The Sleeping Giant

Once upon a time, on a beautiful blue green planet, there lived a species called homo sapiens, commonly known as humans.

They were clever, and most were also kind and caring.

But over many centuries a group of selfish people were able to take control of the economy, governance and information spheres.

Some called them the Deep State. Some called them the Epstein class. And some just called them the ultra rich and powerful. Most of them felt they were deserving of their privilege and better than everyone else. Morals were seen by them as a quaint and outdated remnant of inferior beings.

They rigged all of these systems in their favour. The economy was organized so that public funds were funnelled their way, instead of benefitting society and ordinary people. They were able to bribe, lobby and blackmail politicians to do their will. And their numerous news and entertainment outlets made them out to be noble, good and what everyone else should aspire to be. And many believed it, including the powerful group of people who created these stories.

They would start wars, and justify them with stories about bad guys, and savages who needed civilizing, and women who needed liberating. Or people who wanted to harm western countries. All the while, these people would plunder and pillage their own countries, and countries around the world. They encouraged people to become war heroes, dying for their nations and the made up stories of the powerful.

The group that benefitted from these wars didn’t feel bound by nationalism. Most of them spent a lot of time in the air, jet setting around, making deals in other countries, and finding exotic vacation spots.

For a long time, this worked, and the powerful class became more rich, powerful and immoral. But then they noticed a fly or two in the ointment.

First, social media came along. People would travel to other countries and share on their phones what these places were actually like, making it harder to portray these countries as backwards and ignorant.

Then, life in western countries became much harder for people living there, despite the reports of how well their economies were doing. Infrastructure was crumbling, food and housing became increasingly unaffordable, public services deteriorated, and environmental degradation was leading to extreme weather events. Many became homeless and hungry.

People were becoming desperate. The powerful tried to direct these people’s rage towards immigrants, women, trans people, boomers and anyone other group in order to deflect attention from those causing their problems. And often it worked. But sometimes it didn’t.

Then came the events of October 7th, 2023. In unison, the powerful of most western countries told everyone that if they criticized Israel’s genocidal response towards Gaza that they were antisemitic. This, despite the many Jewish people who objected to the carnage being committed in their name.

What?! Committing genocide makes someone antisemitic? Yes, they said, and they were adamant, firing people from their jobs for speaking out against the genocide.

As more people saw disfigured children, destroyed hospitals and schools, and learned about the starvation and torture Palestinians were exposed to, more people started to see supporters of this genocide in a different light. Sure, it was Israel committing it, but the powerful class was supporting Israel, their countries providing it with money, weapons and diplomatic cover.

And along came the Epstein files, exposing the shocking and immoral actions of many of the powerful people running things. The information released from these files was shocking and incriminating, but much of it was held back. What’s in those files? How much worse can their contents be?

Then came the unprovoked attack on Iran. This country had been demonized for decades, and it had seen the writing on the wall. The powerful class thought they could kill their spiritual leader and take over the country.

But they were wrong.

Iran had prepared. It had strategies, weapons, allies, and the Strait of Hormuz that supplied much of the world’s oil, and put all of them to good use.

The USA and Israel assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and they believed their own story about how he was despised. However, they got that wrong too, and his martyrdom galvanized the Iranian people to stand up for their sovereignty. His funeral was the largest in human history.

Iran won the war, and the American president signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) conceding many things Iran wanted. But, as was often the case, the Americans didn’t honour their commitments, and so Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to American allies and the war resumed.

Many who had supported Israel and the USA questioned their support for them. With the genocide in Gaza, the unprovoked attack on Iran, and with so many powerful people being exposed in the Epstein files for atrocities they’d committed, ordinary people started to question what they’d been told.

Meanwhile, over the years, countries that had been taken advantage of by these people were organizing themselves through BRICS and similar groups. They were no longer willing to take their destruction and exploitation.

On top of all this, western societies were in shambles, people were struggling, and much of the world was in flames from the wildfires, displacing many. What values were they supporting when they defended their countries that were under the control of the rich and powerful?

The ending hasn’t been written yet, and how this will be is up to us.

We are the sleeping giant who can change everything. It’s hard to process all the lies we’ve been told, the algorithms that have misled us, and the horrors we’re witnessing on our screens. But process them we must.

Are we okay with genocide, senseless wars, and austerity, or will we stand up to these people? Here’s an article about the kind of world that would lead to if we don’t change course. Also, the following talk between Sharmine Narwani and Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah shows us where we’re collectively heading. Its title, The West kills for money. It needs death and destruction to extract profit, gives us a taste of the future those in power are working towards.

What can we do, you might ask. First, we have to see clearly where we are. And this is no easy task. We’ve been bombarded by propaganda all our lives. So we need to make sure we’re getting accurate information, and this will not come from mainstream media. These links to news sources I trust here and here might be helpful.

The strategy of those who exploit us is to keep us ill informed and divided. They tie our identities to a western perspective, and that can be difficult to shed. And we’re divided in so many ways. Here are two excellent examples of how this is being done. Here’s a link to a short video about working class feminism that strives to unite us, instead of alienating men who are also being exploited. And here’s one way the New York Times tries to divide people.

We need to know what’s actually going on, and we need solidarity. As they say, united we stand, divided we fall.

These two things alone will help us to wake up the sleeping giant we collectively are.

As we rub our eyes and stretch our limbs, let’s look around and see what we can do.

We can oppose war and genocide. We can stop buying from the large corporations run by the powerful. And we can keep ourselves informed. And we can build community and help each other to get strong.

Our planet provides all we need for every person on earth to have food, housing, health care and education, but those in charge don’t have the will to make this happen. War is so much more profitable for them. We need to get people into power who share a vision based on care for ourselves, each other, and our world.

If you need some inspiration, here’s the recording of an inspiring webinar. And if you’re in Canada, lucky you! You can join the campaign. Avi Lewis is such an inspiration.

I hope this story has a happy ending. And if we all do our part, I think it will. As David Lewis once said, “They are the money, but we are the many.” We have to claim and use our power to get to a better world.

The sleeping giant needs to wake up, and help us reach a caring and green future. So together, let’s splash some cold water on our faces and get moving.

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here’s an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/categories

Here are some factsheets about Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/factsheets

And here’s where you can support Palestine by buying a kufiya: https://www.kufiya.org/

Here are some tips for hard times that might come in handy.

And you can find links to news sources I trust here and here.

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A big thank you to my paid subscribers. Your support really encourages me! I so appreciate you, and am glad you value my writing.