Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 12/Feb 03:54

Dark times for the world

Dr Gabrielle Jamela Hosein THE determined swing to the right, which began as a backlash to the progressive politics of the 1960s and 1970s, has now accelerated overnight. At least that’s how it appears, though the ground was set by Thatcherism and Reaganomics in the 1980s, and observers had been sounding an alarm for decades. It’s like fossil capitalism’s ecocide. We all saw climate change coming, most of us decided not to care, some of us made sure to profit, too many chose to believe nonsense, and too few backed those trying to pull us back from the brink. Yet how many will claim ignorance, helplessness, inevitability or, worse, innocence when we are all climate catastrophe’s victims? We abandoned the collectivism that aimed to socialise wealth and power and opted for "us versus them," particularly when "they" were poor, women, LBGTQI or migrants. Men’s groups decided women’s rights were the problem. The rich lobbied for less tax, barricaded themselves against the outcomes of increased class inequality, and left the "have-nots" struggling to stretch welfare. The mainstream erupted in homophobia and transphobia, as if marginalised people wanting equal sovereignty over their own identities, bodies and hearts was an actual threat to the billionaire broligarchy crushing workers and democracy. And, everywhere, citizens of states devalue migrant lives and rights, despite all evidence that this is foolish, poor policy and lacking in empathy. In a hemisphere where all of us, except for indigenous peoples, were once migrants, it is so easy to turn us ideologically against ourselves. We – men, the rich, the well-educated, the politically dominant, the religious – have been selfish, self-righteous, fearful, and exclusionary. Short-sightedly, it seems, we will only realise where we are long after we have arrived. This dark time feels like the years before the Nazis came to power, when ordinary Germans voted for Hitler, aware of his rhetoric. Later generations would hold them responsible for their complicity as we should be held responsible for ours. Gaza. Gaza. Gaza. Obliteration, extermination of generations, and mutilation of children. The world’s powerful are most guilty of silence. University students in the US had to risk loss of scholarships, suspension, and expulsion to show the courage we most need. Meanwhile, amidst the US militarising of the Gaza Strip’s annihilation, Trinis were awarding the US ambassador and jumping up to celebrate (without irony) US independence as if war crimes and the occupation of Palestinian territories mean nothing. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, visited Gaza and confirmed the plan to turn it into a demolition zone, force Palestinians from their homeland and develop it as “waterfront property” a full year ago. We in the Third World were once a majority voice for the "underdog": Indian farmers against Monsanto, African mothers against Nestle, Latin American popular movements against the CIA, Palestinians against Zionist settlers. Today, Trinis support Trump, as if his defence of white supremacists is a line it is acceptable to cross. Elon Musk is embracing Germany’s far right party and somewhere someone is still hailing him as a good businessman. When insanity seems to be escalating daily from the White House, where does conscience begin and end? Will you wake up one day and act surprised that it has all gone too far? At home, we are just as susceptible to distraction and apathy. Union members are offered six per cent while the PM’s salary is to increase 47 per cent, the Opposition Leader's by 76 per cent, and government ministers'by 27 per cent. We should be livid at such elite self-aggrandisement. Why wear a party T-shirt and wave a flag when none of those increases are for you? Further, from the Privy Council’s dismissal of the Minister of Finance’s appeal, we can see clearly when political muscle and state resources are used to intimidate watchdog institutions. The Auditor General, Jawantie Ramdass, is a boss for insisting on her role and independence. Lady Simler of the Privy Council actually asked, “To what extent is the minister’s conduct going to be investigated?” Will we let the ruling party dismiss this as nothing? On the Opposition, Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s panic-mongering obfuscations about a “woke, extreme left-wing agenda” are opportunistically capitalising on this era’s right-wing swing. Such propaganda is not for me or my family. Forces like the Nazis came to power because people supported their divisiveness, allowed the mighty to act with impunity, were unthinkingly loyal to leadership, believed misinformation, and failed to defend the right principles when it mattered most. Those lessons from the past confront us today. We should heed them before it is too late. Diary of a mothering worker Entry 550 motheringworker@gmail.com The post Dark times for the world appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.