{"id":15753,"date":"2011-11-14T13:49:20","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T13:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=15753"},"modified":"2011-11-14T13:57:03","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T13:57:03","slug":"the-bad-in-the-good-and-the-good-in-the-bad-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/11\/the-bad-in-the-good-and-the-good-in-the-bad-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bad in the Good and the Good in the Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Same as last week. -TMS editor)<\/em> The world is ambiguous, with forces and counter-forces, for good and for bad.\u00a0 Contradiction is the rule, with bad in the good and good in the bad, etc.\u00a0 And there are verbal contradictions; there is the opinion, and the other opinion, as Al Jazeera says, valid and invalid, whether such verbal debates reflect non-verbal contradictions or not. Thus, this column and author reap counter-arguments, and any author should be grateful to opponents.\u00a0 What can I learn?\u00a0 Factual mistakes?\u00a0 Logical?\u00a0 How to be so clear as to avoid misunderstandings?\u00a0 Or state assumptions, like ambiguity?<\/p>\n

More particularly, there were strong reactions in T\u00fcbingen, Germany, on 16 July, when I compared Hitler’s killings during World War II–including shoah–to US killings all over the world since WWII.\u00a0 There was a reaction to my keynote address to the World Humanist Congress in Oslo on 12 August (this column 15 August)[i]<\/a>, and to a talk at the University of Oslo on 30 September on the background for the horrors in Norway on 22 July.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

One recurrent theme is democracy vs. autocracy, the USA being the former and Hitler’s Germany the latter.\u00a0 They cannot even be compared–ruling out a key method of understanding–the assumption being that democracies can do only good having a mandate from the people and autocracies nothing good, having no such mandate.<\/p>\n

This approach is at odds with the ambiguity of reality and leads to inability to remedy such ills of democracy as a war-prone people seeing democracy as a license to kill, and to inability to understand why Hitler was attractive to so many, like by opening for social mobility through the divide between “common people” and the “well-conditioned”.\u00a0 Democracy may see itself as infallible and engage in massive direct violence whereas autocracy may try to reduce structural violence.\u00a0 Ambiguity, in other words.<\/p>\n

But Democratic Peace, democracies do not fight each other?\u00a0 Wrong: the 1973 US-supported coup against Chile\u2019s Salvador Allende; the France-EU-supported Front de Lib\u00e9ration Nationale-FLN 1990 coup in Algeria; the 1999 US-NATO war against a Milosevic reasonably elected by Serbians; the Israeli siege of Gaza with a democratically elected Hamas.\u00a0 That thesis is for members of the inner club.\u00a0 But, abolish the UN Security Council\u2019s veto and allow the UN General Assembly override, or better, a UN Peoples’ Assembly directly elected, and we are in peace business, with global democracy.\u00a0 The thesis is empirically wrong, logically flawed by confusing intra- and inter-state, and imposes Western style multi-party national election democracy as opposed to transparency and dialogue democracy.[iii]<\/a>\u00a0 Ambiguity again!<\/p>\n

Like the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Charter 08 and Liu Xiaobo for freedom of expression.\u00a0 But how does Liu use free speech?[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

How can China achieve real change? Liu:<\/p>\n

“Three hundred years of colonization.\u00a0 It took Hong Kong one hundred years to become what it is.\u00a0 Given the size of China–it would need 300 years.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“The free world led by the U.S. fought almost all regimes that trampled on human rights…The major wars that the U.S. became involved in are all morally defensible”.<\/em><\/p>\n

“No matter what, the war against Saddam Hussein is just!\u00a0 The decision by President Bush is right!”<\/em><\/p>\n

“When looking back on the Middle East war at the inception of Israel, Israel was battling with the entire Arab world, with the fire stoked up by Arabs”.<\/em><\/p>\n

He has the right to endorse colonialism, all US-led wars, leave unmentioned UN resolutions and the peaceful resolution that ended the Cold War and probably will do so in the Middle East.\u00a0 But by endorsing him as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the committee put freedom of expression above the struggle against colonialism, the UN, peaceful resolution, the human right to life, etc.\u00a0 The prize could have been given to Charter 08, not to Liu.\u00a0 Ambiguity again.<\/p>\n

The same applies to Israel.\u00a0 Yakov M. Rabin’s A Threat From Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism<\/em>[v]<\/a> distinguishes between transnational Judaism and nation-state zionism in Israel.<\/p>\n

There are the beauties of everlasting dialogue, also about oneself for self-improvement, and the ideas, used by zionism, of chosen people (Exodus 19:5-6) with a promised land (Genesis 15:18-21).[vi]<\/a>\u00a0 In no way can critique of the zionist state of Israel, with its “New Religion”, violence, disregard for UN resolutions, and no vision of peace beyond undefined “defensible borders” be silenced with the word “anti-semitism”.\u00a0 Thus, the monster who killed 77 Norwegians with a bomb and guns on 22 July this year, mentioned “Israel” 359 times in his Manifesto; his christian-zionist leanings have to be pointed out as well as his templar-free mason affiliations.\u00a0 Ambiguities all over, bad in the good.<\/p>\n

