Russian roulette: A world beset by war
GLOBAL leaders are playing a deadly game of nuclear Russian roulette with their utterances on the terrifying conflicts now raging across the world.
Senile Joe Biden, brash Emmanuel Macron, reckless Vladimir Putin, deranged Kim Jong-un, dreamer Xi Ping and lunatic Benjamin Netanyahu have crossed the threshold of global tolerance. Fascism has revealed its ugly face in many parts of the globe, many international leaders strut the world stage as advocates of peace and democracy, but beneath the veneer lurks the monster of religious supremacy, racial hatred and a plethora of deadly prejudices.
These monsters in democratic garb are prepared to incinerate mankind in an orgy of destruction unparalleled in human history. We are in a comatose state as demagogues fine-tune their weapons of war for the ultimate and final battle. We are unaware that it is we who will be the victims of their weapons of mass annihilation.
Fascism, religious extremism and territorial expansionism are the elements that will ignite an inferno within the next five years.
Fascism has multiple histories, most of them connected to the failed European democracies of more than 80 years ago. Today, this right-wing ideology is spreading its deadly tentacles across the globe, sending seismic tremors through the corridors of power. Authoritarian regimes are spreading like wildfires, devouring the political landscape in an orgy of naked hate, culminating in a new wave of ethnic cleansing.
The present constellation of events, and the suicidal policies of certain powerful nations, will most certainly trigger a nuclear holocaust. Fascist symbols, rhetoric and salutes are a grim reminder that the third world war is fast approaching. The nightmares that shaped the past are poised to wreak havoc on us once again on a global scale. Resurgent right-wing fascism is irrational, closed-minded, violent and racist.
There is no doubt that it must be fought at every turn, but to do this we must first see it for what it is and where it lurks. The geopolitics of hate now encompasses religion, race and ideology. The globe is being disembowelled for access to the aquifers of hate. A subtle fear pervades our politics today. Violent, triumphalist majoritarian dominance is on lurid display across the entire global political spectrum. Lynching and genocide threaten to run rife, as hate has sadly killed the conscience of mankind.
Fascism is rapidly spreading across the world. It is in reality a disease of the mind. It is that dark plain where internal fears meet the external realities of the world we live in. To the rabid fascist, confusion is a supreme virtue, truth is an enemy met with ridicule, then suppression, then death. Empathy is slain. We are in denial that fascism is having a terrifying resurgence.
The rise of right-wingers in many parts of the world attests to the universality of fascism. A new robust fascist strain has arisen globally, bolstered by the atmosphere of political confusion and foreign subterfuge that will eventually escalate out of control. Fascism has become a popular pejorative hurled from the mouths of many in society today, but the true danger is that its shadow haunts the precincts of every human heart. Sooner or later, someone in authority will make the wrong move, triggering of a chain of events that will obliterate humanity.
FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni