Yes..yes…it’s past time to stick a knee in the throat of that garden mentality…Mother Nature is taking care of it…Santa Cruz pier in pieces in California.. us two-legged have a little more opportunity to upset the apple cart…maybe not for too much longer…
It is a choice… like violence .. it is a choice…it’s only since 911 that I’ve been Mikhail… most of my life I’ve been Tarech or Tarek or Tariq…here I am in California studying Turkish Makam music with a music teacher who lives 15 minute walk from my apartment… yet we rarely if ever discuss what’s taking place in Gaza.. the same applies to fellow band members…meeting weekly for ten years now…for me it is this disconnect to the machinations of the empire that I find difficult to understand… it is the..ours’ not to wonder why.. but to do and die… not sure if that helps either…we keep on… looking for understanding Diana…in this constant flow.
It’s not a matter of diplomacy…it is more an inability to speak or negotiate… if there is any speech … it moves towards violence… like the inability to drive when people are walking on the same road… I had that experience this morning when two large SUVs both came to a stop while a friend and I were walking along the side of the winding road on a hillside… they could have passed us without coming to a stop…but the shock of sharing the road with a human being brought out some other behaviour.
… cultural behaviour is a way to describe it… the need to own the road… the privilege of driving…
… much in the same way I cannot see the images of Gaza and its destruction in the same way as when I first saw those rubble strewn pathways through completely destroyed buildings.
I see how some of us are affected by this horror… and this is not the only horror taking place …
I cannot think of my fellow earthlings in the same way…any more…they seem to inhabit a different dimension…
It is clear… a vast majority seem to be able to keep moving without stopping…
Challenging the notion that there is something deeply wrong with our society as it commits genocide and supports wars everywhere is threatening to many.
An instantaneous response is that we're listening to fake news.
I find it hard to believe that these things are so well hidden from so many and, when they find out, they make excuses.
I would hope for that very silver lining of lesson learnt, if at the end of it all, we must still perish via standard of the mill, extermination and ethnic cleansing policies. No one should suffer this inhumane crushing agony. Yet Falastin is but one sad country story fighting for its fair ending..
When people open up to truth before them, and lay down their comfortable life in seek of a hero's journey to do what it right and required. When we can successfully transform and transition from subdued obedient sheep to beings awakened, enlightened and furious for immediate just change.
I'd rather live in the jungle--growing and alive with kindness and creativity--than live in the over-pesticide-filled, warmongering garden of the West, full of death and destruction.
Borrell's statement that Europe is a garden and the rest of the world a jungle that threatens to invade the garden testifies to the sheer arrogance and ignorance of the "West" despite his later apology. When he used this metaphor, he probably wasn't even aware of the irony; namely, that a jungle is an organic, self-regulating and internally balanced biosphere that supports biological diversity (as long as man does not interfere) whereas a garden is artificially planted, cultivated, and irrigated by gardeners. Even though, man-made gardens can be beautiful and beneficial, they must be tended or else they will be overcome by weeds, go to seed, or wither and die. Another thing he overlooked was "civilized" Europe's history of savagery, war, colonialism, slavery and exploitation of so-called uncivilized countries; all of which shows how little men like Borrell know about history, nature and reality!
With that outlook, he probably feels like the savagery, war, colonialism, etc. were perfectly justified. Bringing 'civilization' to the savages or some stupid thing.
It really was such an offensive statement. Why oh why are people with this outlook occupying positions of authority in the UN? And some of the others are even worse -- total hawks.
Thanks for commenting, Diane, and I agree that an actual jungle is so much more vibrant and resilient than a garden.
Thank you for the link to companies to boycott. If our governments won't do anything to alter Israeli comportment, it's up to regular people to apply some pressure. It's hard to picture international organizations applying sanctions to the Netanyahu government but if all the productive Israelis see that their economy is collapsing due to public opposition, they may just emigrate out. At least that would bring change.
