...I've always been mad; I know I've been mad,
Those cryptic words, accompanied by a persistent and disturbing heartbeat, come from
the opening sequence of Pink Floyd's emotion-charged 1972
tour de force
"Dark Side of the Moon",
an incredibly powerful album that always brings a lump to my throat, every
time I hear it (even now, a third of a century later).
So why is Mad Teddy mad?
It's a complex issue. I'll come back to it; first, let's deal with an easier
but perhaps no less important question:
Why is Mad Teddy Teddy?
I hate going to bed without having a shower first. There's nothing worse
than lying there, rolling over, twisting and turning, with the sheets
sticking to one's sweaty frame and coming with one at every twitch, feeling
like a straight-jacket.
So, a shower it is. I always wash my hair when I have a shower; so generally
I go to bed with wet - or at least damp - hair.
I tend to lie on my side, mostly. So my damp hair gets pushed up on the
pillow and basically sets in that position. The result is that I get up with
at least one - sometimes two, depending on whether I turned over a few times
early in the night - tufts of hair that look like teddy bear ears.
When I was at university in the 1970's, living in a men's college, there
were plenty of stirrers there. I became known as Teddy. This was designed to
rile me; and it did, because I had not yet developed a sufficiently thick
skin to deal with "wind-ups". I hated it!
Some years ago, as I moved into my "mature years" (yeah right), a day
came when it suddenly dawned on me that the tag suited me down to the
ground. After all, what are teddy bears like?
Cute and lovable? (If only you knew...)
Somewhat cheeky? Maybe even a little bit naughty?
Anyway, I embraced the idea of being Teddy. So, I'm Teddy. Deal with it.
Now - back to the original question:
Why is Mad Teddy mad?
If you've come here by way of my main menu, and read my introductory
comments, you'll know that I have certain characteristics which at least
make me appear mad to most other people. Again, it's a case of making a
virtue out of a vice: if folks think I'm a bit loony, then I'll be a
bit loony. No problem!
Once you've had a bit of a look around this site, you'll probably agree with
the diagnosis. What you have here is a person who is determined to continue
to grow old disgracefully.
But that's not the whole story. The word "mad" has more than one meaning -
and the other common meaning applies to me even more than the first one.
I get mad when I see a world run by lying, dangerous buffoons; and I am
staggered when presumably right-minded majorities re-elect them, in the
teeth of clear evidence of their duplicity and fraud.
I get mad when super-powers - of whatever political persuasion - think they
have a right, God-given or otherwise, to trample over smaller and weaker
nations; foster insurrection against their democratically-elected
governments; humiliate, maim, torture, rape (or otherwise sexually abuse)
and murder their citizens; destroy their property and infrastucture; and
generally spread their own brand of terror - always in the name of "freedom"
and "democracy", of course.
I get mad when I see my own country joining in, out of cowardly fear of
reprisals if it doesn't.
I get mad when governments spend taxpayers' money on death, destruction and
injustice around the world, instead of spending it on education, health, and
infrastructure, both at home and abroad.
I get mad when I see good things in society closed down to save a few
pennies, and when governments abrogate their duty of stewardship to their
citizens by selling off ("privatising") publicly-owned assets, paid for over
generations with those citizens' hard-earned tax dollars.
I get mad when governments cream huge taxes off their citizens, and then
either keep the money as a "surplus", citing the need for a "strong economy"
and saying that the country is wealthy as a result (thus tacitly
denying the fact that the wealth of any country resides in its
citizens, not in its government) - or spend it on useless
ideologically-motivated schemes which nobody needs and which only benefit
the rich and powerful - the very people who thus continue to prop up such
corrupt régimes.
I get really mad when I see the revolution in communications technology
being used both as an excuse for, and as a tool to bring about,
economic globalization,
so that ordinary people find it difficult or impossible to survive without
sucking up to - and becoming part of - this rotten system. (Pink Floyd's
songs "Money" and "Welcome to the Machine" spring to mind.)
I get mad when I think how all of the above are carried out cold-bloodedly,
ultimately out of base self-interest, by the "haves" of this world, while
pretending to do the rest of us an enormous favour.
"Keep the peasants in their place, what?!"
I get mad when I know that there are already
enough
resources in the world to feed, clothe and provide decent living standards
for every single person on the face of the planet, with plenty to spare -
but that poverty still abounds. I am horrified and embarrassed to live in a
world where creatures who dare to call themselves "human" can deal with
others of their kind so shamefully.
I'm mad as hell!
Rant over.
I remember being entranced 20 years ago (it only seems like yesterday!), as
Bob (not yet Sir Bob) led the way to make a serious attempt to tackle the
desperate plight of millions of starving people in Africa, by staging the
"Band-Aid" concerts. The battle-cry then was "Feed the world".
And it happened. People dug deep, my wife and I among them. Even though the
resulting aid effort was chaotic, and probably quite a lot of the money
raised went where it shouldn't have gone (surprise, surprise), a difference
was made and lives were saved. Politicians and the media (yes, the
corporate-controlled media, no less) were shamed into getting behind
the event and helping to make it somewhat of a success.
"It was twenty years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to
play..."
So, here we are, twenty years on - and what's changed?
Not a lot! Huge tracts of Africa are still in desperate need. Sir Bob is
back, bless him, with some equally big-hearted friends ("on ya", Bono! - as
we say "down under"), and we have another series of fabulous rock-concerts,
once again designed to get people's attention, and once again intended to
shame so-called world leaders into getting something right.
Is it good?
Of course. But it shouldn't have to be this way, should it?!
The disaster should never have happened. In a world in which the mighty
dollar is seen as more important than human life, international debt is now
the ultimate reality. I know I'm not the only angry, frustrated person. We
all have to hang our heads in shame; to some extent we're all part of the
problem.
We tolerate power-brokers in high places jerking us all around for far too
long before daring to get involved. We all know evil when we see it, but
feel that it's just too hard to do anything. In a vicious, violent
world, we could lose our livelihood - even our lives - if we risk sticking
our heads up and being counted.
There will always be Bob's and Bono's, Mother Teresa's and Nelson Mandela's
- thank heaven. But it shouldn't all be up to them. If it takes a bit of
courage to speak up, so what? We each only get one life. Let's do something
useful with it!
If you haven't already realized by now, this website's main raison
d'être is my attempt to speak up and issue a challenge. Sure, there's
lots of stuff in it which represents my interests; and sure, I'm hoping to
draw you in to some extent by baring my soul, and sharing my joy in
knowledge with you - as well as cracking a few jokes - all in the hope that
enough similarly-minded people will read it, and at least start to think
seriously about the important issues, perhaps even find some way to lend a
hand. It may be a vain hope, but it's the best I can do in my present
situation. If Sir Bob and Bono can do their bit, why can't we all? What are
we worth if we don't?
Just a few more comments about the world situation before I shut up. (I hope
you're still there.)
It's all down to greed and power. There is enough to go around. There
are ways to solve the "third world"'s problems. These countries have
a right to the same independence that rich nations can afford
to enjoy - without having to tolerate the arrogance of those rich nations
setting conditions and telling them what to do in order to get them off
their backs. It can be done. It must be done. But we have to
keep snapping at our so-called leaders' heels. (That's one thing that will
never change, unfortunately.)
I grew up as part of a generation that thought it could make a difference.
We did make a difference! But we thought we had won the war, when we
had only won a few skirmishes. Sometime during the 1970's, we gave ourselves
a collective pat on the back, put our feet up, and went to sleep - without
finishing the job. Over the next couple of decades it all came unravelled:
the yuppie "narrow-tie brigade" quietly got themselves into power and set
about undoing all the gains we had made. So now we've got it all to do over
again; and this time, the enemy is ready for us, and armed to the teeth -
which means it's going to be even harder.
Plus, my generation is getting old, and (I'm afraid) a bit tired. Just look
at the ageing rockers who still manage to get up on a stage and belt out
their gorgeous old songs, some with their bald heads shining, others with
their thinning grey hair catching the highlights from the stage lighting
equipment - but just getting on and doing what has to be done anyway.
"They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to
raise a smile..."
- and, yes, it's good to see some younger musos joining in.
But we need more young people on board! Not just musicians. Out on
the street, protesting, writing letters, banging on doors - doing anything
to let the world know that you're alive and thinking! Where are you?
And then there's people of my own generation. There were thousands of
us young activists 30 or 40 years ago, making the power-brokers sit up and
take notice, giving them a hard time. But now, when there's a rally against
the so-called "war on terror" or something similar, I see hardly any of the
faces I used to know. Surely, at least some of you are still alive?
