Perfecting Cynicism In A Time Of War
With the current spate of global events, from the mass shootings in America, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, it does seem that there has been a witches brew of cynicism that is finally bubbling over. Much of the cynicism is justified. Corporate media has pulled all the stops in ensuring the spell of untrustworthiness they have cast across the land is as powerful as ever. The Warlocks and Shermans of the BBC, The New York Times, News Week and others all casting powerful enchantments in their seeming pro-war advocacy that momentarily numbs the pain of the staggering cost of the ongoing war in Eastern Europe. All the while, nurturing in many feel good sentiments of solidarity over a country many didn’t know or care about up to a few weeks ago. Sadly, the conflict between Yemen and Saudi Arabia goes unmentioned. The fall out from the avoidable catastrophe in Afghanistan is yet to be felt by anyone apart from the Afghani people who don’t seem to have much of a future, very little hope and more importantly a questionable present. Robbed of a life and reduced to a mere existence by America’s woke generals and foreign policy class. No accountability. No apologies. No remorse. Reports of starvation amongst the local populace abound. However, there is no stopping this train. The war machine has already chugged along to a new haunt. Having sucked the life out of the Middle East, leaving behind men and women in the embrace of the shadows of a failed twenty year nation building hoax, sights are now trained on Eastern Europe. In spite of fears that Ukraine is nothing more but a pretext for another never ending war, corporate media in lock and step with each other seem to be cheerleading for more. More disastrous policies. More weaponry lost into the ether. More money blown in a few weeks, both figuratively and literally. Origins of the war have been obfuscated. Actual losses spun into victories yet calls for more arms and funds to feed the appetite of this voracious beast. No oversight on what will probably soon prove to be an accounting black hole. Groups with questionable ties rehabilitated on paper but most likely not in practice. The old adage has yet again proven true: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Will we have another Isis or Al-Qaeda in the making? Are we seeing a re-alignment of the current global order from a western focus to an eastern one?
Sadly however, the current climate doesn’t provide for a culture of healthy skepticism. One is either fully on board with main stream narratives or fully on board with cynicism. The only difference is where they lie on the hope scale.
Keli.
When American intelligence agencies publicly admitted to introducing misinformation into the public sphere of conversation, as a step to win the war against President Vladimir Putin and to bolster support for President Zelensky, it should have caused a moment of pause. However, it did not. This is the power of the media’s sway over public opinion and discourse. Many held in a trance unwilling to break free blood lust’s gaze that is holding them captive. Cleverly disguised as the next great lunge for freedom. An intoxicating elixir. A concoction of greed, hubris and vengeance. Powerful even in tiny drops. Deadly in bucketfuls. The general public is being doused in bucket after bucket of disinformation mixed in with some truth. In drunken stupor, common sense evades many. Perhaps this has always been the end goal. When some do eventually break free from the vicious cycle of media misinformation they are quickly roped into the club of cynicism skipping right over skepticism’s admission. Healthy skepticism is good. It keeps the citizenry alert to any government lies and keeps the government and their media allies in check. Sadly however, the current climate doesn’t provide for a culture of healthy skepticism. One is either fully on board with main stream narratives or fully on board with cynicism. The only difference is where they lie on the hope scale. One eschews all hope from humanity the other imbues a false sense of hope to the masses. One group is perpetually mistrustful of even the most benign of mistakes and presupposes evil motives behind every action. The other, assumes only the best of intentions from the preferred torch bearers of whatever cause is being advocated for. The problem is that reality may lie on either side of the spectrum or may be a melange of both. Rather than let the chips lie where they fall the media has rigged the whole game, stoking the flames of division and hate. After all, the house always wins.
Often, attempting to flee to the occasional rays of light that pierce through the deepest night, revealing a catastrophic wasteland of disharmony and discord. Some choose to find comfort in past and present deceptions rather than nest in uncomfortable truths. The end result is that paranoia and fear have made a home in the hearts and minds of many.
Keli.
The spreading cancer of cynicism isn’t deadly only because it affects our outlook on current events but it has the special ability of undermining our confidence in what was once considered as truth about past events. Warping reality and enjoining it to myth. Cynicism’s greatest assets are the dishonest agencies who have buried their credibility in lies. Information once thought as trustworthy intelligence is now viewed with suspicion. Truth has become orphaned to neglect and callousness as various appendages of the propaganda machine leave it by the way side, perhaps deliberately, in whatever the current ideological push is. Sadly, we all suffer for it as it is light’s greatest asset. A useful ally in times of great darkness no longer present on the battlefield of ideas. Mud flinging with real world consequences happens in pitch blackness. Many non the wiser to who is friend or foe. Often, attempting to flee to the occasional rays of light that pierce through the deepest night, revealing a catastrophic wasteland of disharmony and discord. Some choose to find comfort in past and present deceptions rather than nest in uncomfortable truths. The end result is that paranoia and fear have made a home in the hearts and minds of many. Impossible connections made between the most random of events, some seemingly unrelated and reality magicked from what appears to be Tom Clancy-like machinations.
For most of us, global events may not be out of our comprehension but will always be out of reach. Our disapproval and disgruntlement mere pin pricks against the rhino skinned military industrial complex, big Pharma or whatever shape or form the next profiteering outfit takes. Ingesting strong doses of cynicism daily will eventually blunt us to the humanity of those we disagree with, however right or wrong we feel they are. It will tarnish any little glimmer of hope we have for others and for ourselves. False hope often serves as a steroid which gives a temporary boost to morale. Real hope is more akin to a healthy lifestyle that gives us endurance for all that is to come. Rather than perfecting cynicism by sharpening its ever deceitful edge, let us rather perfect hope by adopting and nurturing a culture of truth. This in turn may help all of us establish a lasting peace both within and amongst ourselves and with others.
Image credit in order of appearance: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay; Image by Jo-B from Pixabay