2010 pessimism
Bryan
Regular readers of this blog may find the next statement hard to believe. I am, by nature, an optimist. Really, I am. But over the course of 2009, a cloud of pessimism settled over me. And to be honest, I don’t see it lifting over the course of the coming 12 months.
Here’s an example of where my negativity stems from. Based on conversations with a mix of people in Belfast, it seems as though one of the largest determinants to peace and stability is economic well-being. Money, or more precisely, the process of pursing ‘the good life’ with a reasonable expectation of one day attaining it, can be positively distracting – in a “an idle mind is the devil’s playground” sense. Granted, an argument could be made for the role of things like intrusive body scanners and remote controlled planes that can bomb whole villages to smithereens. But does anyone really think that airport security, a hypertrophied ‘intelligence community’, or wars in far off places will rid the world of people like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, let alone the people who armed and trained him?
Once upon a time, before that great IMF idea that was economic structural adjustment, Zimbabwe was a relatively prosperous little country. We were wealthier than most of our neighbours, so we did our bit to keep out the poorer Malawians and Mozambicans. Those who got into the country were tolerated, but I’m pretty sure we tried to keep them to a minimum. And then the IMF came along and in a relatively brief period of time, income inequality within the country soared. People who were relatively well off built large walls to keep out their poor fellow citizens. For the most part, the walls served their purpose, but with increasing regularity, some found ways over them. They would then help themselves to things they couldn’t otherwise afford while the owners of the big houses were asleep. There came a point where we wrecked the country. Things got so bad that even those living in big houses behind bigger walls began to struggle. So a lot of Zimbabweans, rich and poor alike, made their way to neighbouring and distant countries, sometimes illegally scaling real and metaphorical walls and fences.
So why am I pessimistic? Because, it’s easier to build, buy and install body scanners and to blow stuff up than to try to understand the world on the other side of our walls. The world seems destined to imitate the likes of Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, who have found it easier to live with their fear than address the structures that give birth to their underworld. I’m pessimistic because I get the feeling that we’re a year closer to the day parts of the world are relegated to rubbish heap status, while others become fortified cities.
But I could be wrong.
Happy 2010.
11:23 pm
I’m not always in agreement with you Bryan, but you hit the nail on the head here. Too often the media (since we’re on the IT site) becomes enthralled with quick fixes, whether it be cluster bombs or economic sanctions. Only on rare occasions do they do what they are supposed to do, which is inform readers, engage with arguments and discuss and theorise solutions. It seems increasingly so that all they are concerned with is convincing, ‘leading opinion’ as it were, and more often than not they do this willingly or unbeknownst to themselves, on the behalf of elite powers.
So we are sure to get strings of articles about what are the best tactics to hunt down suspects in Yemen (this process has already begun), but maybe only one or possibly two articles looking at the root cause of this threat and ideas for a workable, ethical and realistic solution.
I wouldn’t go down this road of pessimism / scepticism, you’ll be sure to find it the quickest way out of a part time job… http://www.mediabite.org/article_In-media-exile—Part-1_313923316.html
Comment by David