Oh noes, is this another one of those posts where I lazily delegate my opinion-having duties by posting someone else's words?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
today is a positive day
I haven't really felt compelled to write in a long time, so of course the time I do decide to is the one time that I don't really need to say anything, because who needs an explanation right now? We all see it, we all know, and the whole world is so stoked for once. There are some dictator supporting hypocrites jumping on the bandwagon that will have to answer for their flip-flopping and the struggle is still far from over, but we have hope now. That is to say not some bullshit speeches from politicians trying to posture their way into our hearts without any substance but the real thing; and with the anger directed in all the right places for once because our leaders have always been complicit. Besides all that I'm more than happy that Tunisia was the spark because let's face it; before that point most people had forgotten they existed and now they're our heroes. Of course, I'm also ecstatic that everyone hates the Saudi royals as they totally should.
As for what this means to me (because this really is all about but me and MY feelings,) look at how the last decade started out and what followed that and then how this one started. In 2001 as far as politics go my world was pretty miserable but I was still watching an uprising in Argentina. Being the total nerd and news junkie I was I'd read about the massacres and torture perpetrated on behalf of US installed dictators in South and Central America and for me this was an amazing scene. It was obvious to me that one day the pendulum would have to swing back in the Arab world, I just didn't know it would be this soon. And o hai there the left, I missed your relevance.
The last decade also ended with some of the ugliest sectarianism yet, unless you're Iraqi in which it's just more of the same old stuff but apparently we should be happy because there was a 6% decrease from the previous year. In that light seeing the scenes and solidarity in the last month have been even more emotional; after revisiting manufactured phot-ops of the past decade it's even moreso. I'm not going to lie, as amazing as everything is right now it's really bittersweet thinking what could have been in Iraq if the last 30 years hadn't happened. Had chemical weapons not been sold, had the first war not happened and the US stood by when the first intifada was crushed (according to some because they feared the next gov would be pro-Iran), countless people killed and scattered, then starved untill another million died and still were bombed through the 1990s till 2003 when, well, you know. Feeding dictators then starving people is really not the best of combinations. I don't often say it but looking at Gaza these days reminds me so much of what Iraq went through in the 90s on a lot of levels besides the basic loss of life and deprivation and it worries me, a lot.
Also if this age does anything I really hope it kills some of the idiotic patriotic chauvinism among Arabs and cheap shots about ethnicities and nationalities that I have to look at on a daily basis. If you have a blog and you do this, I'm sorry what the fuck are you thinking? Just stop.
Let me hope that this all continues through to my birthday: March seems to always be an atrocious month for MENA and so much shit is associated with that time of year (stupid wars, Halabja, stupid political movements that shall not be named) and it'd be nice for that to change. Since money is power I hope one day we'll see that change come to the Gulf as well. After all this, I can definitely dream.
As for what this means to me (because this really is all about but me and MY feelings,) look at how the last decade started out and what followed that and then how this one started. In 2001 as far as politics go my world was pretty miserable but I was still watching an uprising in Argentina. Being the total nerd and news junkie I was I'd read about the massacres and torture perpetrated on behalf of US installed dictators in South and Central America and for me this was an amazing scene. It was obvious to me that one day the pendulum would have to swing back in the Arab world, I just didn't know it would be this soon. And o hai there the left, I missed your relevance.
The last decade also ended with some of the ugliest sectarianism yet, unless you're Iraqi in which it's just more of the same old stuff but apparently we should be happy because there was a 6% decrease from the previous year. In that light seeing the scenes and solidarity in the last month have been even more emotional; after revisiting manufactured phot-ops of the past decade it's even moreso. I'm not going to lie, as amazing as everything is right now it's really bittersweet thinking what could have been in Iraq if the last 30 years hadn't happened. Had chemical weapons not been sold, had the first war not happened and the US stood by when the first intifada was crushed (according to some because they feared the next gov would be pro-Iran), countless people killed and scattered, then starved untill another million died and still were bombed through the 1990s till 2003 when, well, you know. Feeding dictators then starving people is really not the best of combinations. I don't often say it but looking at Gaza these days reminds me so much of what Iraq went through in the 90s on a lot of levels besides the basic loss of life and deprivation and it worries me, a lot.
Also if this age does anything I really hope it kills some of the idiotic patriotic chauvinism among Arabs and cheap shots about ethnicities and nationalities that I have to look at on a daily basis. If you have a blog and you do this, I'm sorry what the fuck are you thinking? Just stop.
Let me hope that this all continues through to my birthday: March seems to always be an atrocious month for MENA and so much shit is associated with that time of year (stupid wars, Halabja, stupid political movements that shall not be named) and it'd be nice for that to change. Since money is power I hope one day we'll see that change come to the Gulf as well. After all this, I can definitely dream.
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