I recently read somewhere that Israel is just hanging on by a thread: people are leaving in droves, their economy is terrible, the military demoralized. Here's hoping.
This genocide and Israel's reign of terror supported by the USA and the its allies must stop.
Borrell's quote refers to Rudyard Kiplings poem "The White man's burden" which simply verifies once again the profound racism of Western elites. White supremacy is just one of the fundamental motives underlying the violence and wars of the West.
Yes..yes…it’s past time to stick a knee in the throat of that garden mentality…Mother Nature is taking care of it…Santa Cruz pier in pieces in California.. us two-legged have a little more opportunity to upset the apple cart…maybe not for too much longer…
The folks in the garden are the biggest emitters too.
Your private jet or mine? Says it all. Well, a big chunk anyways.
Who needs numerous mansions, fancy cars and all the other unnecessary and polluting junk owned by those people.
Thanks for commenting, Mikhail.
It is a choice… like violence .. it is a choice…it’s only since 911 that I’ve been Mikhail… most of my life I’ve been Tarech or Tarek or Tariq…here I am in California studying Turkish Makam music with a music teacher who lives 15 minute walk from my apartment… yet we rarely if ever discuss what’s taking place in Gaza.. the same applies to fellow band members…meeting weekly for ten years now…for me it is this disconnect to the machinations of the empire that I find difficult to understand… it is the..ours’ not to wonder why.. but to do and die… not sure if that helps either…we keep on… looking for understanding Diana…in this constant flow.
Cultural habits are hard to break, Mikhail.
I only discuss these things with people who I know care about the issue, although I post regularly about Gaza on Substack.
It can be challenging to talk about these things with others, for sure. There might be a diplomatic way of doing this -- I wish I knew what it was.
Many US Americans ARE oblivious to anything outside their own survival, profit-seeking or entertainment. 🤔
It's understandable, unfortunately. Ours isn't a society that encourages the kind of awareness that makes what I talk about in this post obvious.
It’s not a matter of diplomacy…it is more an inability to speak or negotiate… if there is any speech … it moves towards violence… like the inability to drive when people are walking on the same road… I had that experience this morning when two large SUVs both came to a stop while a friend and I were walking along the side of the winding road on a hillside… they could have passed us without coming to a stop…but the shock of sharing the road with a human being brought out some other behaviour.
… cultural behaviour is a way to describe it… the need to own the road… the privilege of driving…
… much in the same way I cannot see the images of Gaza and its destruction in the same way as when I first saw those rubble strewn pathways through completely destroyed buildings.
I see how some of us are affected by this horror… and this is not the only horror taking place …
I cannot think of my fellow earthlings in the same way…any more…they seem to inhabit a different dimension…
It is clear… a vast majority seem to be able to keep moving without stopping…
Challenging the notion that there is something deeply wrong with our society as it commits genocide and supports wars everywhere is threatening to many.
An instantaneous response is that we're listening to fake news.
I find it hard to believe that these things are so well hidden from so many and, when they find out, they make excuses.
It feels impermeable.
Thanks for your comment, Mikhail.
Western gods and primitive bedouins..
How that narrative stales with age, propped up on flimsy taped-up, recycled propaganda.
Awaiting the promise, our turn, of never again..
Inshallah
🇵🇸♥️🙏
It is a stale and destructive narrative, Najwan. I wish so many weren't captured by it.
Never again, I hope this system evolves into something where the horror taking place in Gaza never happens to anyone in any country again.
Take good care.
I would hope for that very silver lining of lesson learnt, if at the end of it all, we must still perish via standard of the mill, extermination and ethnic cleansing policies. No one should suffer this inhumane crushing agony. Yet Falastin is but one sad country story fighting for its fair ending..
No one should have to go through that kind of suffering. How do we ensure that never again really means never again?
When people open up to truth before them, and lay down their comfortable life in seek of a hero's journey to do what it right and required. When we can successfully transform and transition from subdued obedient sheep to beings awakened, enlightened and furious for immediate just change.
