Dan on Everything asks Is History Repeating Itself?
The world is dominated by a single economic and military superpower. Her armed forces are several times bigger than the nearest competitor. Her multinational corporations dominate the global economy. Her culture, technology and ideas have been spread across the globe, as has her political influence…
No, he’s talking not talking about the present day, and I didn’t guess where he was leading.
Bruce Sterling suggests that wars are no longer conducted between nation states. In 21st century conflits the protagonists are global terrorists and private military contractors:
taken as a whole, contractors make up the second-largest armed force there, after the US military. Although this “army” is mostly on the Pentagon’s payroll for now, it doesn’t fly any flag or belong to any state. It’s a multiethnic, for-profit, postnational force, and its sole agenda is to mind the bottom line.
On the 5th of November the British (and I believe, the Canadians) celebrate, with bonfires and fireworks, the foiling of what would have been one of the worst act of political terrorism on British soil. The religious origins of the celebration have largely been forgotten; most people people are unsure whether they’re celebrating the failure of Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament, or his attempt.
The “Gunpowder Plot” was aimed at bringing down Protestantism and restoring England to the rule of Rome. The effigy burnt on bonfires was originally of the Pope, not the hapless Guy (Guido) Fawkes, although for his crime he did have his intestines and manhood burnt while he watched. It is said that the Papal effigy was sometimes stuffed with live cats to add realistic screams to the immolation.
Thankfully we live in more enlightened times, although last year a group of yobs went shopping for several powerful rockets, an elastic band and a gerbil, and every year pet owners throughout the land endure over a month of watching their animals reduced to quivering wrecks by window-rattling emulations of the bombardment of Baghdad. When I was a small child, if November the 5th fell on a Sunday then Bonfire Night was held over to the next day to avoid disturbing the Sabbath. These days organised displays are frequently held on a Sunday even when the day itself falls mid-week, since no-one can now enjoy themselves on a working day. Private launching of fireworks extends from early October to Christmas. Along the way it accommodates two festivals imported from opposite sides of the globe: Halloween from America and Diwali from the Indian sub-continent, which is a little ironic considering the sectarian origins of Bonfire Night, but is also rather appropriate since the religious freedom we now enjoy is part of the Protestant heritage preserved on the 5th November 1605.
It seems that the tradition of patriotic family celebration watching simulations of the horrible deaths of ones enemies lives on. Hopefully our American cousins, unlike us, still remember what it is that they are celebrating. Have a very happy, if not peaceful, 4th of July.