The identifiable beauty of not being informed and getting away with it.
Now, you may correct me if I’m wrong but, it seems we have at least a few basic rules and understandings as the result of becoming a slightly more educated society. No, we’re not ready yet to just allow proven facts to be the measure of things but documented truth becomes more and more the base of our decisions. In a civilized world, judges rule on proven facts which, no matter how many sides there are to a story, overrule emotions or single pointed views. Of course there are exceptions to the rule in less developed democracies where capitalism has corrupted the system by making it possible to buy a seat in court, where servants of the law are elected because that can “run for office” without any education or specific knowledge and where verdicts are spoken by a jury, depending on their own believes and background. There are people who don’t care about facts and just speak out their opinion as it were the truth, but in most cases, these stories are proven wrong after a few minutes of fact-finding and experts explanations. Emotions and religious thoughts, however, seem to be brought back into moments of judgement and are presented with so much volume and conviction that common sense and consideration of listening to facts get buried under a thick layer of polluted fog. Of course, history will provide the truth, but it seems that in the current times of seeking for offenders who are to blame for our own incapability to make our lives matter and successful, even historical facts are considered to be irrelevant.
Most of us know the reason behind why some people had a dream of making Europe to the political project it is today. It’s horrifying to see that a few populist politicians are able to convince a big part of the E.U. citizens that historic events are not relevant. #Brexit proved a lot in that perspective, but that’s not where the real problem lies. The real problem is the lack of education, historic facts only ending up in schoolbooks and lessons if it suits the elite, that varies per country. What if we all would be informed based on facts, what if history books were not written from just one perspective as there are religion, nationality or political systems? Oh yes, there will always be people trying to gain power by bending history to be in line with their own perspectives. But at least nobody could claim they follow these populist narcissists because they were unaware of facts.
Suppose the Germans would put statues of Hitler on roundabouts, have yearly events to remember the greatness of his Nazi regime accomplishments, suppose there would be a celebration day for Idi Amin, suppose there would be an international Stalin-day where international politicians would look at a parade of the Russian army, drinking Heineken beer with a dictator, (well our Dutch King actually does), suppose the next American president would attend to a ceremony where a big monument in remembrance of Bin-Laden would be revealed, suppose Angela Merkel would congratulate Erdogan at a ceremony to remember that great Turkish victory, namely killing a few hundred thousand Armenian’s. Well, it’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? It’s unlikely to happen ever. We remember and pay our respect to victims and sometimes heroes, we would never put the murdering dictators, the religious terrorists, the serial killers and leaders of massive genocide on a pedestal, would we? Oh wait.. until it’s commercially or political interesting, then we do. Then suddenly our ancestors are the founders of a great nation. No matter how horrible the genocide turned out to be, no matter how much Aboriginals, Indians, Native-Americans or Africans were killed, it’s suddenly a great opportunity to wave national flags. Historic facts disappear in schoolbooks, wiped out of people’s minds, replaced with a false pride of nationalism.
Now, Germans learned from history and did everything to be politically correct, didn’t involve in military actions in a long time, knowing it was too soon after all the horrible things that happened. However from an economic point of few, they won wars, time after time in the last decades, not leaving dead soldiers and innocent bystanders behind, but financially ruined countries, foreign companies and hundred thousands of independent small businesses all over Europe. The original thought on grounding the E.U. was to protect the members from hostile violence, wars and be a strong “block” in a capitalist world. I guess they never expected it to be the Germans to basically rule with such a strong financial regime, overruling the other “big” economies France, Italy and Spain with the help of the Dutch and some other small countries that acted like puppies on their mothers' nipples. Although there are always, and especially in Germany, dangerous Fascist currents below the radar, they managed to keep it all reasonably quiet, unlike their victims who seem to have lost any morality and expand their terror without anybody slowing them down, up until the outbreak of the same movements in France, Hungary, Netherlands and as we know now sadly in the UK, that is. In all hounesty, it’s the result of a failing economical capitalist system where banks, major companies and the elite are protected at the cost of ordinary citizens who are now looking for someone to blame. What’s easier than believing a moron who shouts hard enough to convince them it’s all to blame on immigrants, refugees and the E.U. itself, with that planting the seeds of racism and un-grounded nationalism.