Have you all just given up? There's so much to be done - and people with
experience and leadership skills are desperately needed! What happened to
you?
I opened this page with a quote from Pink Floyd. I'm going to close the same
way, with the name of one of their other albums, the
title-track
of which they sang in Sir Bob's concert last night:
... WISH YOU WERE HERE ...
Why did it happen? Surely, it couldn't be because London won the right to
stage the 2012 Olympic Games. It's far more likely to be politically driven.
The Gleneagles meetings are happening, with eight very powerful world
leaders meeting to discuss the future direction of our small blue planet.
Presumably, somebody with a bad attitude thought that a few
strategically-placed bombs in London's transport network would be a good way
to make a point.
Who could that be?
Current popular thinking supports the suggestion that it's down to Islamic
extremists. Certainly, news reports suggest that some of these are claiming
responsibility.
Then there's always the possibility that it's all been carefully
orchestrated by dark forces in high places to divert attention from the real
issues, and to try to foster a violent reaction from thoughtless people
while keeping you and me confused and in the dark as far as possible.
One thing that can be said is that, whatever particular brand of fascism it
was, the British people stood up to it magnificently, just as they did 65
years ago.
We keep hearing about how we are living in the "post-9/11 era". The world,
we are repeatedly told, has changed; the "age of innocence" has gone, and
now we have to face the new "realities". I read this as an attempt by the
"powers that be" to get us all accustomed to accepting a diminution of our
human rights in the name of "security".
It's a lie. Any future we face without basic human rights is no future at
all.
I saw, on TV, interviews with ordinary British people after the atrocity.
The attitude was: life goes on; we can't tolerate any bastard jerking our
strings, and ruining our lives and our sense of what's really important. One
man said that, as far as he was concerned, he wasn't going to allow any thug
to
change his world
for him - and his opinion was typical of all those who
were interviewed.
During and after the blitz of the early part of WWII, the British people
gritted their teeth and got on with it; and Nazism was eventually defeated.
Life does go on. If we were to adopt the point of view that innocence is a
thing of the past, why wasn't that position taken during and after WWII, or
Napoleon's attempt to take over Europe, or the atrocities committed by the
Vikings, Ghengis Khan, Nebuchadnezzer, etc., etc.? (not to mention the
pointless horror of WWI).
There will always be those who don't quite qualify as members of the human
race. The rest of us will always have to deal with them, clean up after
them, and keep going. What we must never do is allow ourselves to become one
with them.
So, who was responsible for the London attack of 7-7-2005? Will we ever
know?
Frankly, what difference does it make, in the final analysis?
Violence, whoever perpetrates it, never achieves anything. (See my
economic globalization
page for more on this.)
You can't fight the devil with his own weapons. Whoever is behind this,
we have to meet their challenge, certainly; but it's how we meet it
that distinguishes us from them. We have to rise above that low level.
I've watched with sadness as the creative actions of Sir Bob Geldof and his
friends have been followed by the stupid antics of some protesters at the G8
summit in Scotland. Sir Bob describes it as "idiotic". He's right. I just
hope that it doesn't cause all the good work put in by the musicians to
unravel.
If, as a result of the outrage in London, some of these protesters can see
how much damage can be done by mindless violence - if they can begin to
understand that anger has to be channeled creatively, not
destructively - than perhaps there's a silver lining.
Let's hope so.
"WE ARE NOT AFRAID"
Check this out, if you haven't already. I heard about it a few days ago from
a television news bulletin:
http://www.werenotafraid.com/
They're right. In the final analysis, it's moral courage that will win over
evil. It's always been that way; it always will be.
As mentioned earlier - in the immediate aftermath of the London atrocity,
the people of that city refused to be cowed. "There is too much to live for
to allow anyone to spoil it for us" was the gist of the message they sent to
the world. The website whose link appears above is sending the same simple
but powerful message; and we can all join in, by whatever means we find
available.
On ABC-TV, on Friday and Saturday nights, is a program simply called "RAGE".
It features new and old rock videos. Last night a song called
"Freedom",
by The Beautiful Girls, was on. Just a few of the lyrics from the song:
Freedom, is ours to hold.
During the Great Depression in 1933, in his inaugural address, U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the following statement:
The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself.
There is a whole industry built on fear. Suicide bombers are part of it.
