We are led by our culture and media to believe that we vote for individuals to represent us in government. That is democracy in the “free world” apparently. However in reality, we have sent them into the grip of an invisible and unelected monster which will tell them what to think, say and do for the rest of their political lives.
If they show any sign of thinking outside of the prescribed narrative, a whip or City of London serf is despatched with a trolley full of mind correction manuals and manifestos. If that fails, they are either relegated to the back benches, dropped by their political party or even suicided.
As I ponderously dip my chocolate digestive biscuit into Coffee #2 this morning, I wonder if this happens to every politician worldwide. They would soon learn to keep their heads down and watch that their toes do not overstep the proverbial line, wouldn’t they?
I mean, who wants to be buried in homework and probably tested on it at some point?
When I was young, my friends used to suggest that I became a politician. I used to laugh at the thought. “Give over!” I would complain, baffled that they had not registered my utter contempt for all forms of government.
Wasn’t it obvious that I was (and still am) a committed anarchist?
It wasn’t as if I favoured any particular school of thought or any philosophy. I was a ‘bitsa’ kind of kid. I liked bits of this and bits of that but nothing had my full interest and support until, after many years of motherhood, education, hard work, activism, travel and endless conversations, I found myself teaching English to some Libyan students who were studying at a University in Madrid.
It was 2006/7 - long before nasty NATO chose to destroy Gaddafi.
Those Libyan young men were a revelation to me. They were remarkably polite, smart and brimming with enthusiasm and health. We would meet once or twice a week at their apartment for English conversation practice. They would provide traditional snacks and drinks. The conversation often revealed how homesick they were and I would feel like a substitute mother to them at times.
When I asked about their country they had nothing but love and pride to express. They were the most remarkable young people I had ever met. They never criticised their country and they described a political system which astounded me with its generosity and justice.
They recommended that I read Muammar Gadaffi's Green Book but I did not find a copy of it in English until I returned to the UK several years later. Of course, the NATO action in Libya encouraged me to read it, purely to understand what had triggered the horrors beginning in Benghazi.
In 2011 the BBC produced this extremely biased article which makes for shocking reading. It is typical of BBC brainwashing which continues to this day.
For a better understanding of the realities of Libyan life I recommend you to take the time to read this article:
In 1951 Libya was the poorest country in Africa and one of the poorest in the world.
By 2011, after four decades under Gaddafi’s stewardship, it was the most successful nation in Africa and was acknowledged by the UN to have a higher rate of development than even countries like Russia, Brazil and India. Among many other academics who were willing to voice a more considered view of the North-African nation, a Professor Garikai Chengu, a scholar of Middle Eastern affairs at Harvard University, wrote; “In 1967, Colonel Gaddafi inherited one of the poorest nations in Africa; however, by the time he was assassinated, Gaddafi had turned Libya into Africa’s wealthiest nation. Libya had the highest GDP per capita and life expectancy on the African continent. Less people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands.” ~ extract from » THE LIFE & DEATH OF GADAFFI'S LIBYA
According to David Blundy and Andrew Lycett’s book titled, “Qaddafi and the Libyan Revolution”, published long before the 2011 crisis; “The young people are well dressed, well fed and well educated. Every Libyan gets free and often excellent education, medical and health services. New colleges and hospitals are impressive by any international standard.” They further state, “All Libyans have a house or a flat, a car, and most have televisions and other conveniences. Compared with most citizens of Third World countries, and with many (others), Libyans have it very good indeed.”
I can confirm this opinion. It matches precisely my experience of the Libyan young people I met in Madrid in 2006 who told me that -
There was no interest on loans. Banks in Libya were state-owned and loans given to all citizens were at zero-percent interest by law. Unlike every country in the West, Libya was built and maintained on interest-free money.
Libya had no external debt to any foreign nation, entity or institution, as it had done everything independently and on its own merit. Consequently, no Libyan had any personal debt either.
There was no electricity bill in Libya; electricity was free for all citizens.
Having a home was considered a basic human right in Libya. Everyone was housed.
All education and all medical treatments were free in Libya.
The welfare system – a novelty in itself in Africa and most of the Arab world – was incredibly generous. Libyan Unemployment benefit was equivalent to $750.
Libyans who could not find the education or the medical help they needed in Libya, were fully funded by the government to go abroad to seek what they needed, with everything – travel, accommodation, living allowances – paid for by the state. There were therefore many Libyans in foreign countries for their education or for medical help, all paid for.
If a young Libyan was unable to find employment after graduation, the state would pay them the average salary of the profession until they could acquire a paying job in that field. Speaking of education, a country that only had a 25% literacy rate before Gaddafi’s revolution had 25% of its citizens attaining a university degree by the time of the uprising.
Any mother who gave birth to a child received the equivalent of $5,000.
All newlyweds received 60,000 dinars (equivalent to $50,000) from the government to buy their first apartment and to help start a family.
Any Libyans who wanted to take up farming careers would receive farming land, a house, farming equipment, seeds and livestock to get started. All of it free.
Anyone looking to buy a car could ask the government to subsidize 50% of the cost.
The price of petrol in Libya was $0.14 per litre.
Due to one Gaddafi’s relatively late reforms, a portion of every Libyan oil sale was being credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens; this was envisioned as a true ‘sharing of the wealth’ among the population.
Former US Congressman and civil rights activist Walter Fauntroy, who went into Libya on a peace mission during the 2011 crisis, reported that “Contrary to what is being reported in the press, from what I heard and observed, more than 90 percent of the Libyan people love Gaddafi.“
Which of course explains why 1.7 million people were said to have marched in Tripoli‘s Green Square on July 3rd 2011 in support of Gaddafi and in opposition to NATO. But they did march: 1.7 million of them came out, in spite of the NATO bombs from the air and the threats from terrorists on the ground, to declare their absolute support for Gaddafi and to demonstrate against the NATO bombings. This was *far* greater a protest in terms of numbers than anything the mythical ‘anti-Gaddafi protestors’ of the corporate media and Western governments could’ve conducted at any stage of the turmoil.
It is a tragedy that the only political system I have ever admired in this world was so viciously obliterated by forces which apparently represent “the free world”.
No…. it is far more than a tragedy.
It is indicative of the massive gulf between me and any politicians.
It is indicative of the glaring immorality of “the free world”.
It is indicative of the mountain of lies we have to burn out of our media.
AND
How much more work there is ahead of us if we want to achieve a real and lasting global peace. Ironically, it was Gaddafi who listed the magnitude of this work during his speech at the United Nations in 2009. The speech that presaged and likely hastened his assassination.
Great and well researched article, This is what the general public never get's to know and precisely why he was murdered. I'm so SO there with you Frances on your statement below.
"It is indicative of the massive gulf between me and any politicians.
It is indicative of the glaring immorality of “the free world”.
It is indicative of the mountain of lies we have to burn out of our media."
we are gonna need a lot of firelighters!.
Love it and as I say, I'm with you all the way Hen, excuse me! upbringing showing again, I'm with you all the way Elegant dignified lady of our time. Respect & X 2 All
The empire destroys all countries that do too well.