Stolen Futures

One of the standard tropes of modern political propaganda is the 'what would have happened' line.

They can spin any garbage this way - Iraq would have been the same or worse if we hadn't invaded; if we (and the US and Israel) weren't there blowing up cars to engender civil war, and blaming it on insurgents; if we weren't there raping, torturing and murdering Iraqis and their children, things would be much worse.

At this point they invoke some undefined, numinous evil - the witchdoctor waves his skull on a stick and the families draw close around the fire and hug their children close, and approve any evil against outsiders the witchdoctor approves and the warrior caste undertake.

This is of course closely related to the 'we are where we are' line, itself aligned with 'we have to look forward not back' and 'solutions not blame'. All rubbish of course, but hard to challenge in the arenas of media combat.

It all plays to a deep element of the human condition - the audience, the living, think 'it could have been worse, at least we're still alive', evincing that contempt for the dead and their hopes that is also part of our problem.

But behind all this lies a greater crime - futures and potentials killed off, the real 'what might have been'.

For instance, what might the world be like if Amerika and/or the Bush regime hadn't conspired to impose war without end on the world, to exacerbate religious conflict, to bring about the clash of civilisations they so desire; if a weird alliance of extreme Zionists and right wing Christians hadn't taken control of American politics and media; if the culture war begun in the 70s hadn't succeeded in driving America back to its central European village mentality and religiosity; if that extension of the culture wars, the war on the planet, hadn't tipped the world into environmental chaos, and we weren't facing such a fiercely uncertain climactic future...

If you're old enough to remember the dreams of the 60s and 70s, you know exactly what I mean. For example, we knew about climate change then, and what was required to address the problem. But then the culture warriors made it a touchstone loyalty issue, and nothing useful has been done since at a governmental level.

I read a blog the other day, one of those many bemoaning anti-Americanism, as if our opposition to bloody hypocrisy, to crimes against peace, to war, murder, torture founded on brutal lies was really just because we 'just hate America', or 'freedom' (not that I see much of that). The writer eulogised America's sense of enterprise, telling us how he loves to hear Americans tell of their plans for new businesses, new ways of making money; how he loves that sense of potential and enterprise.

Article Author: Chromatius

Disaffected. Dissident. Student of history, literature, religion and the black arts of political rhetoric and persuasion.

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