It seems certain that this coming year of 2012 will be a continuation of major events of 2011, yet with greater intensity.
First, the earthquake and tsunami in Fukishima, Japan has set in motion events that have yet to be defined or understood fully. Many believe that radiation leaks exceed dangerous levels many times over, and distrust of government official stories in general are increasing concerns over safety for millions who live within the sphere of influence. Rather than be an alarmist, I try to review critical information as it comes. Here is one report from Canada:
Dangerous levels of radiation recorded in Canada - from Fukushima
The Arab Spring actually began four months earlier, unofficially lighting up with the death of a man in Tunisia on December 10, 2010. When he set himself afire he lit the fuse to explosions in seventeen countries that will not come to an end during the next calendar year. A timeline of events can be found in this link:
There is certainly more to come as Syria enters its period of intense infighting and perhaps a civil war that divides the Arab world.
Election monitors in Egypt said the violence and confusion were casting a shadow over continuing parliamentary elections that recently followed the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Violence by military police forces there has increased concern for safety of Christians within the country that has risen each month since that country erupted in its “peaceful, bloodless revolution.” The story of 25 Christians killed for their faith is found here:
Observers have noted that fundamentalism has tightened its grip in countries like Egypt and Syria as political transition takes place. It is inevitable, because those who advocate for Sharia Law are also the most vehement when it comes to imposing their beliefs on others. Those who prefer to pursue quiet lives free from hassles are not likely to take to streets and take up arms to force their views on a general public.
Many fear the future in Syria as well. Because they enjoyed freedom and religion and protections under Assad, Christians in Syria felt safe there and backed Assad rather than protest against his government. It appears to be inevitable that his regime falls within the coming months, and this bodes ill will for a number of people there. There is reason to be afraid, as this article explains:
The same violence has spread through Africa, as recent headlines have indicated; the trend to attack Roman Catholics or other Christians during the Christmas period has continued again this year, with firebombs in a number of churches, and widespread fear.
It is easy to say that it is good that this internal political and civil strife remains over there and not here in America. This is what we want: change over there and not here. We are convinced that presidential elections every four years, and congressional elections every two years have precluded the possibility of violent revolution here. Obviously it is necessary to ignore the blatant fact that electing a congress and president has not prevented despotic laws from being enacted like kudzu vines over the land.
Information proliferation has made more people aware than ever before of the dangers that lurk within our political establishment. While we have more nominal freedoms here, we also have exceedingly onerous dominance of corporations over lives of the people. Beginning with the Patriot Act and culminating in the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011, and militarization of police forces from coast to coast between these events, we have reached the point that tens of thousands found reason to take to the streets to protest both over there and here at home. Even so, a vast majority here is divided by illusions of “Republican” and “Democrat” differences, while 93 of 100 senators passed the NDAA of 2011.
Some will assert, they know much more than we do of the need for this sort of law and power of government, with all the top-secret national security information they deal with. Personally I don’t buy that bullshit.
Occupy Wall Street and its ubiquitous clones were decent protests, although also a sham to a large extent, perhaps merely a rehearsal. We cannot take seriously an anti-establishment protest sanctioned by the highest levels of the establishment, and the White House encouraged OWS. Those who are most informed were not necessarily invited for sound bites by mass media, including YouTube. There is more to come, and it may not take the same peaceful form as OWS.
Violence is not the answer, yet it comes. More of the same, “waging war for peace.” The vast majority of us know this is not the way, not the truth, and certainly not a path towards the light. But, unfortunately, we are not in power, and we do not seek power over others as those in power have done, and continue to do. It is happening in Egypt, in Syria, in Libya, and here in America. Elections have nothing to do with acquisition of real power and its application.
That is my forecast for 2012: the gap between those among us who want peace and universal prosperity as a way of life and those who want despotic control through widespread poverty will widen ever more.
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