Right-wing governments who use "terrorism" as an excuse to throw away the
human rights of their citizens in the name of "security" are part of it. As
far as I'm concerned, there's no distinction. They all have to be stood up
to, without fear, in the name of freedom.
Check out
this page
for more thoughts on the issue (scroll down toward the end of the entry for
31st October, 2004).
"IF I WERE A RICH MAN"
> > >
WOW
< < <
Suddenly, it seems, every Aussie is supposed to have a warm, comfortable,
secure feeling, knowing that nobody is now going to be able to put us all in
debtor's prison until we pay up.
Don't get me wrong: I'm all for not being in debt. When my wife and I bought
our house, we made a point of going without a lot of "extras" for a couple
of years until we'd paid off the mortgage. So we've never had that worry
hanging over our heads for decades, as so many people do.
But just what does it mean to say that a country is out of debt?
From what I've heard in radio and TV commentaries over the weekend, we're
still "in debt" in international terms (to the tune of about 500 billion
dollars, if you believe some sources). So precisely in what sense is
Australia not in debt?
Well, just what is Australia - or any other country, for that matter?
Does "Australia" mean "Australia's federal government" - or does it mean
"Australia's people"?
Click on the following links to read some thoughts by various commentators
on just what Costello's "debt-free day" really means:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1620519.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1620338.htm
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/060420/15/406h9.html
So apparently even the business sector has misgivings about it. More to the
point, however, is the fact that the government gets itself out of debt by
passing on that debt to "the private sector". The logical consequence of
this is that businesses now have to pay it, which means that the price of
everything has to go up in order for them to survive and make their profit -
and then guess who ends up carrying the can? The "peasant class", basically
- meaning you and I! What a surprise...
So which "Australia" is in debt? - and to whom?
From where I'm standing, the Australian government is now firmly in debt to
the Australian people. Whether we'll ever get it back, in the form of viable
health care, affordable tertiary education, maintenance of infrastructure
etc. etc., appears to depend on the government's whim - and, from reading
the content of those three links above, it's clear that this isn't likely to
happen any time soon.
One excuse given is that we baby-boomers, who are now well and truly into
our "middle years", are going to be entering our old age in the not too
distant future, and then some of that money will be available to look after
us in our dotage. Do you believe that ordinary folks like us will ever see a
penny of it? Neither do I!
For some years now, there have been serious problems with aged care in
Australia. (I'm not just making this up to score a cheap point; see
this site
to get some perspective on the matter.)
So is the federal government going to step in and regulate the aged-care
industry? Do we really think that a typical right-wing early
21st-century western government which
believes in ideologically-driven open-slather deregulation is going to
enforce tough laws and get this cleaned up?
Seriously, do we really believe that a government which farms out as much of
its business as it possibly can is going to put up a single red cent of its
fat surplus, ripped off the taxpayers over many years to "pay off its debt",
just to look after the most vulnerable and least powerful members of the
population? Give me a break!
Nossir - we're going to be on our own. We're not going to have any joy out
of the federal government's big bucks at all. There won't be any "pie in the
sky", mate.
Not only that, though - there isn't going to be any pie right now, either,
if Peter Costello is to be believed! His government is committed to
continuing to "rein in" government spending, so that health, education, and
infrastructure will continue to languish. Tough luck - that's "economic
reality".
<<<
Nevertheless, we should be thrilled that Australia is "out of debt" - right?
>>>
Just like so much of the obfuscation we hear from our rulers, it's all down
to "smoke and mirrors". As the old saying goes:
Wake up, Australia!
"MOVEMENT AT THE STATION"...?
It seems that people-power still exists after all. Australia's federal
government has taken an uncharacteristic back step; and many people are
cheering.
So what's it all about?
It's a complex matter, and it really isn't practical to put all the details
on this page. If you'd like to know more, click
here.
Madness in Mumbai, and Lebanon's legacy
I responded almost immediately to the London incident just over a year ago
with an update to this page (see above). It's taken me a bit longer to get
around to addressing the latest atrocity of this type. Is that because I'm
basically a white anglo-saxon protestant ("WASP"), so that - with the best
will in the world - I'm doomed to have an ineradicable streak of racism in
me?
It must be said that the media, in Australia at least, have not given this
atrocity anything like as much coverage as they gave the one in London,
which made headlines for several days - certainly more than in Mumbai's
case. It's a fair criticism, isn't it? Attributing to people of goodwill the
best possible motives, why does this happen?
