From Genocide to the Brave New Multipolar World

Let the healing begin!

Nothing happening now surprises me. It has been a racing train coming down the tracks for decades as the bulwarks of our societies have been pushed out of the way, collapsed, neglected and betrayed. It does surprise me it is happening in my life time. All the talk has been it is going to happen in some distant future; but the collapse of empires can never be scheduled. They are on a fuse and we just don’t how long that fuse is, or what event of series of events might set it off. Suddenly we are immersed in the horror of it all.

History is undeniably prophetic and records the rising barometer of the storm coming and we don’t where it is going to be on the Richter scale. We can blame shifting tectonic plates for earthquakes and tsunamis; but the rise and fall of empires and societies is our very own handiwork and takes the measure of our humanity and fallibility.

Our learning curves are always vulnerable to sharp spikes; especially when there is no due diligence. Several years ago I read a penetrating essay on the neoliberal ideology. Alarm bells went off all over the place. It was the ultimate social wrecking ball, the final solution, the big lock-down all in one. Ever since, I have been watching the spectacle unfold as we all dance among the ruins of neoliberalism.

What is neoliberalism? It has been described in many ways and has many disguises which is why it has been so virulent and hard to kill. Many books have been written about it, but who reads books?

One definition is to destroy societies to the point where all the power and money and is concentrated in the hands of the very few and those few are completely alienated from humanistic values, societal obligations, practicing responsible government, or maintaining democracy. The power elites no longer see people as citizens but commodities to be manipulated, controlled and exploited. The elites enjoy their bacchanal where they are unaccountable, make their own laws, enjoy impunity and see themselves as invincible messianic potentates. They weaponize whole societies to sustain their despotism, and capitalism becomes a predator.

Imagine going to your doctor. Your illness is diagnosed, then you are sent home with no treatment. Suddenly it explodes out of control and you are in the ICU on death’s door step. Welcome to the ICU, final out comes pending . This is how our societies have come to operate—loads of symptoms and no treatment— hiding from the truths of our times on steroids!

Imagine police arriving at the crime scene, hauling away the bodies, destroying the evidence and walking away pretending nothing ever happened. That is how our societies have come to function— grotesque failures of accountability.

All that has happened, what is happening NOW, will continue to happen into the future, unless we determine otherwise. We think History is the old shrew living in her crumpled old shoe; but she is ever present recording everything we do. She knows when accounts come due. She rocks in her rocking chair, setting the beat, while the pesky children tear down the house without further ado.

Genocides don’t just happen. The stage is set long before the curtain opens. Here is how the stage is set and the curtain lifted:

• Democracy collapses

• Liberals sell out to neoliberalism

• Money, power and greed rule societies.

• Too much money and power in the hands of too few.

• Perpetual war and the societal self-alienation that goes with it .

• The collapse and weaponization of rights, freedoms, and collective values.

• The omnipresence of ruinous overlapping ideologies.

• Abandonment of common sense and empathy for others.

• The ultimate incarnation of racism and class warfare.

• Systemic scapegoating, claiming righteousness while doing evil, and blaming others— the victim cult gone totally berserk.

Let the healing begin.

The essential multipolar world