Welcome to the Terrordome

As I have taken root in the lush Caribbean where it is pissing down with rain on an almost daily basis, it seems that the rest of the world is burning. With a brave youngster from Sweden as a poster girl, youth across the world are whipped into fear in regards to the effects of climate change. The corporate media informs us that kids are suffering from what has been labelled ‘climate anxiety’, while big pharma are rubbing their hands in anticipation of the prospect of flogging legal narcotics to a whole new generation.

Earthly Plane Burning

The world is burning. Literally it seems, as the Guardian reported last Friday that up to 30,000 fires burn across the world on any giving day. In addition to wildfires, regions in all corners of the world suffer from unusual droughts, floods and other phenomena caused by freak weather events. We are led to believe that nation states are the most powerful actors on the world stage and with that power comes the responsibility to act. However, there are corporate interests at play and dealing with any burning issues would interfere with the bottom line, so besides some greenwashing, nothing is really done. On a social-political level, unrest has plagued Latin America in recent months as people have hit the streets in protest of government policies in Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia. Protesters continue to make themselves heard in Hong Kong, and wars in Yemen, Syria and many other parts of the world show no signs of ceasing.

European Disasters

 If you thought all is well on the European front, then just imagine me dramatically rolling my eyes. In the country of my birth and upbringing, frustrated middle-aged white men violently defend their right to be racist in their support of the Dutch equivalent of blackface, which the country’s Prime Minister is not contesting. In the UK the electorate is about to vote for the prime-ministership of the most opportunist, incompetent and untrustworthy buffoon the political world has ever seen. All this while the country remains divided over Brexit as nothing has become any clearer in terms of the how, when and even if the UK is getting out of the EU since the referendum was held three and a half years ago.

 The Maltese Swamp

Then on the other side of the European Continent on a little island where I used to reside, it has become as evident as ever that the government is a true cesspit as it seems to have sanctioned political murder. In October 2017 Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb near her house. Her journalism had uncovered many malpractices in Maltese politics and business including corruption and money laundering by senior government officials. Ms. Caruana Galizia was considered a true nuisance by the political establishment and her family had been the subject of serious intimidation for many years. Her murder shocked the island nation of Malta and the whole of Europe, although many Maltese commented that ‘she had it coming’. The Maltese government came under international pressure after it seemed rather slow to act and almost unwilling to properly investigate Ms. Caruana Galizia’s murder. News organisations such as the New York Times, the Guardian and Le Monde reported extensively on the case and the EU established a commission to promote a thorough investigation. However, until very recently the investigation seemed to go nowhere. Events took a dramatic turn after well-connected businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested on 20 November. Fenech directly linked a couple of senior government officials, who are part of Prime Minister’s Joseph Muscat’s inner circle, to Ms. Caruana Galizia’s murder. This bombshell put the Maltese government under significant pressure and the mentioned officials were forced to resign. This didn’t deflate any tension or outrage. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has been accused of actively protecting those directly linked to the murder and his head is demanded as well. The Prime Minister has announced his resignation but he won’t step down before the 12th of January and accusations of a large cover-up continue to linger.  

The Question of Us

While natural and human disasters are terrorising the planet, as an individual you might wonder what you can do. You could hit the street to protest, flaunt your opinion on social media, or just stick your head in the sand. As I am contemplating the state of the world from my Caribbean residence,  I very much hope that we the people collectively stop buying into the divide-and-rule tactics of the 1 percent and their corrupt cronies in politics. It’s like two dogs fighting over a bone and a third one running away with it. The third dog is pissing itself with laughter, while the two other dogs continue to fight not realising they are both being made a massive fool of. Not only is there is no bone left to fight over, they are also fighting the wrong party. As the great lyricist Chuck D said: “fight the power”: not by means of riots and revolution but through non-compliance with an utterly corrupt system. Or to quote another social-political conscious poet: “we’ve got to take the power back”, as currently the power clearly doesn’t lie with us the people.

Top image: Bela- Manson at redbubble.com