Freedom and democracy are marketing mirages

I’ve been reading up on the hostage crisis and I’m not surprised by the tone of some of the Israeli politicians. I wish I was. It’s almost always the same with politicians the world over. Someone else’s fault, deflecting, projecting. Politicians aren’t going to help you, unless there’s something in it for them. I can’t imagine how it feels to know that your loved ones are at the mercy of politicians, Israeli or foreign, and some negotiators who might or might not have the hostages’ best interest at heart. As far as I know, the families of the abducted Israelis, and others, have no way of knowing how these negotiations are progressing. It’s top-secret, right? Sure, secrecy is important, but something is off here.

It’s likely that there are family members of hostages who either thought about or tried to rescue their family members from the clutches of evil. I wouldn’t dare to opine or judge and I believe that people who criticize these families for, however unorthodox, efforts to help their family members should really mind their own business if they have nothing of value to contribute.

Clearly, and shamefully, the calculation is that the hostages are more trouble than they are worth to some politicians. Psychopaths are just like that. Everything is a calculation, no emotions, no conscience, nothing, just business and pawns on the chessboard. What they are going to get out of it.

Now, I’m not going to play armchair psychiatrist and point fingers at the members of the Israeli political class, stating who’s a psychopath and who isn’t. Only a fool would do that. I don’t know these people, I’m an outsider who relies on newspaper articles to see what’s going on in Israel and why.

Then again, if you want a good example of psychopath-talk, try to find a conference with Aleksander Dugin, where he calls the genocide in Ukraine, ”nothing personal.” That’s a haunting example of how psychopaths think and, indeed, act.

So, I’d say, we’re told that we matter as individuals when it suits the political class. As such, the general strike seems like a good way to put pressure on the decision-makers to act sensibly. They can’t ignore thousands, maybe millions, of people. Israeli Finance Minister has actually accused the labor union chief of ”representing the interests of Hamas.” A classic technique, playing on people’s emotions to distract them from the core issue.

Freedom and democracy only work when they aren’t put to the test by hard, twisted, times. When grand geopolitical calculations, or even domestic political calculations come in, you’ll suddenly discover that you’re a mere pawn on the chessboard that belongs to someone else.

I speak from experience, by the way. I worked for a certain government institution here in Poland that went through, let’s say, a management change after the elections. Do you think anyone asked the people working for that institution if they wanted or liked these changes? Sure, there’s no doubt that these changes were needed, to an extent, but still, almost everyone got painted with the same brush by the powers that be,guilty or not. So, my friend, freedom and democracy are here today, gone tomorrow. They are a privilege that can be taken away at a moment’s notice, not a right. Only a smart society is capable of keeping the powers that be in check.

One more example. Around ten years ago, I was a volunteer translator at another government institution here in Poland and got a glowing letter of recommendation after two months. ”Cultured, great communicator, smart, punctual, dedicated, vast vocabulary,” in a nutshell. Sounds great, right? But hey, do you think the letter of recommendation, written by an employee representing an esteemed Polish government institution, helped me in any way? Nope. I guess I’m going to print it out and admire it.

Still, I believe the world is a giant puzzle and all these seemingly unconnected puzzle pieces are exactly where they need to be to form a coherent whole at the right moment.

How do people react to the disturbing realization that they really are, essentially, pawns? Some protest and scream, and stomp their feet, maybe try to target a VIP to be heard and gain notoriety. Others prefer jokes and stand-up comedy. Others, like me, write articles.

Then, there are some who decide it’s time for euthanasia – since they can’t change the world and all the madness in it, they become ”suicide tourists,” and end their lives after having fun here and there and leaving some kind of legacy. Some are afraid of ending up in some kind of an AI prison after death which would make salvation and reaching heaven impossible.

Finally, there are those who join the fight in places like Ukraine, where they know that death is lurking around every corner. They are fine with that, in fact, they expect death to come for them at some point. Oh, I can hear all the judgmental people here. ”These people are selfish, narcissistic, virtue-signalers, blah, blah, blah.”  Even if they are, they are still heroes for putting their lives on the line in my book.

So many armchair critics in this world who don’t know much about life but love to criticize and play politics at the dinner table. Hardly a legacy to be proud of, but that’s just me.