The_Italian_Uncut
When I was in school and studying history, I always wondered: "How was it possible for that war to break out, how could that dictatorship have been established? Where were the people? Why did they consent? Why didn't they rebel?" And yet, I don't believe there's a sane person who actually likes wars. In fact, when you think about it, the world is full of governments that claim to want to resolve conflicts diplomatically, yet wars continue to break out. Dictatorships continue to be established. These doubts stayed in my mind until the internet arrived. Then something changed. I started to do my own research, out of curiosity, to uncover things that didn't add up.
That's when I began to understand. If you start digging, you'll find information that you normally don't find in history books. You don't find it in newspapers either. And don't even get me started on TV news.
What does that information say? It says things that everyone else doesn't. That information makes you understand why wars break out and why dictatorships are established. You don't have to do really deep research, because to be honest, the information is there, ready to be read or heard by anyone who has a minimum interest in understanding how things work. That's when you discover that wars are planned decades before they break out by governments and intelligence agencies. That's when you discover that terrorists are funded by the intelligence services of countries that have an interest in destabilizing this or that nation. Why do countries plan wars and destabilize other countries? For economic reasons, of course. That's when Country A, which wants to get its hands on Country B's oil, starts organizing a coup d'état to install a puppet government led by a dictator who can be bribed. In exchange, Country A gets permission to drill and extract oil.
The pattern is always the same. But people don't know it. Why? Because information is controlled by governments. In the past, many people were illiterate. But even those who could read had no alternative sources of information. The press, one way or another, has always been controlled. It's no coincidence that there is a worldwide index on press freedom in various countries. This is precisely because there is an awareness of censorship and information manipulation. Now, in the 1940s, the only sources of information were newspapers and the radio. What wasn't written in newspapers or said on the radio didn't exist. If Country A attacks Country B and the latter defends itself, everyone knows whose fault it is: Country A. Now, imagine that newspapers and radio stations omit to say that Country A attacked Country B. Imagine they only say: "Country B attacked Country A." At this point, for someone reading the newspaper or listening to the radio, whose fault is the war? Country B, of course! Even though in reality, Country B was simply defending itself.
Now it's clear why wars break out and dictatorships are established. What's less clear is why it still happens today, in a world full of information that is an alternative to mainstream propaganda. Well, I understood this too. Today is no different from the 1940s, because even though the system to access correct, undistorted information exists, people don't read and they don't listen. They're too busy with their own affairs. What affairs? Work, school. The kittens on Instagram. Ah, kittens, how cute are they! Who doesn't like them? We can all confess that we never deny a cute kitten a 'like'! Instead, those who talk about war, who talk about censorship, who provide alternative information to the mainstream, are ignored or, worse, mocked. If you say that Country B is defending itself, a comment from the one who "knows" is ready to mock you because come on, it's obvious that Country B is to blame!
So, in the 1940s, wars broke out because people couldn't get informed. Today, however, wars break out because people ignore or, worse, mock. So perhaps—and I say perhaps—before giving a post a negative vote, maybe it would be a good idea to read that post. Maybe it would be a good idea to listen to those words because, who knows, maybe those words are telling the truth, that truth that mainstream channels don't want you to know.
Patti Smith said: "People have the power." And it's true. People have the power. But they have to make the minimal effort to use it.