But, if there is ambiguity in everything, then how about my own peace vs. war-violence?\u00a0 Just the same.\u00a0 Peace harbors the absence of the challenge, the excitement of violence, and in war, the presence of dedication, heroism, sacrifice.\u00a0 Like health may harbor complacency and disease a deep reflection on the meaning of life and death.\u00a0 But consciousness about ambiguity may help us overcome the tyranny of false dichotomies.\u00a0 Neither peace nor health should be taken for granted–if they are, they are soon lost–but be seen as something to work on every day, one way or the other.\u00a0 As for excitement: transforming conflict offers more challenge than most people can absorb.\u00a0 So does a fight against cancer.\u00a0 Be prepared.<\/p>\n

Buddhism combines deep meditation with a long, healthy life.\u00a0 So does dedication to peace.\u00a0 Nevertheless, we can learn from disease and war, from the good in the bad, and work even better for health and peace, knowing more.\u00a0 This is what the philosopher-psychologist William James did in his superb Essay “The Moral Equivalent of War” (1906), using the good in the bad as a bridge to the good.\u00a0 Like in Gandhi’s satyagraha brigades, with their latter-day imitations, up to the Arab Spring: dedication, courage, heroism, sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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[i]<\/a>. Staffan Gunnarson, Vice-President of the European Humanist Federation, http:\/\/www.humanistfederation.eu\/download\/160-Democratic%20peace%20GUNNARSON.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, I critique the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu, but I do not extend this to Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov; I have found in them no glorification of colonialism and war.\u00a0 Obviously not in Ossietzky either.<\/p>\n

Yes, I find important similarities between what happened in Norway on 22 July, killing young laborites and the Norwegian killing of what they call taliban: use of massive violence\u00a0 for political purposes (aka fascism); very poor theories of how violence will work, removed from reality; legitimation in history and christian-zionist ideology in one, and democracy as license to kill in the other; the enormous suffering caused in both places; and the defiance, the violence will not work!<\/p>\n

Yes, I do not believe in imposing upon Afghanistan our form of life by means of violence; this is also known as colonialism and imperialism.\u00a0 Afghanistan, like all societies, needs change, and it is coming, from neighbors and other countries in the ummah<\/em>, peacefully; not from infidels by means of war.<\/p>\n

Yes, China and Cuba do not have multi-party national elections, but that in no way rules out extremely important human rights contributions, like lifting 400 million from misery to lower middle class from 1991 to 2004 (in line with the East Asian theory of socio-economic rights first, then civil-political, “opening up” as the Chinese say and practice), like lifting tens of thousands of women out of prostitution when Cuba was a brothel for North America into literacy and dignity.\u00a0 Multi-party elections or not capture only a little fraction of the human condition.<\/p>\n

It must have been problematic for Gunnarson that the huge congress audience rewarded my speech with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a>.\u00a0 John F\u00e6rseth, “Galtung leker med ilden”, Dagbladet<\/em> (a Norwegian tabloid) 5 October 2011.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0Yes, I see the membership in the Free Masons and the Templars as important because of oaths among members and the secrecy: ties of loyalty that constitute a collectivity of solidarity, support, perhaps also cooperation on that day of his atrocious attack on categories of people, those working in government buildings and AUF (Workers\u2019 Youth League) members at Ut\u00f6ya.\u00a0 Just like the collectivity of Norwegian-NATO soldiers killing an Afghan category they call “taliban” in Afghanistan; oaths, secrecy, solidarity. The Norwegian author Erik Rudstr\u00f6m, like others, assumes ties with organizations such as Skull and Bones at Yale and the secret services.\u00a0 The refusal of the Norwegian secret services to be investigated (for its lack of warning) by anybody but themselves–so far accepted by the government, a blow to Norwegian democracy–is compatible with that hypothesis.<\/p>\n

Yes, to catch him would have been easy: a list of everybody with a gun license in Norway, a list of everybody who bought that major bomb ingredient, the artificial fertilizer of Oklahoma-McVeigh fame, the hints from Poland, a list of highly anti-Muslim websites, and he is in the intersection.\u00a0 Elementary, trivial.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are conspiracies in history; like the American, French and Russian revolutions, like the two world wars, like the 240+ US interventions in other countries.\u00a0 True, such theories remain hypotheses until they are overwhelmingly confirmed by facts.\u00a0 Read Anthony Sutton’s books about Skull and Bones and judge for yourself.<\/a>\u00a0 My conclusion: interesting, but I need more evidence like for “the USA inflicted 9\/11 on itself”.<\/p>\n

Yes, Rudstr\u00f6m mentions “The Zion Protocols”, says he does not know who wrote them–the “Elders”, the Russian secret police or Maurice de Joly–but read them as a guide to our world and judge for yourself.\u00a0 My conclusion: interesting, but I need more evidence.<\/p>\n

For Norwegian readers my talk was published in Morgenbladet<\/em> on 7 October 2011; read it and judge for yourself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[iii]<\/a>.\u00a0 For details, see Chapter 3, The “Democratic Peace” Hypothesis: An Epistemological Fraud”, in Galtung, Scott, Democracy*Peace*Development<\/em>, TRANSCEND University Press, No. 2, 2008. www.transcend.org\/tup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[iv]<\/a>.\u00a0 See Barry Sautman and Yan Hairong, “The ‘Right Dissident’: Liu Xiaobo and the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize”.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a>.\u00a0 London: ZED, 2006.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vi]<\/a>.\u00a0 For a recent critique of the chosen people idea, see Gideon Levy “Jewish people are just that, people, and far from chosen”, Ha’aretz<\/em><\/a>, 9 October 2011.\u00a0 Exactly, “just that, people” and as such not unambiguously good, incapable of ever doing wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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