Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2
Do you love democracy?
Perhaps love is not the word to use here. Love is a rather strong word, denoting an emotion attached to the object.
Do you like democracy? Does it fill your need to have your say in the day-by-day operations of your state? Your nation? How involved are you in this permission you grant certain individuals to perform tasks in your name? Or, are you, like so many, rather detached about the mayor, governor or president?
Have you ever wondered, what do these elected leaders do, exactly, with your tax money? We refer to them as “leaders” but who is it they lead? You, plus the individuals of your neighborhood, your city, or your state? And how do they lead you? Or is it the bureaucracy they lead?
Does the bureaucracy lead you?
Historically, democracy was not a thing “of the people for the people.” It was a way for the leaders of the civitas, Latin for city, to formulate laws and proposals for their city-states. Like old Rome, and Athens.
Americans rather like to point to Athens as an example of how the ancients had democracy, therefore, legitimizing this political process. However, even the Athenians had issues with this mode of governing. Firstly, it was not about the people, but about the owners of Athens: Which included more than the city itself. The point is, if you owned a large tract of farmland, you could vote. But your workers could not vote. This is about those who have a physical stake in the country, voting. Nonetheless, it was also the era when owners and workers bonded to form a rather tight knit family. This is when people understood the essence of the word, community.
In our current democracy, just about anyone can vote. If you have a pulse, you can register to vote. No need to be responsible for anything or anyone. If you are alive, you can vote.
What could go wrong?
Well, your democracy can start a war, for one, and you get to pay for it. You may also fight in said war. That really makes it your war, doesn’t it? That is how democracy works.
Here’s the reality of wars. When nations go to war, they think they have a perfectly good reason to do so. That is, the leaders voted into place thinking they have a reason to go to war. The voters, who put in those leaders, are, like it or not, involved in the war. Which means, the citizens of Russia and Palestine are at war with the citizens of Ukraine and Israel. Squeal in protest all you want, but if your democracy invades another country, it is your war. Soldiers from the other side just may show up in your neighborhood, and kill your kids. You may hate the president you didn’t vote for, but the soldiers invading do not give a fig about your personal voting preferences. You are the enemy, plain and simple.
Isn’t democracy a thing of beauty?
Kings and emperors would start wars too. But they went along with their armies. Even in the modern world, the monarchs dress in uniforms, and perform duties for the war effort. They do not go run and hide in another country.
People don’t, usually, vote for their monarchs. Once upon a time, old Rome did vote for their kings. It is rather like moderns who vote in a president for life. For example, Xi in China, or Putin in Russia, Maduro in Venezuela, 51% of the people that voted put them there. Everyone keeps them there. Once you voted in a pseudo king, you do not get to vote him out.
Rome decided, about 500 BC, that they didn’t need no stinking kings. They dumped their last king, and turned themselves into a republic. However, it was the ruling class that killed their monarchy and gave themselves a republic. A republic is supposedly an organization of laws, not people. But who writes those laws? Aye, there’s the rub. The irony of Rome is that, 450 years later, they went full circle, back to having a monarch. This time the monarch was not voted in. They inherited the throne.
Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, and Palestine, are owned and operated by politicians that the people tolerate. Their rich politicos sleep with the oligarchs; sometimes literally. Nonetheless, there are more of the people than there are of leaders. Palestine has the numbers to overthrow Hamas. Just as the serfs and peasants had the numbers to overthrow their masters, back in the day. Of course, back in the day, there were no Marxists to tell the peasants they were oppressed.
Today, it is safe to say, there are enough Palestinians, 2 million, to overthrow the leadership of Hamas. If they do not attempt to overthrow that failed leadership, then they are in agreement with them: Which makes their current circumstances their responsibility.
Westerners who scream out about the “children” need to make themselves available as foster parents and organize a rescue operation for the Palestinian children. Recall that was a thing during the Viet Nam war as the Americans began to pull out. However, when a parent does something dumb, like tolerating psychopaths wreaking havoc next door, their children need rescuing. Parents like that should not be allowed to raise their own kids. Because now their kids will think it is all the fault of Israel that they are miserable. They won’t think to blame their parents, or their democracy that put this sorry bunch of men, make that older men, into place.
