As a person of 56 years of age,
I am sometimes envious of those who passed through
life in previous times. Their circumstances didn't
change that much – or so the narrative goes –
because the political, social and economic environment
altered very little over time. Just a Haley's
Comet streaking through the sky every 76 years,
seemed to provide an excuse for the crazy and
bored people to predict great and awesome, often
earth-ending events. They had to manufacture their
drama. Ours is made by corporations, for consumer
consumption – and by other corporations, that
engage in the killing of our fellow human beings.
They do it on a daily basis. It's a lot to watch.
But that's a phony view of history,
conjured up by a corporate-created academia that
put forward the Great Men Theory of Life On Earth.
Great Men had great adventures, men like Caesar,
or a whole bunch of Caesars, and King this and
King that. Sometimes there is even a Queen, who
usually falls in love with a King. They have all
the fun.
Meanwhile, the people that built
the infrastructures, grew the food, made up the
armies, made the babies – well, they're just props
and flags in the kings and queens parades through
history. Kind of like Donald Trump and
his entourage of disciples, or is it proteges,
or apprentices. If it's apprentices, then Donald
Trump is a Sorcerer. He conjures up lies bigger
than his own ego, a miraculous thing.
The
truth is that human life on Earth in past epochs
wasn't boring, at all. Every day was a sunrise
to sunset bought by sweat and toil exerted under
the most extreme conditions of tyranny by men
who could afford swords, or who had clans of armed
cousins and uncles, or could ultimately control
the means of communications to such an extent
that the suffering people thought they had no
choice but to follow their leader – who was also
their primary oppressor.
Human fortunes have improved since
those days. There are billions of us who don't
think that the status quo is pre-ordained, that
the current rulers are meant to be in their positions,
that Europeans have a god-given right, bestowed
by a European god, to rule the world. We are on
the cusp of history – a history made by the people
of the world, and not by the bullies and tyrants.
Now, that doesn't mean that you
will see this great crossover of humanity in your
lifetime. Certainly, I won't see it. I'm something
of a bully and tyrant myself, and wouldn't fit
in to a better world. But that's what parents
should bequeath their children – a better world
than they could skillfully or righteously navigate,
without infecting that world with their own, ancient
baggage. The future world will not need our small
squabbles, when they gaze on Haley's Comet. For
Radio BC, I'm Glen Ford.
You can visit the Radio
BC page to listen to any of our audio
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Co-Publisher and Executive Editor, Glen
Ford. We publish the text of the radio commentary
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