Then, HG Wells laughed
So did Jean Pierre, Plato, and George Orwell seeing the rise of demagoguery in the world. Suporno Chaudhury, reporting from the United Nations Security Council, opines.
When the cry of 'I have a dream' drowns out in a sea of voices howling 'Make America great again', it is understandable that the dystopia HG Wells had feared in 'The world set free' is around the corner. Much to the dismay of the reporter, all it took was a capture of a ship (allegedly carrying contraband material) by the Naval vessels of the People's Republic of China, to suspend all the dialogues of peace and compromise, and start jumping for each other's throat again almost as if they had never stopped.
Pavlov's principle of classical conditioning states that "Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus in order to produce a behavioral response known as conditioned response." The people of the nations at the two side of a dispute have become so conditioned to a sense of hatred by the constant bombarding of propaganda present in the news, advertisements, and government reports that even when there is a open opportunity of dialogue, it is generally approached by a deep rooted sense of suspicion. The seizure of the ship was under complete logical grounds and was a routine measure for anti-piracy, the laws of which are documented under the United Nation Convention for the Law of the Sea, Article 105 and 106. That did not stop the delegates from voicing the wildest of speculations. The Delegate of Philippines claimed that this was a step taken by an emboldened Chinese government, working on the 'blind support and loyalty' extended by the government of Uruguay and Russia. The Delegate of Philippine felt a need for 'binding restraints on People's Republic of China, which was in complete contrast to the stance taken by their President who had looked forward to the dropping of obligations to the international community on their nation by refusing of military and economic aid. President Duterte wanted the development of peace using bilateral ties with no influence by the secondary claimants.
This mercurial behavior shown by the Diplomatic, Political, and Administrative Bureau of Philippines is sadly shared by most of the nations in the Security Council, who sat poised for chances to bring down the delegates of the other countries.
In 'The Republic' by Plato, he vehemently speaks against the idea of 'Cheap democracy' as practiced by most of the nations today. Nations having universal suffrage but where the citizens are not very knowledgeable about the procedure; they do not possess the capacities of reason and are simply ignorant to the dynamics of the world. The people whose lives are limited within a well as their immediate surroundings explained perfectly by Swami Vivekananda in his Chicago speech, '...the frog lives in a well and thinks - this is the whole world.' It is very easy for the political leaders to arouse a false sense of patriotism and belonging by helping them identify a common enemy and arousing in them the most base of all emotions: aggression. This gives the political leaders a way to climb onto the pedestal by leading the war against the common enemy. Sadly, often this common enemy is a race different from others - ethnic cleansing at the hands of Hitler; immigration ban by Donald Trump. As it is said in 'The Wakening of the World' (by Friedrich Nietzsche), a war cry is often better heard than the mumbling of peace.
Patriotism today, feels less like the pride in the economy, culture, and the scientific achievement of a country, and more about the egotism in wartime achievements of their country at the cost of others. As the Delegate of United States of America said with distinct arrogance during the press conference, "USA is the mightiest of all countries in the region". Even more disturbing was that apart from the International Press, no one else seemed alarmed by this. In Literatorskie mostki, Saint Petersburg, Pavlov might also be laughing in his grave.
When man forgets his reason, forgoes his belief in the rightful rulers, loses all respect for the man toiling for our food, and condemns fellow man from another land to the painful jaws of death, that is when the fallen angel will know that his work on earth is done.
- Pope Benedict XVI
Sources:
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