I’m not different from others, I do make “Templar Knight” swords for little kids, although I should tell them they were very bad people, and that it’s as ridiculous to put a statue of a Templar up, as it is to put a statue of Hitler, Idi Amin or Bin-Laden on a town square. The only difference between a Templar Knight or a Crusader with modern day Arabic terrorist lays in the religion they worship. Still, I’m living in an area where it’s a tradition to have Templar parades, Knights on horses riding thru the historic flares lighted streets during the late hours, accompanied by thousands of spectators. I won’t get into the discussion, I leave the tradition for what it is, only wondering why it’s exactly those people, who had a proper education and would condemn every transfiguration of modern history’s villains, are organizing, walking in front, cheering on a parade of the first religious terrorists who obviously were an inspiration for the once we deal with nowadays…
Most of us know the reason behind why some people had a dream of making Europe to the political project it is today. It’s horrifying to see that a few populist politicians are able to convince a big part of the E.U. citizens that historic events are not relevant. #Brexit proved a lot in that perspective, but that’s not where the real problem lies. The real problem is the lack of education, historic facts only ending up in schoolbooks and lessons if it suits the elite, that varies per country. What if we all would be informed based on facts, what if history books were not written from just one perspective as there are religion, nationality or political systems? Oh yes, there will always be people trying to gain power by bending history to be in line with their own perspectives. But at least nobody could claim they follow these populist narcissists because they were unaware of facts.
Suppose the Germans would put statues of Hitler on roundabouts, have yearly events to remember the greatness of his Nazi regime accomplishments, suppose there would be a celebration day for Idi Amin, suppose there would be an international Stalin-day where international politicians would look at a parade of the Russian army, drinking Heineken beer with a dictator, (well our Dutch King actually does), suppose the next American president would attend to a ceremony where a big monument in remembrance of Bin-Laden would be revealed, suppose Angela Merkel would congratulate Erdogan at a ceremony to remember that great Turkish victory, namely killing a few hundred thousand Armenian’s. Well, it’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? It’s unlikely to happen ever. We remember and pay our respect to victims and sometimes heroes, we would never put the murdering dictators, the religious terrorists, the serial killers and leaders of massive genocide on a pedestal, would we? Oh wait.. until it’s commercially or political interesting, then we do. Then suddenly our ancestors are the founders of a great nation. No matter how horrible the genocide turned out to be, no matter how much Aboriginals, Indians, Native-Americans or Africans were killed, it’s suddenly a great opportunity to wave national flags. Historic facts disappear in schoolbooks, wiped out of people’s minds, replaced with a false pride of nationalism.
Now, Germans learned from history and did everything to be politically correct, didn’t involve in military actions in a long time, knowing it was too soon after all the horrible things that happened. However from an economic point of few, they won wars, time after time in the last decades, not leaving dead soldiers and innocent bystanders behind, but financially ruined countries, foreign companies and hundred thousands of independent small businesses all over Europe. The original thought on grounding the E.U. was to protect the members from hostile violence, wars and be a strong “block” in a capitalist world. I guess they never expected it to be the Germans to basically rule with such a strong financial regime, overruling the other “big” economies France, Italy and Spain with the help of the Dutch and some other small countries that acted like puppies on their mothers' nipples. Although there are always, and especially in Germany, dangerous Fascist currents below the radar, they managed to keep it all reasonably quiet, unlike their victims who seem to have lost any morality and expand their terror without anybody slowing them down, up until the outbreak of the same movements in France, Hungary, Netherlands and as we know now sadly in the UK, that is. In all hounesty, it’s the result of a failing economical capitalist system where banks, major companies and the elite are protected at the cost of ordinary citizens who are now looking for someone to blame. What’s easier than believing a moron who shouts hard enough to convince them it’s all to blame on immigrants, refugees and the E.U. itself, with that planting the seeds of racism and un-grounded nationalism.
I’m not different from others, I do make “Templar Knight” swords for little kids, although I should tell them they were very bad people, and that it’s as ridiculous to put a statue of a Templar up, as it is to put a statue of Hitler, Idi Amin or Bin-Laden on a town square. The only difference between a Templar Knight or a Crusader with modern day Arabic terrorist lays in the religion they worship. Still, I’m living in an area where it’s a tradition to have Templar parades, Knights on horses riding thru the historic flares lighted streets during the late hours, accompanied by thousands of spectators. I won’t get into the discussion, I leave the tradition for what it is, only wondering why it’s exactly those people, who had a proper education and would condemn every transfiguration of modern history’s villains, are organizing, walking in front, cheering on a parade of the first religious terrorists who obviously were an inspiration for the once we deal with nowadays…
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