There’s an old tale that casts a humorous light on the arrogance that is seemingly common to humanity, and which is certainly rife in professions:
One day a priest and a rabbi were sitting on a park bench pontificating about the wretched state of worldly affairs and the self-centredness of their fellow man. Oblivious to the delicious irony that lurks behind every leaf of God’s creation, they were enjoying themselves immensely:
Rabbi: “You know Father, this world is full of false pride; people are so busy proclaiming their own righteousness that they ignore the dignity of others”
Priest: “You are so right Rabbi; let us do something in this park today that demonstrates that we are all blessed creatures of God, that our creator holds none above another”
Rabbi: “Splendid idea Father; let us take two branches from that birch tree and use them to castigate our flesh, let us set the whip to our own backs in a sign of humility before God, and equality with our fellow man”
Priest: “Yes Rabbi, and so that the blind amongst our brethren might receive equal benefit from our sacrifice, we shall chant ‘I’m nobody’ in time with each lash”
So the two old clerics selected their branches and began the task with gusto - lashing themselves robustly and crying ‘I’m nobody’ in perfect synch’ with each stroke. As time went by the effort required and the pain administered began to tell, and their spirits flagged noticeably…particularly since most visitors to the park, upon coming into view of them, suddenly remembered that they’d left something behind in the car park.
After a while an old Sadhu came wandering down the path dressed only in a loincloth, carrying just his bowl. At the sight of what he took to be two fellow travellers on the path to enlightenment, the Sadhu was immediately visited by a compelling idea:
“This is a sign that God wants us to shed our arrogance; our pretence of superiority over others, and join together in celebration of man’s humility before Him, and respect for his fellow man…I must join my efforts with that of my brothers”
As the old ascetic selected and stripped his birch stick, the Rabbi and the Priest looked on in utter disdain at his dishevelled hair and almost naked body. Then as the Sadhu settled himself next to them, and as he broke his 15-year vow of silence with the words ‘I am nobody’…
…The Priest turned to the Rabbi and said…’Look who thinks he’s nobody’
When you turn on the TV today, or pick up your newspaper, or go to your social media of choice, you will be met with pundits, politicians, and experts, mostly ‘somebodies’ of some description, telling you how disgusted you should be by Putin’s general election rigging, Hillary’s primary election rigging or not, Brazile’s betrayal of the 'Woman who would be Queen', Weinstein’s sick exploits inside and outside of the bedroom, and how much money the Queen has got stashed away offshore.
It’s not that I don’t have a position on these issues, I do:
· No he didn’t
· Yes she did
· No she didn’t
· Yes he did – nail the bastard
· Of course she did, but that’s not the point
A couple of minutes later you’ll get the latest on the Sexminster scandal (if the reporter wants blood), or the Pestminster scandal (if he or she thinks it’s over the top).
Hang around a few minutes more and you’ll be hijacked with the notion that you should give a damn about the political ‘races’ that just won’t die. In the US, the Democrats still can’t accept that they lost to the 2nd worst presidential candidate in history because they fielded the worst one. Across the pond in the UK we have a group of sore elitists, led by the absurd Ben Bradshaw, who is now trying to convince everyone that the Russians swayed the Brexit referendum too. Here is something sensible on both of these:
In the main, you will find yourself awash with these ‘somebodies’ all sharing their latest ‘expert’ analysis. Except for one small problem - most of them do not seem to be thinking it through. Much of the ‘analysis’ is nothing more than kneejerk reaction.
But the thing that concerns me most is none of the above. The thing that scares me is that Israel and Saudi Arabia are clearly positioning themselves for war with Hezbollah (Lebanon), as the first stage in the dismantlement of the regime in Iran.
So when I read the media talking about Saudi’s ‘clampdown on corruption’, I can hardly credit that anyone could be so stupid. This is Mohammad bin Salman performing a cull of his rival princes, particularly ones with influence in Washington.
Similarly when I read commentators accusing Saudi Arabia of being ‘stupid’ for stating that Lebanon has declared war, I can hardly believe my ears. This is deliberate ‘positioning’. It was no random or opportunistic event that Netanyahu came out strongly in support of Saudi’s statement. They are laying the ground for an attack on Lebanon, and then Iran. They have calculated that Trump can be brought on board, and will be brought on board, as soon as Iran retaliates in some way. If that fails, they will create a false flag incident.
Seriously folks…does anyone really think that wars are ‘random’?
Does anyone really believe that Putin doesn’t know how the game is played? Is anybody really naïve enough to imagine that China is going to sit back and allow the west to scupper its plans for the Silk Road?
Whatever you think of Putin or Russia, and most of us have been fed with neocon propaganda for years…Putin ‘reads’ the international scene far better than any of the clowns in Washington, Downing Street or Brussels. He knows that Israel and Saudi Arabia will not rest until Iran is subdued. He knows that Trump is a puppet, and the real decision makers in Washington work for the Pentagon, the CIA and Halliburton & Lockheed.
Here’s the thing. The ‘somebodies’ clearly don’t get it. That leaves the ‘nobodies’.
In a few years’ time I’m going to be having a chat with my grandkids and they’ll be saying one of a number of things:
a) "Blimey granddad you got that one wrong – Paranoid or what? I thought you stopped smoking whacky backy in your twenties?" I can live with that
b) "Never mind granddad, the machine took us to war again, but at least you said something". I can live with that
c) "Well done granddad, you were one of those people who made enough noise so that the propaganda couldn’t work like it did with Iraq, Libya and Syria". I can definitely live with that
d) "Granddad - you could see this coming and you did nothing to stop it. Why didn’t you and your generation do more to prevent those monsters from starting another war?" I can’t live with that
So...my analysis, and supporting evidence is laid out in a piece I wrote a few weeks ago called: ‘The Psychopath, the Puppet, and the Princeling’. If you haven’t read it - please do. If it ‘rings’ with you, post it somewhere or send it to someone else you think will appreciate it. If it doesn’t, thank you for giving me the gift of 15 minutes of your time.
You can find it at Renegade, in colour & with pictures, or at my blog:
Thank you for reading this.