The 20th century, the revenge.

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Atrocities everywhere: Afghanistan, the Middle East, climate change, cancel culture, violence, crisis on a global scale raise the question and skepticism about liberal democracies, New World Order, international organizations, multinationals, capitalism and in general, world politics and economics.

Are we forever stuck in the 20th century?

Main ideas and global political systems are still the same but with different tools. However, the world is in a new era. Logically speaking, using the same old methods for new encounters can only lead to the same mistakes but more complicated.

The 21st century, as aforementioned, has different problems, some of them are residue of the 20th century ideas and systems, a sort of continuum of the same disasters. Other issues are purely 21st century made. Isn’t it time to find new solutions before there is no turning back? Isn’t it time to create new fair systems of social justice?

Nietzsche et la destruction nécessaire du passé

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“L’histoire appartient avant tout à l’actif et au puissant, (…) qui, ayant besoin de maîtres, d’exemples, de consolateurs, ne saurait les trouver parmi ses compagnons (…) qui ne font que s’agiter et se débattre ; pour qu’il ne se prenne pas à désespérer et à ressentir du dégoût, il a besoin de regarder derrière lui. (…)

L’histoire appartient en second lieu à celui qui conserve et qui vénère, à celui qui, avec fidélité et amour, tourne les regards vers l’endroit d’où il vient, où il s’est formé. (…) Il veut conserver les conditions sous lesquelles il est né, pour ceux qui viendront après lui, et c’est ainsi qu’il sert la vie. (…) Quand l’histoire sert la vie passée au point qu’elle mine la vie présente et surtout la vie supérieure, quand le sens historique ne conserve plus la vie mais qu’il la momifie, c’est alors que l’arbre se meurt.

Pour pouvoir vivre, l’homme doit posséder la force de briser un passé et de l’anéantir et il faut qu’il emploie cette force de temps en temps. (…) Il arrive pourtant parfois que cette même vie qui a besoin de l’oubli exige la destruction momentanée de cet oubli. Il s’agit alors de se rendre compte combien injuste est l’existence d’une chose, par exemple d’un privilège, d’une caste, d’une dynastie, de se rendre compte à quel point cette chose mérite de disparaître”.

Nietzsche, Seconde considération inactuelle, 1874

The invisible people

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Human history mentioned invisible people without mentioning them. The mass, the vast majority, the anonymous are mainly forgotten in all walks of life.

In Plato’s “Allegory of the cave”, the invisible people are left to their destiny, choosing between comfort and manipulation or the arduous journey of freedom made by Socrates, the only visible one.

The invisible slaves changed history with Spartacus, the visible slave.

Mandela, The King, Gandhi are still vividly visible men of salvation and justice.

The invisible people are the people we choose not to look at. Beggars and homeless are faceless and nameless people of the modern world.

History, ethics, philosophy taught us that ideals of justice and equality are to fight for. However, society is still based on hierarchy, on visibility and invisibility.

The real force lies in the invisible world!

The correlation between epidemics and turmoils. A brief history review

Manmade or nature made, viruses and epidemics have always existed in times of political turmoils. Is it a pure coincidence or is it planned by nature/God/universal forces? Here are some of the deadliest epidemics that shaped human history.

The Plague of Athens devastated Athens during the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC), killing an estimated 75000 to 100000 people. Another plague was the Roman Plague or the Antonine plague (165-180 AD) which had severely affected Indo-Roman trade relations in the Indian Ocean and devestated the Roman Empire. The total deaths have been estimated at five million.

The Black Plague hit Europe and a part of Asia in the mid-14th century and was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, killing seventy five to two hundred million people. the plague created a number of religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.

Fast forward many centuries later, the 20th century had its unfortunate epidemics such as the Spanish Flu (1918-1920). The death toll is estimated at around 100 million. The WWI played a big role in maintaining the disease for that long.

Then came Bird Flu, Sars, Mers, Ebola …. and now Corona.

Aren’t we responsible somehow for all this? If not created by men, isn’t it nature trying to get rid of us due to what we have been doing? This picture below taken by the NASA speaks better than I do: