faces corruption and fraud charges.  Are any other bells ringing?  Hamas, a militant group in Gaza, has been involved in fighting a losing battle with Israel from day one.  They have no planes, tanks, artillery, sophisticated missiles, drones or any type of defense systems.  Israel has all of the above and the worst of its destructive weapons, heavy duty bombs, are supplied by the U.S.  The death and destruction inflicted on the civilians trying to sustain their lives in Gaza has been horrific and is totally out of proportion when compared to what Hamas fighters have been able to do in return.  Israeli justification has been alarmingly uniform in simplicity; the enemy is embedded within the civilian population and we have evidence that they are using civilians as a human shield.  Amazing how military intelligence can pinpoint embedded militants but can’t find the location of hostages.

Israel has never been happy with a two-state solution.  They want a state of Israel run by Israeli and populated by Israeli.  A catch 22 for Israel is the sad fact that not a single Arab nation wants to take in more Palestinians.  The existing refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon are as old as the first Israeli war which led to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.



                      "No bombs raining down on their heads."

The displaced have never given up on regaining their homeland and the majority refuses to give up their Palestinian identity or integrate as citizens of a new nation.  The simplest solution from day one—rather than a one-sided United Nations declaration of an independent state of Israel—would have been a totally integrated state of Israel that treats all its citizens equally before the law and in civilian life.  You live side by side, as you have done in the past, and make it work.

Yes, theoretically this could lead to the election of a Prime Minister of Palestinian descent, but above all, he or she would still be an Israeli citizen.  Our world is literally filled with similar conflicts on almost every continent.  Separatist groups galore.  And what stands in the way?  An ingrained belief that it is impossible for two groups differing in either culture, race or language to live side by side in peace and harmony.



                           "Who gets to decide?"

And this ingrained resistance of non-cooperation has been sharpened by decades of violence, opposition and the near vitriolic rhetoric of extremists on both sides.  All Hamas and Israel have accomplished is shutting the doors on a lasting peace and meaningful cooperation between both parties.  The civility is gone, the respect and trust and the willingness to engage in peaceful cooperation and to re-establish a healthy working relationship.

Throughout human history we have never started from a clean slate and there has never been a nation that has not suffered or endured outside interference or migration.  With migration comes integration and this is a fact of life.  Ignore it and you find yourself in a constant state of conflict.

Conflicts allow males to thrive and reassert dominance

I stated earlier on in this article how current conflicts around the world are increasingly being shaped by male insecurity and by males once more trying to reassert their dominance.  Our world has been changing, for better or worse, and it is male blowback that is once more leading the charge as if by reasserting male supremacy and dominance we fix all other problems as well.

A simple question: why do women have to fight for rights men take for granted?  It is all about a balance of power and who wields it.  Females are at their most vulnerable when they reach child bearing age.  Child bearing is a transformative, life-changing event, something males will never experience.  Yet none of us would exist without a female’s ability to give birth.




Perhaps it is that inability to give birth, to be totally dependent on a female’s ability to give life that promotes the bloodlust in males to kill, to exercise power over life.  The ultimate power over life.  A bizarre dichotomy that continues to play out.

Why do women in a man’s world constantly have to prove themselves?  It all boils down to male insecurity true to form.  Trump’s agenda and that of his cronies is not about America’s dwindling fortunes or shortages, it is fueled by male insecurity and re-establishing male hegemony.  Look at the spate of executive orders and who or what it impacts: deporting illegals, taking away birthrights, scaling back or even prohibiting reproductive rights.  Turning back the clock on gender differences, on diversity and inclusion.  What do any of the above have to do with?  “Make America Great Again.”




On a number of occasions throughout human history we have made incredible advances and introduced positive changes, especially for women and minorities, only to see the positive changes squashed by dark periods of repression and regression.  Changes were driven and motivated by people demanding change, to shed the shackles of servitude and oppression, of feeling powerless and under-represented.




 Trump and company, joined by a growing list of nations faced with the same predicaments, follow the scenario as described in my novella, Energy & Origin, to a T.

All life, from its primordial origin to the present, is driven by energy and momentum and it’s a force that never stops or slows down and we have no control over it.

The impact of “male” dominance

So, what do you do when you run short or run out?  Especially energy of the fossil kind.  You look around and take what you can.  Canada has everything, from land to precious resources and let’s not forget plenty of water.  Greenland has untapped mineral sources, the Panama canal offers control over all shipping going East or West and a renamed Gulf of Mexico provides access to offshore oil wells.

Energy & Origin is all about how a superior access to energy allows a species to advance or assume a superior position.  From it flows everything we witness today.  It is not a benign force and at its worst it will bring out the worst.  We’re always willing to share and listen in good times, not so much when nations and people scramble to stay on top.

Male egos are once more flying high.  Male testosterone is overflowing.  That we’re taking leave of our humanity should be obvious. 

Energy & Origin by W.M.A. Bes is available on Amazon.ca

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