It's what all of us who have a conscience must do, Najwan.
The metaphors are rich and painfully apt. The wealthy enjoy themselves; the rest of us watch our lives spiral downward. Saddest of all are the many once-middle class people who are now effectively at or near the poverty line. However, the Romans discovered a marvelous strategy millennia ago: "divide and conquer." In the USA, the rich manipulate the poor to turn their anger toward the "others" (e.g., immigrants). Meanwhile, the planet is burning, yet people ignore the old aphorism, "Only a fool fights on a burning bridge" -- cf., https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/27/climate-crisis-dangerous-heat-2024?utm_term=676ea54e3bdb6eb94838dc555af37866&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email.
Thanks, Lenny. Agreed: divide and conquer is used by the west, and very effectively.
I hope we all keep working towards solidarity and a system that serves everyone, not just those in the 'garden'.
Ugh, that disgusting comment... straight out of the legacy of colonialism, which too is not behind us...
Powerful piece, Diana.
Thanks, Kevin. It was good to finally express those thoughts. It took me awhile...
I'd rather live in the jungle--growing and alive with kindness and creativity--than live in the over-pesticide-filled, warmongering garden of the West, full of death and destruction.
Power to the Weeds! (People, that is.)
And I like being one of the weeds! They say that dandelions, if they weren't so prolific, would be considered a super healer of a plant.
Borrell's statement that Europe is a garden and the rest of the world a jungle that threatens to invade the garden testifies to the sheer arrogance and ignorance of the "West" despite his later apology. When he used this metaphor, he probably wasn't even aware of the irony; namely, that a jungle is an organic, self-regulating and internally balanced biosphere that supports biological diversity (as long as man does not interfere) whereas a garden is artificially planted, cultivated, and irrigated by gardeners. Even though, man-made gardens can be beautiful and beneficial, they must be tended or else they will be overcome by weeds, go to seed, or wither and die. Another thing he overlooked was "civilized" Europe's history of savagery, war, colonialism, slavery and exploitation of so-called uncivilized countries; all of which shows how little men like Borrell know about history, nature and reality!
With that outlook, he probably feels like the savagery, war, colonialism, etc. were perfectly justified. Bringing 'civilization' to the savages or some stupid thing.
It really was such an offensive statement. Why oh why are people with this outlook occupying positions of authority in the UN? And some of the others are even worse -- total hawks.
Thanks for commenting, Diane, and I agree that an actual jungle is so much more vibrant and resilient than a garden.
Thank you for the link to companies to boycott. If our governments won't do anything to alter Israeli comportment, it's up to regular people to apply some pressure. It's hard to picture international organizations applying sanctions to the Netanyahu government but if all the productive Israelis see that their economy is collapsing due to public opposition, they may just emigrate out. At least that would bring change.
My understanding is that many of them are.
I recently read somewhere that Israel is just hanging on by a thread: people are leaving in droves, their economy is terrible, the military demoralized. Here's hoping.
This genocide and Israel's reign of terror supported by the USA and the its allies must stop.
Borrell's quote refers to Rudyard Kiplings poem "The White man's burden" which simply verifies once again the profound racism of Western elites. White supremacy is just one of the fundamental motives underlying the violence and wars of the West.
I realize there are others too. I think this racist, elitist worldview enables them.
If we saw each other as equals we wouldn't be able to commit genocide or create needless wars.
Very strong piece, Diana. ❤️
Thanks, Mary. These feelings have been simmering for a long time, from the first time I heard that horrible quote.
US Americans NEED to Rise Up with the global working class. I do understand some reasons why they haven't yet.
I think there are lots of ways people are organizing, but maybe not calling it that, J C.
We need real huge results, Diana. We need to flip the power dynamics. Money in politics is a disaster. You/we know this.
Here's something that might help. https://www.community-exchange.org/home/
We need to use all the tools in the toolbox in this loaded moment.