"Burnout" is one reasonable explanation. We see so much mindless violence on
the news every day that it's difficult to maintain a sense of outrage,
unless an atrocity affects us more or less directly. Australia has a
long-standing cultural connection with Britain, perhaps more so than with
India; so perhaps we felt British anguish more.
It's an explanation, but it's not a justification. If we see something that
sickens us, we have a choice: to speak out, or to keep silence - and
thereby give such an incident tacit approval.
The reason I've taken several days to get around to writing an update on
this occasion is that I've thought long and hard about just what to say.
Would it do any good to write what may just be seen as another rant?
Probably not. No doubt there will be plenty more incidents; addressing each
one as it comes along is not feasible. There's only so much space on my hard
disc, and only so much storage space allotted to my site by my web host.
So what follows is an attempt, at least, to draw a line under these matters.
Nobody is immune. We're all apt to get angry and lash out from time to time.
Indeed, only a week or two ago, while trying desperately to get this site
ready by 10th July (visit my
home page
to see why), something came along which made it almost not happen - and I'm
afraid I gave some people a tongue-lashing which they definitely didn't
deserve. I realised my error pretty soon thereafter, mind you, and
apologised sincerely in short order - but I'm still feeling very silly and
embarrassed about it, even now. Serves me right!
So somebody decided that they'd show off their nasty temper in Mumbai. A few
well-placed bombs in the railway system, just to make a point. "That'll show
'em!"
Show what, and to whom? Show how clever and brave they were to throw
together some explosives, and kill some innocent civilians? Or just show
how easy it is to be a real loser? Are we supposed to be impressed?
And now it's on again in the Middle East. How long will it take for people -
on both sides of any argument - to realize that violence never achieves
anything?
It's so easy to appeal to a higher authority. These thugs always cover their
arrogance with an appeal to religion. Apparently, we're supposed to believe
that every innocent child's miserable death, maiming, or bereavement is
excusable by appealing to some holy writing or other, inspired by whatever
deity an aggressor decides is the "true" one.
Well, I don't buy it.
You know where I stand. There are more important things to do to try and
make the world a better place than to engage in futile, self-righteous
religious tub-thumping (much less, "holy war") of whatever flavour. No
religion remotely worthy of the tag can possibly sanction the evil that is
happening around the world in these unsettled, distressing times. (To read
some thoughts of Isaac Asimov on these matters, click
here.
UPDATE, 27th October 2010:
Also, click
here
for an ABC Radio National interview with Jewish American Anna Baltzer,
the granddaughter of a holocaust survivor, on the same topic.)
To sum up:
In the last 24 hours, one of the many images which flashed very briefly
across my TV screen (if I'd blinked I would have missed it) was of a
civilian in Lebanon, surrounded by devastation, holding up a large sign
which read, simply:
My home page
Preliminaries (Copyright, Safety)
Why is Mad Teddy mad?
like the most of us have.
Very hard to explain why you're mad,
even if you're not mad...
UPDATE, 4th July, 2005: "Independence Day" (?)
Last night, I watched the London
LIVE 8
concert on TV. Once again, Sir Bob
Geldof - a man with one of the biggest hearts anywhere - has pulled off a
coup, and forced a complacent, self-serving world to sit up and take notice.
UPDATE, 8th July, 2005: Lunacy in London
Well, I never thought I'd need to update this page again so soon. But I
don't suppose I have a choice.
"Nothing's gonna change my world..."
UPDATE, 17th July, 2005: A way forward -
It's refreshing to see that there are already people with posted websites
addressing the ugly situation in which the world finds itself. (Mine is just
one of many, and far from leading the way - as I write this, I've still got
some considerable distance to go before I launch it.)
It's just a struggle in your mind,
to keep your soul, keep your soul.
UPDATE, 23rd April, 2006:
Two days ago (Friday, 21st April, 2006), Australia's Federal Treasurer,
Peter Costello, gleefully informed an over-taxed Australian public that, for
the first time since the mid-1970's, Australia is out of debt.
UPDATE, 3rd June, 2006:
Well! The last few days have seen quite a few raised eyebrows here in the
land of Oz. Whatever is going on?
UPDATE, 18th July, 2006:
Almost a year after the London bombings, it's "here we go again" - this time
in the major Indian city of Mumbai. WHY?
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