Columnists
The Yahoos are at it Again
T. SHER SINGH
DAILY FIX
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The Yahoos are at it again.
The unfortunately named Mr Yahoo wants to go to war. He has been nipping at America’s ankles, begging it to unleash him so that he can start World War III.
A bunch of yahoos have made a film insulting the Prophet Mohammed and, predictably and ostensibly, another bunch of yahoos have gone berserk over it. An American Ambassador tragically lies dead, three other diplomats as well. Libya, Egypt, Yemen - much of the Middle-East is once again aflame.
The fact that all of this parallels the American election isn’t a coincidence. Mr Yahoo, representing a foreign power, wants to influence the US elections, and hence the pattern repeats itself.
Why?
Ostensibly, to keep Israel secure.
Well, security comes with peace. And peace doesn’t come with war-mongering. Nor can you buy it. You have to work at it.
But then, Jonathan Swift and Gulliver would’ve said: we are all yahoos; what do you expect?
I turn to Gulliver’s Travels from time to time. It gives me incredible insight into all the goings-on around the world.
Remember Gulliver’s voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms - a race of intelligent horses - who had managed to bring about a peaceful and orderly society? How? By reining in an inferior species of uncouth, mean-spirited, mischievous, and not-so-bright creatures, and keeping them occupied and subdued through menial labour.
The inferior species? Oddly, very similar to human beings as we know them today.
They were called Yahoos.
Why do I find solace in reading Gulliver’s Travels?
Simple. It tells me that, no matter how bad things get, all’s well with the world. Just because human beings, somewhere or the other, go berserk every few weeks and cause anarchy and mayhem, or are constantly scheming to cause mischief, is no reason to think that things have gone awry in our times.
This is the way human beings are.
They’ve always been like this: three thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, a thousand years ago, a century ago, a decade ago.
And still are so today.
It is in their nature to be so.
No, things are no better, no worse, than before. It’s still the same old, same old …
People who have the most wealth will, as a matter of rule, be the greediest.
People with the most power will, as a matter of rule, be the most unreasonable, the most unfair, the most crooked.
And then they’ll trip over their drooling tongues, stumble, and fall.
How? We, the rest of us, just have to keep at it, chipping away, until we restore at least a semblance of balance … to make way for the next bunch of yahoos.
In the meantime, put on your seat-belts and be prepared for a bumpy ride. The next few weeks, heading into the election of the next President of the United States, will be a rough one.
The yahoos know that if Obama is re-elected, he will not be bought and there is a high risk that justice will be brought to prevail in the Middle-East. The yahoos do not want that.
They will do their best to stem the tide. With every mischief money can buy.
They needed a naughty film to spark a conflagration. It needed $5 million to produce. Not a problem! A hundred yahoos are reported to have stepped up to the plate and financed the outrage. Some reports say it was a Jewish enterprise. Other reports describe it as a Christian organization. There's also the possibility of extremist Islamic elements who may have cooked up the whole project to prepare the scene for a pre-planned attack on the US Consulate. The truth will out some day. Or will it?
The yahoos, whoever the real backers are, think money opens all doors and shuts all doors, at will. They will not succeed. Why? Because every dog has its day. They’ve had theirs … and have squandered it.
Nature is cyclic: What goes around must come around.
Conversation about this article
1: Pritam Singh (Buffalo, New York, USA), September 13, 2012, 6:27 AM.
God help us all ... it never ends, does it?
2: Christa Fleming (Pennsylvania, USA), September 13, 2012, 6:30 AM.
I do hope our President will dig in his heels and not allow the Israelis to drag us into yet another senseless war. Why do we have to adjust everything we do, and jeopardize the stability of the entire world, merely because they simply won't learn to be civilized with their Palestinian cousins?
3: Gurteg Singh (New York, USA), September 13, 2012, 7:22 AM.
The recent attempts by Israeli Likudniks to interfere in American elections and blackmail President Obama on a non-existent Iranian nuclear threat, is backfiring since Americans are fed up spending their blood and wealth in endless and mindless wars in the Middle East engineered by Israel and the Neocons who control American politics and media. Israel, which has more than 200 nuclear war heads and has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty ("NPT") has the chutzpah to demand an all out war against a country which does not have any nuclear weapons, but just may have the "intentions" to build one in the future.
4: Rajesh Basu (West Bengal, India), September 13, 2012, 7:46 AM.
Nutty though it is, I think Iran should definitely have a nuclear weapon - or a few - of its own. For a simple reason: to keep the even nuttier Israelis in check. Let's not forget the great principle behind the West's nuclear arsenal: deterrence. Well, since Israel has a burgeoning arsenal of its own, the only thing that'll deter its crazy actions and ambitions is an arsenal in the hands of the crazies who live in the neighbourhood.
5: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), September 13, 2012, 8:38 AM.
@4 Rajesh Basu: Iran is an even crazier country than Pakistan! Allowing them to posses nukes would be one of the greatest calamities of the 21st century. The Israelis might be the biggest jerks in the Middle East, but they haven't threatened to wipe anyone out.
6: Dr. Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), September 13, 2012, 11:30 AM.
Israel has the right to exist and the inherent right to defend itself against all the perceived threats that call for it's destruction/ extinction it keeps on proclaiming all the time that are out there. And congratulations to Canadian PM Hon. Stephen Harper for getting the "Statesman of the Year" award from a Jewish group in New York - in gratitude, I suppose, for all that he has done to support the Israelis. But war with Iran at the present time, N-a-a-a-a-a ...!
7: Henrik Pedersen (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), September 14, 2012, 1:52 AM.
Why am I not surprised? A nut belonging to a self-avowed right-wing Hindu extremist group in Toronto is trying to get some publicity for himself and his band of fools by announcing that he wants to screen the offensive film in Toronto. It's amazing how quickly the vermin amongst us take on the mantle of freedom of speech and expression!
8: Mary Fine (London, United Kingdom), September 14, 2012, 2:01 AM.
Western governments have always exercised limits to freedom of expression when they have found it expedient. Example: see how many western nations have passed laws against the ability of any person to deny the Nazi holocaust. If that limit to the freedom of expression - and I believe it is a valid one - is okay, then why can we not have a limit put on people who create a film for the express intent of fomenting race and religious turmoil? We don't need to guess or conjecture ... all we need to do is look around us and see how much mayhem this latest stupidity is causing. And look at the cockroaches coming out of the woodwork - I refer to the earlier post about the Hindu fanatic in Toronto trying to stir up trouble. Looks like we've learnt absolutely NOTHING from 9/11. As a species, we deserve all the troubles we bring down upon our own heads!
9: Preeti Kaur (Liverpool, United Kingdom), September 14, 2012, 2:19 AM.
As the author said: yahoos will behave like yahoos! Especially, as long as we let them and coddle them.
10: Kulwant Singh (U.S.A.), September 14, 2012, 9:08 PM.
Isn't it more alarming, how easy it is to push certain people's buttons? How can they rationalize the attacks on U.S. embassies and the killing of a U.S. Ambassador, over a cheap YouTube film? It seems they were just looking for any excuse to protest violently. It's like a beloved past-time in that part of the world. I don't think they are capable of peace. That's why people provoke them. Because it's so damn easy.