damn their eyes

I'm of the persuasion that one must either keep ones mind and ears open at all times for all things or live in a world of lies and illusions. This is a rather intense proposition for someone who wants to comprehend the goings on in this strange and savage reality and still maintain any hope for our species and the planet upon which we live. For example, it was released in the news recently that the RAF killed a little Afghan girl by dropping a box full of propaganda leaflets on her from a aircraft. The image of a little girl in a village without running water or electricity being killed by 20 kilos of leaflets meant to persuade the Afghans that the Western Armies occupying their country are there to do good is a situation that only our world could produce... I swear this world runs on idiocy and irony. As cruise missiles fall over Northern Pakistan and the poor people of Iraq and Afghanistan live in constant fear, the leaders of the G20 wrapped up a meeting where they discussed what is really important to them- economics. Desperately are they trying to find a way to inject a few more years of life into the sickly body of modern consumer-capitalism. They aren't doing this from any ideological conviction, they doing it because it is this system of production, the process of the free market, from whence all their power and populations flow from. The modern economic order is an extremely powerful force, far and away the most powerful institution every created by the mind of man. For better or worse all our fates are now inextricably linked with the functioning of this monstrous market. All the criticism of the system fails to offer an alternative capable of providing for our insatiable appetite for everything. The great thing about this system for Westerners is that the whole shit show was created for the economic benefit of those industrialized countries (most particularly the Bourgeoisie of those nations) that got the ball rolling with Colonialism several centuries ago. The G20 is a perfect culmination of incorporating the few countries that have been able to pull themselves up to the level of economic powerhouses, and thus take their place at the table where the mighty leaders meet to discus how our collective life will proceed. What sort of perspective does all this lead to for the poor father and mother of that little girl killed by western ambitions in the remoteness of Afghanistan's mountains... I'm sure they see all the fusing and the fury for what it really is, just humans acting cruel towards each other, something Central Asians have some history in dealing with. It would seem to me the affluent part of the world is living in some sort of suspended animation, a state of revelry if you will, caused by the spectacle of a society based on materialism with mass media entertainment substituting for a culture. The other part of the world that is being exploited, bombed and steadily starved surely sees things substantially different. I hope above all other hopes that we humans will have the courage in my lifetime to create a dialogue amongst ourselves that supersedes any sort of nationality, class or ideology to focus on what we can all agree on- that we would like to keep living and consequently need to get our shit together or perish. At some point the might makes right ethos that is the geopolitical foundation of the current status quo must give way, whether it will be to a more equitable world or another dark ages it yet to be seen, but I contend one should watch the proceedings with open eyes and a fearless mind.