iGURU!’s – Weekly Review – 20th October 2019 “Without Justice, What Else is the State But a Great Band of Robbers?” – Saint Augustine If ‘the State’ is unable to uphold Universal Laws such as Justice, derived from principles which are rooted in a ‘consensus morality,’ based upon what it is to be human – chaos ensues. – This I believe, is what we are increasingly seeing being played out, in Nation States globally. The roots of this chaos and disorder may well be orchestrated by power elites, who have calculated that they may attain some gain, but it is not necessary here, to prove or speculate on this. What is clear however, is the evidence, this takes the form of a pervading uncertainty and unease people are experiencing, with things as they are - this ubiquitous feeling that things are not right. If we are not insensitive, we can also see and feel, what people are experiencing on both an individual and collective level. The trauma, being exhibited by ordinary people in diverse countries, regions and cultures. To feel and also express this ‘dis-ease,’ is now it seems, a common trait in what it means to be human, in today’s world. But the disease took time to arrive and take hold, initially touching only the poor and impoverished, the ‘wretched of the earth,’ - but now it is unquestionably here to infect all – save the deluded, or those in denial. The civil unrest, turmoil and disaffection - the protests, the cries for justice and fairness – the challenges to the State. The State has only itself to blame – or more accurately, I should say, those who have purported to rule and to lead, who have through ill will or negligence, allowed the institutions of the State, to become venial ‘corrupted’ and/or ‘captured.’ I can speak in general terms since, with rare exceptions, it is a truly global phenomena, which has taken hold the length and breadth of the planet. It seems that the ‘People,’ awoke and complained too late. Themselves - too negligent in part, to protect that which was fought for, through death and struggle, by generations past – the Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality – for All! – In truth these were aspirations - aspirations mouthed by many, but only heeded by a few – and so this Planet, the Societies of the earth, have now slipped into ‘default mode’ – which is not based on these things – but as exhibited now, tends to ‘Disorder’ and ‘Chaos.’ Resolution? - The grim spectre - Tyrants of ‘left’ or ‘right’ - or ‘technocratic’ - who wait quietly and patiently in the wings. Where is ‘Justice?’ – the overseer of Law, Order and Truth – I ask – where is She? As I look around, I don’t see Her. But she is immortal and shall require an answer, from those purported custodians of her attributes - since in her absence, the State itself becomes nothing more than a ‘criminal enterprise,’ which in its turn too - shall be usurped. To attempt ideological, partisan answers is to miss the point, since those solutions as interesting as they might be, only scratch the surface of the problem, since politically, the range of political ideological solutions have been tried from ‘left’ to ‘right.’ Both the former Soviet Union and China tried the left or Socialist option (some purists may argue whether this was indeed so.) It was also an ideology which was embraced to a great extent by the former colonized peoples, the so called developing nations or ‘third world.’ But look at where we are now, Russia has made its own traumatic passage through ‘Capitalism’ and has birthed the ‘Strong Man’ state and ‘Oligarchs.’ China is currently the second largest economy, in a largely ‘neo-liberal’ capitalist world and its remarkable achievements ‘warts and all,’ are vaunted as a possible model for nation states in the future. But there are clearly problems with this model (as with all previous ones.) One only has to look at 'China's Surveillance Society' (click for details) and China's alleged ill treatment of minorities - e.g. the Uighurs (for video - click here.) In addition, the protests that are occurring in Hong Kong (for index - click here) – these are current issues to be dealt with. As I have said to attempt a glib ideological answer to the problems currently facing the State, misses the point, since the issues raised go much deeper. Karl Marx was wrong – the state does not ‘wither away,’ its disappearance is not a ‘benign act’ – but neither does it disappear as a result of violence – it does not and will not wither. – What occurs is that it becomes ‘irrelevant.’ It does not ‘wither away,’ but shall continue to be assaulted by ‘Revolutions,' ‘Protests’ and crises - political, social and economic - but even they shall not cause its demise, since it is too well engrained in the ‘human psyche.’ It must become irrelevant to that psyche - the Consciousness of Humanity - that is the process of transition - it is the evolution of Human Consciousness. These are ‘Transitions’ - ‘Transitions' in the 'People’ themselves – their changes in ‘Consciousness,’ which will in turn ‘transform,’ the societies they live in – to ‘Create,’ which in turn will render the ‘State’ – irrelevant and meaningless. It is that ‘psyche,’ which must first be changed – And this is the ‘historic function’ of ‘Capitalism’ with its innate appeal to a ‘selfish consciousness’ as opposed to a ‘selfless consciousness,’ one finds in all the great and perennial spiritual teachings of the world. Seen in this light, we realise that it is therefore the role of Capitalism and its current ‘neo-liberal’ incarnation to ‘bring on,’ this assault on the State, since the consequence of its logic is inescapable, despite what its stewards and supporters – political theorists, economists and politicians may say. Both ‘Capitalism’ and its counterpart ‘Communism,’ seen historically are simply ‘rites of passage’ for the ‘emerging Consciousness’ – which shall render the State irrelevant. However, in the meantime, the challenges shall continue. There was a stark reminder as to the weakness of the State as it is, in Mexico this week. Here we saw a lethal example of armed defiance of the state, by powerful criminal elements – namely the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. The incident was sparked following the arrest of the son of an infamous Mexican Drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a former leader of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. The Mexican government, attempted to meet the challenge of armed resistance by the Sinaloa Mexican Drug Cartel. The streets were thrown into mayhem as the Sinaloa Drug Cartel waged war on the police and civilians. The police - overwhelmed by the Sinaloa Drug Cartel’s fire power, machine guns etc – backed down and El Chapos’s son was released (to read more - click here.) It is quite clear where the power is in Mexico – some would say that Mexico has become a ‘Narco State’ (a state run on drugs) – and its people unfortunately caught in the middle, are the victims of this global trade in drugs, which is worth billions of dollars and often dwarfs legitimate activity. Whilst actions, such as those which occurred in Mexico, appear alarming – we should not be surprised, since these ‘non state actors (Sinaloa Drug Cartel) are simply another example of the challenges all States now face, which may well be masked under various guises. In reality and with few exceptions, State functions have been uniformly and globally, ‘hollowed out.’ Their social functions carried out on behalf of the people, have become increasingly marginalized, through such ideologically driven economic processes/programmes, like the ‘privatisation’ of State assets. One consequence of such development is that the State’s appearance of power is just that - fictitious, in all things save its own survival – when it is still capable of using its unmatched and unparalleled force, should it choose to do so. But it has ceased to be the Shepherd of its people, since it makes its decisions not on any principle of Justice, but out of self interest. When, however it is met with organised and determined opposition as we saw in Mexico, it cowers. This is unfortunate. The worrying aspect for those currently at the levers of State power, is how low the threshold, in terms of ‘force,’ the challenge was, which caused the government to back down – whatever the excuses given. This must be concerning, given the wave of ‘people protests’ - and civil unrest we are witnessing. In Hong Kong -Friday 18th October marked the 20th weekend in a row of Hong Kong’s people protests (click for details.) In Barcelona the people took to the streets to riot as a result of Catalan Separatist leaders being convicted (to read more click here and here. This week saw Haiti mourners clash with police - “as thousands across Haiti attended funerals for protesters who have died in demonstrations aimed at ousting President Jovenel Moïse” (to read the article - click here.) In Lebanon the people are fighting back against taxes. In an article titled - 'Amid protests, Lebanon's Hariri sets deadline to resolve crisis' - one of the protesters is quoted as saying "Everyone is tired of this, the situation is horrible, people have no money, the people are falling apart, and all they give us is taxes, taxes, taxes," - And in Iraq – the people protest as a result of the Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's government failing to uphold his promise to end the corruption – and close the gap between the rich and the poor - read the article here. I could go on - Equador, Peuto Rico, Honduras, France – the list it seems, is getting longer by the day. But none of this is new. In recent times, the States power has been routinely challenged and even dwarfed by other non state actors, such as trans national corporations, global institutions, which exercise regulatory controls and private sectional interests, like global Banking – this leads us to the financial mismanagement, corruption, fraud, thefts - looting of State (the people’s) assets – the challenge to the State in Mexico, was simply a more obvious and blatant one – however, the morality is the same - endemic corruption and lawlessness, not just amongst criminals, but amongst a vaunted and hypercritical leadership (here's a link.) People are not naïve! – They have always known that ‘money talks’ – corruption, bribery and graft – it seems like the poor – ‘will always be with us’ (Mark 14:7, KJV) – But now – Money! - ‘screams!’- it ‘barks!’ ‘bites!’ – ‘roars!’ It seems - money talks alright! – more so now than ever before and people know it. As a consequence the civic morals, values and principles, that once governed society via institutions such as ‘the State’ – have all but disappeared and the State itself - hi-jacked. – Things are not as they were. Power has been increasingly amassed into fewer and fewer hands – oligarchs, tyrants, dictators (for related article - click here) – and as we can see from the recent events in Mexico – ‘organised crime’ and ‘gangsters’ are also now securely ensconced on that list. What we are seeing universally - is the interests of ordinary people, not being properly represented as the State has become corrupted and captured. In events such as these – we begin to see that it is the people vs. the state – the people are losing faith in the state - and will no longer support the state because they see it lacks Justice – the state has failed to protect the people, failed to honour its part of the ‘social contract’ (for a philosophy of social contract, government and people, one need only consider Rousseau's - 'The Social Contract' - click here.) The people in the main have honored their part of the bargain, recorded history shows the mass of Humanity as obedient - nay, maybe even servile. What have they received in return - unrelenting exploitation, pillage, wars, death. The Social Contract has been broken - this is what we are witnessing - the majority of people, even if they cannot articulate this - know it, because they feel it - since its breach has structured their minds, as much as it has fractured, their lives - and communities. It is both public opinion and public thinking. The danger of this public mindset, to those elites in power, is that all political discourse can be interpreted through this mindset, seen through these lenses. Standard or common political debate, is no longer ‘standard’ or ‘common’ - and can rapidly veer off into ‘uncommon behaviour,’ such activities are often, ill thought out, are counter- productive serving only to cause more misery. We saw an example of this earlier in the week as Extinction Rebellion protesters in London decided to climb on top of a train roof during rush hour to protest - to read the article click here. Further, every political debate or issue, has the potential to become a ‘constitutional crisis,’ – we are witnessing this in ‘Trump’s America.’ There is no more ‘normal politics’ anymore. If this situation continues, the corrosiveness unchecked and the fabric of the State is continually rent in this way – then there shall arise ultimately the question of ‘legitimacy’ - or to be more accurate the ‘Lack Of Legitimacy’- of the State. I am sure most are familiar with LOL – this acronym of social media - and in that context meaning to ‘laugh out loud’ – Here though it stands for the ‘Lack Of Legitimacy.’ So – LOL! – But it ain’t funny! – since the events that we witness, occurring daily around the world are troubling and extremely serious. It seems that whilst ‘global power elites’ were actively seeking and amassing power, they have simultaneously lost legitimacy. The wise know that power should not be ‘grabbed,’ but ‘ridden’ – since in the former there is created an ‘inverse relation’ to the ‘attribute’ – ‘Legitimacy.’ The latter course of ’riding’ power - provides no such difficulty, since such actions move in harmony with the ‘natural order.’ So what to expect now? – further tumultuous incidents, more ‘grabbing’- further ‘challenges’ - Tyrants - And a strive for legitimacy. REFERENCES TO ARTICLES, VIDEOS ETC To view the contents of this index – click on the subject of interest below. ALPHABETICAL ORDER
C China-Surveillance Society - Exposing China's Digital Dystopian Dictatorship | Foreign Correspondent (on Youtube 18-Sep2018) details Contact iGURU! - To get in touch with iGURU! - Send us a message Corruption - Corruption 101: The Dark Side Of Leadership (19-Jun2015) D Dictators - Dictators Love Trump, and He Loves Them (14-Mar2018) E El Chapo - Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán | World | The Guardian I Index Suggestions - Make a suggestion to / or for an iGURU! index P People Protests - Barcelona - Catalonia protests: Marches and general strike paralyse Barcelona - Barcelona - Violent clashes erupt as Spanish court jails Catalonia leaders - Haiti - Haitian funerals turn to protests as mourners, police clash - Hong Kong - Hong Kong braces for 20th straight weekend of unrest - iGURU!'s About Hong Kong Protests Index - Iraq protests: What's behind the anger? (7-Oct2019) - Lebanon - Amid protests, Lebanon's Hariri sets deadline to resolve crisis - London - Protesters dragged off tube train as Extinction Rebellion delay commuters in London – video - Protest News - The Guardian S Sinaloa Drug Cartel - The Sinaloa Cartel - Mexicandrugcartels Wiki Sinaloa Drug Cartel V Mexican Police - El Chapo: Mexican police free drug lord's son as Culiacán battle erupts - Mystery of Mexico’s cartel wars grows as ‘The Mouse’ is rescued - Violent clashes erupt between cartel gunmen and police in Mexico – video report Social Contract - Social Contract | Definition of Social Contract by Lexico PDF - The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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