Happy days are here again once was a song, sung by many
artists. I think it is safe to say that no artist would dare to sing it now.
There is simply no reason to be happy when we take a look at the world and its politicians
right now. 2000 years of civilization has not taught us enough yet
A few weeks ago I placed Petula Clark’s hit song ‘Downtown’ on my FaceBook page and wrote: ‘When
the world seemed a better place’. Immediately there was a response. It said something
like I was talking bullshit and then a whole list was summed up about what was
wrong in the ’60s and ’70s. Sure. I was there! I know it was not all perfect
back then and never said
that it was. But since I was there and then I can recognize the huge
differences. There are fewer wars in the world, causing fewer casualties. Fair
enough to bring up that statement and it might be true. However, wars are
affecting almost all countries now. And what to think of the terrorist attacks
that take place all over the globe? You do not have to live in a war zone to
become a victim of war. Fear has been spread all over the world. Unlike in the
60’s and 70’s. Denying that fact is nothing but stupid.
Fear is the worst advisor we can possibly have. Populists are
taking advantage of that, generating lots of followers. Populists with false statements
made it possible that the UK is going to split from the European Union. Now
there are other countries in the EU where the people demand a referendum to
leave the EU. In a way, I even can understand their feelings. There is a big
problem. The EU is a huge and cumbersome institution and nobody really
understands what the politicians there are doing. All that the Europeans can
clearly see is that the EU wants to regulate matters that are internal for the
individual countries. The EU wants equal standards for all countries but when the
EU started there was no equality to begin with. The poorer countries could not
coop and now need help. We are talking billions and billions here. Yes, I can
very well understand that people are not happy, seeing their tax money
going to other countries. But leaving the EU is not the solution. It would be
better to demand more transparency and less interference with individual
countries. Frankly, I would not care if it even would take some sort of
revolution. The EU seems to find big money much more important than the
people’s welfare and health. What we see happening now is that people are
turning to populists who blame foreigners (mind you: refugees) for everything
they can think of. And unfortunately, too many people do believe these liars. We
saw the same shit happen in the ’30s and we learned very little of it.
Not only in Europe is this going on right now. Look at the US
of A., In my opinion, Obama has to lead the country through the crisis in a very
good way. And what are the people calling for? A change to make America ‘big’
again: Donald Trump. This man exactly knows how to attract people. Not the
people who understand politics of course. No, the vast majority that never
thinks. They don’t bother to check if the man is lying or not. They simply do
not give a damn. What really scares me is that those populists never come up
with solutions. Sure it is easy to say “I will have you pay less tax”. But is
it realistic? Unfortunately, people too often hear the words but never think a
bit further.
In Russia, we have mister president Putin. People who openly criticize
him are easily put in jail. He is provoking neighboring countries. I wouldn’t
call him the perfect neighbor I could wish for. Let alone I trust him leading
a country.
In Turkey mister Erdogan is ‘clearing up’ the country in a
way one would think is impossible in the 21st century. Soon he will be another modern dictator. The scary thing here is that he is calling for help
from Turkish people, living in Europe. He wants to know exactly who is a
follower of his rival Gülen who lives in America for over 10 years now. Erdogan
wants the world to believe that Gülen was the brain behind the military coup a
few weeks ago. To me, it is very clear this coup was a set-up by Erdogan
himself. A real coup could not be stopped within only a few hours of course by policemen. And as soon
as the people behind the coup where caught Erdogan had thousands of people
arrested who had turned their backs against him. This to me shows it was all
carefully planned just to give him a ‘legal’ chance to reinforce his power.
All the above are examples of how things are in this world
right now. Not all threatening us directly maybe but still scared enough. Perhaps
it is all true that there are fewer wars. However, it does not necessarily mean
that the world is safer or a better place now. You may argue that many people
are better off now financially and that might be true for the Western countries
but is that the way to measure a safe and good world? I would not think so. If
some idiot sets off a bomb because his ‘God’ or ‘Allah’ wants it (which is
ridiculous in the first place!) and you happen to be there all of the money and
wealth in the world cannot help you there.
It is sad to say so but I cannot see the world is a good
place right now. Money still rules and the gap between rich and poor is getting
larger. 2000 years of civilization and we still behave nothing better than 2000
years ago. It makes mankind the most pitiful creature in a world that could be
beautiful and in harmony.
“Happy days
are here again”. If only that could be true!
Love the ones you’re
with and be loved in return
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