hey wim, john et al,
got a lot out wim's last post. it changed my mind.
i thought that a separate two-state solution was the way to go but i realise
now that i hadn't really thought about it.
the two-state option is forever doomed - the perpetual stalemate that
kissinger (who is on trial for war crimes in london i think) desired in
order to maximise US influence in the region.
the one state option is closer to the mark but not quite there. wim's post
has got me thinking again about where we are all headed - as a global
community.
of course globalisation is a reality; a reality that becomes more complex
and interconnected by the day. the food i buy from the supermarket comes
from the farthest reaches of the globe; i share thoughts with people in many
countries instantly every day; i am living and working in london but will be
in lancaster on the weekend; paris in two months, prague in four months,
before returning to australia.
travel, communication, trade, and unfortunately finance are truly global
already and this of course means that *politics is too*.
and so i get to my point: the problems in israel and palestine; in india and
pakistan; in tibet and china; an indonesia's many rebellious provinces; in
the many warring nations in africa; in chechnya and russia and all the other
disputes and conflicts that litter our loose conglomeration of nations
cannot be dealt with independently.
yes, for some, i am stating the bleeding obvious but indulge me...
these problems of greed and war, and the poverty and disease they cause, can
only be solved at a global and individual level simultaneously. that is to
say nothing short of a global democratic revolution can even hope to solve
our probs.
now i don't know what shape this revolution will take, or even if it will
occur in our lifetimes. it may be the result of a gradual process of
first-worlders dropping out to become self-sufficient permaculturists or it
may happen almost overnight, a la paris in may 68.
it may even come in the wake of a massive man-made catastrophe that wipes
out millions of people. who knows? enough conjecture anyhow.
paris 68 is the best example we have to see how it may happen and where
things may lead when/if it does. 'autogestion' (self-management) and an end
to the consumer culture were the twin demands of that incredible month, and
i see only an increase in the need for both today (but hey i am a
radical!!). the stand out feature of how industries were organised during
that time was simply 'democracy': the factories were run by those who worked
them; decisions were made in the town hall everyday through simple
(athenian) discussion and voting.
ah but paris failed.....and as with the spanish civil war it was the
pseudo-revolutionary communist party that sabotaged things. but what was
made clear during that month, over 30 years ago, and is much more obvious
today, is that unless the revolution spread rapidly through the world it
would fail. today, with the advent of the internet and increased efficieny
of global communication generally, this necessary prerequisite is perhaps
more likely.
if i was pressed i would say that things will change gradually as people
drop out of mainstream society, but that is because that is what i want to
do personally. and anyway these hypothetical scenarios are not mutually
exclusive anyway.
i would love to leave you with a quote from irish filmaker and journalist
peter lennon's book 'paris in the sixties' but alas it is about 12000 miles
away. in it he relays the sense that what was most clear and most profound
was the overwhelming sense of the positive - of quality - during that month.
even the police chief remarked upon it. all felt they were part of something
momentous, historic.
i have walked through the latin quartier with friends of mine in paris whose
fathers were students during may 68, and been told at how it was for them.
sure they were young and it was a carnival atmosphere but today, 30 odd
years later, they still reminisce about that time as the best in their
lives.maybe that is enough to sustain my hope that in the future paris 68
will be seen as a foreshadowing - a sign of things to come - rather than as
an anomaly? time will tell.
so to finish: a one state israel-palestine solution is close but no cigar.
no states (which is the same as one global 'state') wins hands down.
gav
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