JOSÉ DOMINGOS DE GODOI FILHO *
The world has reached a point of no return, with human society contaminated by apartheid, ghettoization and extermination
“On my wall there is a Japanese wooden sculpture \ Mask of an evil demon, covered in golden enamel. \ Understandingly I observe \ The dilated veins on the forehead, indicating \ How tiring it is to be bad”
(Bertolt Brecht, The mask of evil).
War against life is the legacy that 2023 left for 2024. It can be assessed that the world has reached a situation of no return, with human society contaminated by apartheid, ghettoization and extermination. War against nature, despite climate change, the COP, the global energy transition, the dimensions of the exploitation of natural resources and the commodification of nature in the name of the “green economy” and other proposals for “greenwashing”.
The most terrifying legacy is the genocide, shown in real time, in Gaza, repeating what was denounced by Edgar Morin,1 in 2002, as “Israel-Palestine: le Cancer”: “The Jews of Israel, descendants of the victims of a apartheid called ghetto, ghettoize Palestinians. The Jews who were humiliated, despised, persecuted, humiliate, despise and persecute the Palestinians. The Jews, who were victims of a merciless order, impose their merciless order on the Palestinians. The Jews, victims of inhumanity, show terrible inhumanity.”
One of the worst crimes of this century is taking place in the Gaza Strip, a widespread genocide (without thereby exempting crimes committed by Hamas) that has already affected, by the end of January 2024, around 25 deaths in Palestine, of which more than 8600 children, 310 health professionals, 35 civil defense employees, 97 journalists and approximately 2 million displaced people, according to data collected by BBC Verify(2) and considered reliable by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In addition, hidden or little reported by the “mainstream media”, among others, the massacres that occur in Africa (Sudan and South Sudan, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mali, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola); the support given by the United States and its allies to the genocide in Gaza; the financing of Ukraine's neo-Nazi government to provoke Russia; skirmishes with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon; attacks by Yemen's Houthis against American military ships in the Red Sea; the bombings in the separatist enclave Nagorno-Karabakh, which meant the breaking of the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, complicating the complex game of geopolitical interests in the Caucasus, in addition to putting the civilian population of Karabakh, controlled by Azerbaijan, at humanitarian risk.
At the end of 2023, the highest number of armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War was recorded. And, unquestionably, as a legacy, the farce of Western powers, especially the United States and its allies, to serve their interests and not to build peace was also evident.
The hypocrisy and fraud of these countries, faced with a scenario of global belligerence, reached unprecedented levels of loss of credibility; seriously compromising the principles of international law, respect for human rights and world order.
In the text 1984, George Orwell, which deserves to be reproduced, portrays the situation of current conflicts well and allows us to reflect on the need to resist and alter the legacy left by the year 2023: “Power resides in inflicting pain and humiliation. The power is in tearing human brains apart and putting them back together in any way you see fit. Are you beginning to distinguish what kind of world we are creating? It is exactly the opposite of the hedonistic utopias that ancient reformers imagined. A world of fear, betrayal and torment, a world that will become increasingly merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards greater pain. Old civilizations proclaimed themselves to be founded on love or justice. Ours is based on hate. In our world there will be no emotions other than fear, rage, triumph and self-degradation. We will destroy everything else – everything… There will be no love except love for Big Brother. There will be no laughter except laughter of victory over the defeated enemy. There will be neither art, nor literature, nor science. When we are omnipotent, we will no longer need science. There will no longer be a distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the life process……If you want an image of the future, think of a boot stepping on a human face – forever”.3
The partiality of the “mainstream media”, including in Brazil, goes beyond the dissemination of news, behaving in a partial and biased way towards the interests of the United States and its allies and henchmen. Thus, we have, among us, “a Big Brother who watches over us, who watches over us. Day after day, when we turn on the television (forerunner of telescreens?), when we read the newspapers, when we connect to the internet, we perceive the action of an invisible Ministry of Truth that ends up convincing us that war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength.4
Samuel Huntington5, in its instigating Clash of civilizations, presented a prescient “interpretation of the evolution of world politics after the Cold War” that helps in understanding world politics in the current century. He asked, “Whether improvements in the material level of civilization throughout the world were accompanied by improvements in the moral and cultural dimensions of civilization?”
Analyzing the 90s of the last century, he indicated that there are many signs “of the relevance of the 'pure chaos' paradigm of world affairs: a worldwide breakdown of law and order, failed states and growing anarchy in many parts of the world, a global crime wave, transnational mafias and drug cartels, growing numbers of drug addicts in many societies, a widespread weakening of the family, a decline in trust and social solidarity in many countries, ethnic, religious and civilizational violence and the law of revolvers predominate in much of the world. In one city after another – Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Shanghai, London, Rome, Warsaw, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Delhi, Karachi, Cairo, Bogotá, Washington – crime seems to be rising steeply, and the basic elements of Civilization are fading away.”
He concluded: “The rise of transnational corporations that produce economic goods is increasingly being matched by the rise of transnational criminal mafias, drug cartels and terrorist gangs that are violently attacking Civilization. Law and order are the first prerequisite of Civilization and in much of the world – in Africa, Latin America, the former Soviet Union, South Asia, the Middle East – they seem to be evaporating, under serious threat in China, Japan and the West. On a global basis it appears, in many ways, to be giving in to barbarism, generating the image of an unprecedented phenomenon, a global dark age, that is coming upon humanity.”
The organizers of the Davos-2024 Economic Forum implicitly aligned themselves with Huntington's analysis, when they assessed that the legacy of 2023 shows the “fragility of the state of global peace, security and cooperation”. They pointed out that “increased division, increased hostility and increased conflict are creating a challenging global scenario. That humanity is grappling with multiple issues simultaneously, including how to reinvigorate economies, respond to the threat of climate change, and ensure Artificial Intelligence is used as a force for good. Conflicts and their overcoming are depleting human energy, which could otherwise be channeled into shaping a more optimistic future.”
The Economic Forum agreed that “the current wave of pessimism is unprecedented.” And he issues a warning to the global media: – “the power and presence of global media and communications technology today means that every challenge and setback is amplified, further amplifying the sense of doom and gloom.”
And the organizers of the Economic Forum conclude: – “it is essential to rebuild trust in our future. The question is where to start, given today’s complex circumstances…. We must first identify and address the root causes of our malaise. We are at a crucial moment in history, but we still cling to outdated solutions. To complicate matters, we are dealing with many issues simultaneously, all deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing. There is no quick fix or one-size-fits-all solution. It’s about addressing all symptoms holistically.”
Resistance is necessary, to overcome the pessimistic legacy left at the end of 2023. And, Ortega y Gasset6 can help with your reflections: “It's natural: life has itself become equivocal and these are times of inauthenticity. Remember that the origin of the crisis is precisely that man has become lost because he has lost contact with himself. That is why a highly equivocal human fauna swarms in such times and fraudsters and histrions abound; and, what is more painful, that one cannot be sure whether a man is sincere or not. These are turbulent times.”
At the same time, he points out that: “All extremism inevitably fails, because it consists of excluding, denying – except one point – everything else in vital reality. But that rest comes back, always comes back and imposes itself on us, whether we like it or not. The history of all extremism is one of truly sad monotony: it consists of having to come to terms with everything it had intended to eliminate... What is the perspective in which man can only live? A moment ago, as in every moment of every day, inexorably, they met the masters who had to do something, because that is living. Before you, several possibilities of doing, therefore, of being in the future opened up.”
Retaking 1984, by George Orwell, “it is impossible to found a civilization on fear, hatred and cruelty. It could never last… It would have no vitality. It would disintegrate. He would commit suicide.”
In order not to let the pessimistic scenario win, that resistance survive and strengthen human generosity, a provocation, based on one of Giono's most beautiful fables,7 so that the difficult path of “where to start” is found as soon as possible: “When I consider that a single man, reduced to his mere physical and moral resources, was capable of transforming a desert into a land of Canaan, I think that, despite Above all, the human condition is admirable. But when I consider how much constancy in greatness of soul and persistence in generosity were necessary to obtain this result…”.
Resistance is essential.
*José Domingues de Godoi Filho He is a professor at the Faculty of Geosciences at UFMT.
Notes
(1) Morin, E. Israel-Palestine:cancer. Available in
https://www.mundomultipolar.org/2018/11/israel-palestina-cancer.html
(2) Thomas, M. 20 thousand dead in Gaza: what the number of victims reveals about the conflict. Available in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/clmergn9gmro#:~:text=Grande%20n%C3%BAmero%20de%20mortos&text=%E2%80%9CDentro%20da%20s%C3%A9rie%20de%20guerras,matan%C3%A7a%20indiscriminada%E2%80%9D%2C%20afirma%20Spagat.&text=Podcast%20traz%20%C3%A1udios%20com%20reportagens%20selecionadas.&text=O%20n%C3%BAmero%20de%2020%20mil,milh%C3%B5es%20de%20habitantes%20de%20Gaza.
(3) Orwell, G. 1984. São Paulo: Ed. Nacional, 1984.
(4) More, T. Utopia, Belo Horizonte: Autêntica Editora, 2017.
(5) Huntington, SP The clash of civilizations and the recomposition of world order. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Objetiva, 1997.
(¨6) Ortega y Gasset, J. Around Galileo. Petrópolis: Ed. Vozes, 1989.
(7) Giono, J. The man who planted trees. Sao Paulo: Ed. 34, 2018.
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