A new occasional series in which Paul Villers (Americana UK’s Community Forums Editor) curates the ideas, opinions and observations in the political sphere relevant to us all.
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell.
It’s a bright, warmish March day here at Americana-UK Towers. Fortunately, the clocks are not striking thirteen (yet). What is striking is the escalation of the ‘trouble’ in the Middle East. What is happening? All sorts of stuff, but here’s our brief take as it stands.
The protagonists:
Donald J. Trump: I’m not convinced that Trump is a fascist. My interpretation is that he is an Uber-capitalist (no, he doesn’t have to rely on a dial-up taxi service). Sure, he’s a nationalist when it serves his interest but his overwhelming obsession is money and the ways to make that money. Globally, this essentially means oil. He wants the money, the deal, a way to win and the control of the assets. According to certain reading I’ve been doing, the ‘negotiations’ regarding Iran’s nuclear programme were going quite well with many concessions by the Iranians. Almost like they didn’t have a deal before, which Trump ripped up for reasons best known to himself. That’s capitalism for you…
Benjamin Netanyahu: Probably a fascist (which is ironic rather than antisemitic). He wants to defend his position and that of his country by means of eliminating his close neighbours. He will truck no opposition in this. I guess he feels that he has a God-given right to this. Which is unfortunate. If you’re going to go and kill tens of thousands of people in support of your ‘right’, then all we can really say is that let’s hope your moral compass is somewhat forgiving come the day of reckoning. As an aside, could I point you towards the BBC ‘Storyville’ thread called Praying For Armageddon, which goes some way to explaining the US/Israel relationship. Chilling stuff.
The Supreme Leader of Iran: following the death of Khamenei, this position has now been filled by… Khamenei. The term Islamo-fascist used to be quite popular, but ultimately, it seems, has fallen out of favour. What I would say is that a theocracy of the extreme nature of that in Iran is a complete anathema to sensitive liberal types such as myself. What is of concern is the suffering of civilians who seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place – American and Israeli missiles or regime murder squads. Heart-breaking really.
What’s the ‘end game’? That’s really tricky. I can’t think of a good outcome. None. Death, destruction and chaos seem to await. On this bright, warmish March day in Americana-UK Towers, it seems all we can do is have a nice cup of tea at Thirteen O’Clock and enjoy the sunshine whilst we can.
If you have any thoughts on these musings, please comment below or, better still, join our Americana UK Community Forums and join in on a conversation. All are welcome and encouraged to contribute.
