If popular culture is good for anything it’s for providing a window on the zeitgeist; that ineffable yet immediately recognizable “spirit of the times.” Following my TV’s guidance then, the pervading essence defining us in this moment seems to be… the zombie. Brainless and soulless, devoid of imagination or self-awareness, though the maelstrom may rage about it, our zombie looks neither up nor down, but gazes directly ahead, able only to pounce on whatever happens to cross the narrow focus of its fixed eye.
Is it apathy, a feeling of powerlessness, or just the desperate need to ignore the impending catastrophe fueling our denial; making us now identify with the blissfully oblivious walking dead?
Dahr Jamail is a Truthout staff reporter and author of books, ‘The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan’, ‘Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq’, and, with William Rivers Pitt, ‘The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible’. His much anticipated forthcoming title is, ‘The End of Ice.’
Jamail’s column, Climate Disruption Dispatches features at Truthout.org, where his latest article, ‘Scientists Warn of “Ecological Armageddon” Amid Waves of Heat and Climate Refugees‘ paints a picture of a climate calamity not merely coming but arrived.
Dahr Jamail in the first half.
And; this past week marked the centennial of Red October, Russia’s socialist revolution that not only shook the world, but shaped the 20th Century.
Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist who’s covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Vltchek’s numerous book titles include: ‘Western Terror: From Potosi to Baghdad’, ‘Indonesia: Archipelago of Fear’, ‘Exposing Lies of the Empire’, and ‘Aurora’. His latest book is the freshly released, ‘The Great October Socialist Revolution: Impact on the World and the Birth of Internationalism.’
Andre Vltchek and revolutions remembered and those to come in the second half.
And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here with the Left Coast Events listing for good things to do in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Dahr Jamail and collective ADHD in the age of ACD.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/