When will the powerful minority stop exploiting the weak majority? 11th July - A SAD DAY in SREBRENICA! Back in the early 16th century, over 200 people were executed by order of King Henry VIII as a result of what became known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Just like that! (Impressive picture taken fron the series "The Tudors") Among them were prominent members of the community, such as Robert Aske and a dozen peers of the realm, 50 odd monks and priests and over a hundred ordinary people, including women and children. An isolated incident? OF COURSE NOT.
History is plagued with thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands of similar crimes against humanity, perpetrated by emperors, kings and rulers, dictators and generals; The last one, probably in Srebrenica, in 1995, when over 8,000 Bosnian males were slaughtered by the Serbian VRS army (Republika Srpska) under the command of General Ratko Mladić, currently being judged for his war crimes at the International Court in The Hague. Here’s what he said on TV at the time: "Today, the 11th of July 1995, is a great day for Serbia. We are in the town of Srebrenica. We offer this town to the Serbian nation in memory of the rising against the Turks. The time for revenge against the Moslems has arrived.”
Now, of course, Kings and Emperors do not have that kind of power anymore; at least not most of them, though they continue to posess great wealth and influence. And so do Large Multinationals, Newspaper, Arms and Oil Magnates, Presidents of Powerful Countries and Organisations, Military Generals, not to mention Drug Barons and White Slave and Prostitution Merchants, many, if not most, of whom have accumulated impressive fortunes on their way to, and especially at, the top of their profession. Many of them, if not most, have not been exactly scrupulous in their dealings and decisions. Just look at Murdoch and his “News of the World”. It is not enough to say sorry for something he knew was going on and which has caused so much distress. Nor does closing down the newspaper make the evil doing go away. Or look at Bush, Blair and Aznar. How many civilian deaths do they have on their conscience? AND THEY JUSTIFY IT!
And what is the common factor? What breeds such violence and disregard for human lives and human rights? Once upon a time, you could have said it was religion. But, NO, that’s just a smokescreen. As the song goes: “Money is the root of all evils”. Yes, the oldest of all reasons: MONEY, WEALTH.
King Henry VIII, through his faithful, and equally corrupt, Prime Minister, had no qualms about dissolving Catholic Monasteries. The revenues from the sales of the confiscated lands went to engross both Cromwell’s and the King’s pockets, as well as the treasury. Did the King sleep at night? Cromwell, of course, was eventually betrayed by his king and lost his head!
Murdoch’s permissive attitude led to more sales and revenues. I doubt that closing the newspaper will even dent his financial armour. Does he sleep at night?
Iraq and Afghanistan would never have suffered the beastly and (at least in the case if Iraq) illegal onslaught of the thousands of bombs and missiles they were subjected to had they not had huge reserves of oil and gas. I really don’t know where the arms engineers get their ideas from in order to design the thousand and one different weapons that enable such wicked and destructive power to be unleashed against helpless civilians. Do the three leaders, and the engineers, and the pilots, and the generals, and the remote control operators, and the spotters, and the arms manufactures get any sleep at night?
As for Mladić, I’m sure he slept reasonably well, in spite of the blood he shed, protected as he was by the highest authorities in his country, until it became politically and financially suicidal not to hand him over. How else could they join the European Union and reap the benefits? From the way he faced his victims’ relatives in court, it seems obvious he has no regrets; though I’m convinced he too finds it difficult to sleep at night in jail.
We, the workers, have slowly, very slowly, gained our rights and recovered our dignity only through repeated revolts and the willingness to suffer and, if necessary, die for our just cause. Whether we continue to allow others to exploit us or respect us is entirely in our hands.
WE CAN CHOOSE TO NOT BUY MR MURDOCH’S PRODUCTS.
WE CAN BRING DOWN GOVERNMENTS THAT FAIL TO OBEY US.
WE CAN WITHDRAW OUR SAVINGS FROM UNSCRUPULOUS BANKS.
WE CAN DECIDE NOT TO INVEST IN ARMS MANUFACTURERS.
WE CAN INSIST ON A JUST COMPENSATION BEING PAID TO ALL VICTIMS.
ABOVE ALL, WE CAN DEMAND THAT ALL THOSE THAT BREAK THE LAW, HOWEVER HIGH THEIR POSITION IN SOCIETY, ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE AND ARE MADE TO PAY FULLY FOR THEIR CRIMES.
I wonder if the descendents of those murdered during King Henry XIII’s “Pilgrimage of Grace” repression could now claim compensation. If they could, who would pay up, his descendents….or we, the workers, through our government?
I found Spain a much more dynamic country where I was able to bring up my kids in a much healthier and much better political, cultural, culinary, educational, and social environment. They now all speak Spanish and Catalan as well as their native English, and needless to say, so do I. Did you know that Spain leads the way in many sports, including Football? Motorcycling? Cycling? Motor Racing (Rallies, Formula 1 (until very recently)? etc.? Where's britain now, I wonder, and will it get back on the track in time for the Olympic games?
I have found, through my Spanish experience especially, that hung parlaments usually produce coalition governments that cannot be as radical as those with an overwhelming majority. Instead, over a period of time, the partners learn to work together to produce laws and policies that benefit more people. In Catalonia, three parties have been working successfully together now for several years; The "Tripartito" they call themselves, or the "Three-party party".
I sincerely hope both the Labour and Liberal parties come to an "entente" and govern jointly for a while in the UK. I'd hate to see the tories back in power, even though it wouldn't be me who would have to live under their nightmarish rule!
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