The myth of progress surrounds every new generation of mankind. Every generation views themselves as above the past. They have learnt from the mistakes of previous generations and have transgressed to a new level of thinking, acting and interacting.
The Roman’s gorged themselves on their greatness, defeating the barbarians and overcoming the shortcomings of the Greek Republics and democracies. The ‘Catholic Monarchy’ of Spain conquered the noble savages of the Americas, bringing them the true God and destroying the ignorant pagan religions of the Aztecs and Mayas. The British Empire civilised the Indians, Africans, Caribs, Aborigines, and Arabs bringing them science, discipline, capitalism, guns, disease and class. The Great War destroyed the menace of the Hun for ever. The League of Nations pledged for ever to destroy war, disunity and inequality in the world, it collapsed. The Russians embraced communism, the world watches with fear and quietly initiates the Civil War…the Red Menace is born. Lenin and Dzerzhinsky discover the Counter-Revolutionaries, Stalin finds them everywhere. Meanwhile the Germans have discovered they are the master race, all must serve them and the Jews must go. The perfection of science, technology, bureaucracy, fear, hate, egoism, cruelty: holocaust. Evil is defeated. The Allies are victorious. Peace, love, democracy and justice for all.
The Nuclear Arms race begins. Television comes to power. Cold War reigns, communists are everywhere… the enemy of my enemy is my friend: ’54-94 Guatemala, Pinochet, Haiti’s Papa Doc, Vietnam, Mobutu in Zaire, Pinochet in Chile, Iran-Contras, the Noriega sagas , weapons for everyone Iran, Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan….
Meanwhile…Stalin, Warsaw Pact, missile crisis, Prague Spring crushed, Che dead, Allende overthrown, Cuba goes sour, the Derg in Ethiopia, USSR collapses the end of History, Kim Jong Il and the nuke, Castro gone…
September 10th?
September 12th….
Now we have war in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorists everywhere, bombs made from toothpaste, explosive shoes, Madeleine goes missing, Mugabe wobbles, Tibet is Chinese, food prices are up, the Eastern Red Star is rising, Obama or Clinton?, Hamas or Fatah? The Israelis keep building, Chavez the tyrant, Cannabis 300 times stronger, gun crime, gangs, hoodies…
Global warming is melting the ice caps, Tsunami obliterates Asia, Australian drought goes on, Katrina…
But David Beckham goes American, the Spice Girls reform, Britney goes mad, Nike’ design your own shoes, revolutionary toothbrushes, plastic surgery, Mills and Mcartney, Diana and Dodi, Celebrity dancing, X-Factor…
Keep on buying.
We have learnt from the past, the future is ours. We are free, democracy is alive... the Red Menace, Communism, Fascism and Saddam are dead. Only the War on Terror, Al-Qaeida, Mugabe, Chavez, Hamas, inflation, the credit crash, immigration stand in the way of Freedom.
What have we learnt? Nothing. Who do we fight? The enemy. Who are the enemy?