It is the habit of stale, old, angry men to turn young men into an angry mob who will do their killing, and be killed, for them. That is what Palestine has for its leadership.
Let me rework Shakespeare’s words a bit.
The fault, dear Palestine, does not lie in Israel, but in yourselves that you are without comfort.
Choosing democracy means all the people of a certain age are responsible. The good, the bad, the ugly. Therefore, when babies are taken as hostages, and some murdered, this ugliness is done in your name. When you, the people, allow such atrocities then you have to take the throwback. Or, get rid of the bullies in your playground.
If Palestine thinks Israel mistreats them, then there are resources for this grievance. And I don’t mean that mass of political whores in the United Nations. Come to think of it, they enable this mess, and the UN doesn’t seem to have the desire to end it. They cannot end it because they must remove politics from the situation.
Hamas is a Marxist, political organization that keeps its own people oppressed. Like all good Marxists, they always blame others. Nothing is ever their fault. Marxism, however, historically, is always about envy.
Palestinians, seemingly, have no choice. That they have no control over their fate. Balderdash. One has to want a better life, to get a better life.
What does history tell us about people who are “oppressed?”
Will Durant, in his book, “The Age of Faith,” which thoroughly covers the Middle Ages, talks about how the serfs could make demands on their masters; by reminding them, in no uncertain terms, the master owed their serfs stability, and consistency. The lady of the manor or castle, took care of the poor, paid the midwife, and distributed alms during the Christmas and Easter seasons. During the pre modern ages, everywhere, it was understood there would be no survival without the community at large.
In the best seller, “The Dawn of Everything, A New History of Humanity,” the authors, Graeber and Wengrow, make the point that hunter-gatherer societies were varied. Some groups were loose, freedom lovers who tolerated the occasional ne'er do well, and some had strong leaders who had the power of life and death over all members of their group. Mostly, there were groups who took care of one another, who contributed to the well being of the group. There were no city-states until well into the 8th millennia, BC. If one felt oppressed, one left the group.
In such small, nomadic groups, it is easy to see that whatever the group decides to do, each individual member has to take responsibility for it. If they waged war, it was done in their name, and of course, they would have to take up arms to defend their position, whether or not they were the aggressors. As is done then, and today, if an army crosses a nation’s borders, the defenders have a duty to defend their country. Aggressors, however, cannot complain when the citizens of the broached nation defends itself. That is why war is a tricky business. A people who would wage war, do so at their own risk.
If the Palestinians cannot get stability and consistency from their leaders, so that they can move forward with their lives, then they must rid themselves of those leaders. Or, continue to suffer the consequences. Because who, in their right mind, sits still whilst their leaders invite war onto their front porch? So the question has to be asked; if you vote for a thug, or tolerate a thug, is that because you are a thug as well?
Unpleasant question, yes. We are overdue on asking the unpleasant questions.
Wars are always reactionary. It is the excuse we give for fighting them. Because some fool or fools made decisions years back, which resulted in people dying. When no one can let go of their hurt and humiliation, and pass it on to future generations, that’s when they turn into “freedom fighters.” By now, in the history of the world, one would think that old, unsuccessful term, would get buried in reality. Because most “freedom fighters” are just a set of thugs that want to be rid of the other side so that they can rule. And the other side wants to be rid of them. We have all seen where that leads.
Are you tired of it yet? Can we say, “Enough already?” Therefore, let us learn from history what we are supposed to learn; don’t do this same, dumb shit again.
What is my call to action? Do not take sides. You can hope one side wins over the other, but demonstrations on the street tend to prolong the wars. If you must demonstrate, stop paying your taxes. And tell your government to not send funds that prolong wars. Do look to alternate solutions to this old problem. Remember, the world needs a solution wherein everybody wins something, and everybody plays the adult, to give up something. And everyone owns their fate.