In chaotic times like ours, it behooves us to practice proactive optimism, which is far more than infantile hope or pious faith.
Conscious, vigorous optimism is visionary and builds on our awareness of our human identity and dignity. It expresses our faith in humanity, our resolve to be morally and intellectually honest, our good will.
It is axiomatic that to be constructive and effective, we need access to all information, access to the facts and to a multiplicity of interpretations. Democracy cannot function without reliable information. Therefore, we demand transparency and accountability from our authorities, reject scams, public relations schemes, propaganda and skewed media narratives.
It is time to abandon credulity vis-à-vis our authorities, which all too often have lied to us. Numerous scholarly studies document the ubiquitous false flags and falsifications that are fabricated by the “intelligence agencies,” including the CIA, M16 and Mossad, which have their own agendas, do not act to advance our interests, and function undemocratically as hostile operatives.
Many of our once-trusted institutions have morphed into Orwellian structures engaged in the business of manipulating public opinion and manufacturing consent (Noam Chomsky/Edward Herman) to justify exploitation of others, sabre-rattling, aggression, kidnapping, even genocide.
We know that leaders whom we once trusted abused our trust, lying about important matters, e.g., the Tonkin Gulf, the purported Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, etc. We would be foolish to trust media narratives on Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, China and Venezuela, among others.
We must endeavor to consult multiple sources of information and compare narratives. Notwithstanding the Latin maxim mundus vult decipi (the world wants to be lied to), we must push back against simplifications, amalgamations, extrapolations—and demand hard evidence.
Concerning criminality by many governments, we welcome whistleblowers like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg, who revealed to us what our governments conceal. We must join our voices to those of all whistleblowers and resolutely shout: Not in our name! Meanwhile we remain steadfast, demanding truth from our elected officials.
Notwithstanding the chaos that surrounds us—we must reaffirm life and hope in the sense dum spiro, spero, (Theocritus, third century BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters to Atticus 9.10.3—dum anima est, spes esse dicitur, 103-43 BC), as long as we breathe, there is hope.
Indeed, “hope is the last to die” (Halina Birenbaum).
In these disordered times of wars and terrorism, let us reaffirm our belief in life. As Rainer Maria Rilke, born 150 years ago, wrote Das Leben ist eine Herrlichkeit: What he meant in his Larenopfer, Stundenbuch, Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, in his correspondence, in his ten Letters to a Young Poet, is: “Life is splendorous. Love is wondrous. Family and friends are meaning and substance.”
Words do stand for specific concepts, values, things. Language must not be used to destroy meaning, hide ulterior purposes. Orwellian newspeak, relentless propaganda, and enforced cognitive dissonance may eventually obliterate the legacy of Descartes, Erasmus, Spinoza, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Mahler.
We must reject the corruption and destruction of language, by creating Trumpian/Orwellian “Ministries” such as the “Ministry of Love,” to enforces loyalty through fear; “Ministry of Truth,” to fabricate propaganda and alter historical records; “Ministry of Peace,” to promote perpetual war; and “Ministry of Plenty,” to manage famine and rationing. Is Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” not akin to a new “Ministry of Peace/Truth/Love/Plenty”? This phony “Board of Peace” does not aim for world Peace but, instead, to replace the United Nations through United States “full-spectrum dominance”?
This Board of Peace is actually a Board of Neo-Colonialism, a Board to Rehabilitate Apartheid, a Board for the Management of Genocide. Trump’s newspeak is not original – it is copied from George Orwell.
We do not have to play the fatuous game of Humpty Dumpty in his exchange with Alice in Wonderland in Through the Looking Glass:
“‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory,”’ Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant
“there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”’
‘But “glory” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument,”’ Alice objected.
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’
‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master—that’s all.’”
Are we going to play Humpty Dumpty’s game and let Trump get away with the farce of his “Board of Peace.”
Civilization is not inexorably doomed, but many of our leaders have lost the moral compass and may yet drive us to Apocalypse. Civilization still means a commitment to logic and rationality, adherence to internationally agreed norms, playing by the rules and not cheating. Alas, we have a culture of cheating which may eventually prove our undoing.
That is yet another reason why we should know our own culture and reaffirm the validity of our civilization, recommit to the peace agenda of the UN Charter and the UNESCO constitution, reject fear-mongering, relearn diplomacy as a necessary conflict-prevention strategy, practice intellectual honesty with ourselves and others. Most importantly, we must reject fake news, fake history and fake law disseminated by the mainstream media, our politicians and some pseudo-academics.
Voltaire’s picaresque novela Candide or The Optimist (published 1759)—ends with resignation. His message is to accept the world as it is and to “cultivate our own garden.” It is the novel of an old man who has seen everything and realizes that he cannot change the world and withdraws to his private sphere. Our message must not be one of disillusionment or passivity. We have the resolve to practice proactive optimism.
Once, in October 2013, after I had finished a human rights luncheon lecture at Harvard, I jumped on a cab to MIT to visit Noam Chomsky. I asked him, “Say, Noam, how can you stand it? For 50 years you have been writing the most insightful analyses of world events, and things are not getting any better.” Noam frowned at me and said “Look, Alfred, we do what we can, and what we MUST!” I understood what he meant. Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovidius, Ex Ponto). Persevere and NEVER give up!
Therefore, with renewed energy, let us work together to save our civilization. Let us build world harmony, not just for a bogus peace narrative of the collective West, not for a “transitional political pact of non-violence.” Much more than that we must strive for more than ephemeral cease-fires in the many conflicts that plague the world.
Let us join spirits in building ontological harmony, a harmony of convergence, a spiritual mindset that overcomes arrogance, animosity, deception, greed, hedonism, materialism. Let us live the music of peace, the poetry of harmony, and join efforts to make the future kinder, juster, less bellicose than in recent years.
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About the Author
Alfred de Zayas is U.S. and Swiss citizen, residing in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is Professor of Law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy.
De Zayas is a former senior lawyer with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and former UN Independent Expert on International Order (2012-18).
He is author of 12 books including “Building a Just World Order.”
Alfred can be reached at alfreddezayas@gmail.com.
