A "State of Abduction and Ransom"?

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The hype surrounding the debate was unwarranted
- it wasn't a debate between equals.
Mr. Shabery was meant to look ridiculous
-despite his Gucci suit/ foaming at the mouth.
Mr. Anwar was meant to "win"
- despite his pathetically shabby jacket and sad face.
Much has been written and debated about the "Historic Debate"
-and the newfound "openness" of the information industry/ politics.

What was it actually? A Drama?
A showcase for "openness"? A stage for "matyrdom"?
A 'Real' Debate, or just Media Fodder and a Diversion,?

The whole event, was a drama of designed distraction, which was engineered to divert focus of the people - the events that are unfolding in the corridors of power, don't augur well for the nation.
Malaysia is currently at a "virtual standstill".
Nothing is moving despite all the political rhetoric that's being thrown everywhere.

For all practical purpose, there is technically, "political chaos".
Neither the Ruling coalition nor the opposition have any decent political leadership to speak of.
On one side, we have an impending internal implosion
-and on the other a "trojan horse party", intent on asserting their role in "opposition politics", for their contribution to the success of PR.

These "trojans" (I had written about them long ago - asking them to ask themselves if they are "trojans" whenever they thump their chest), is the "Achilles Heel" of the "menage-a-trois" pact between the unlikely parties.
They'd never ( not in a hundred years) accept another person who might have a different idea of statecraft, despite being totally clueless themselves.

Little do they realize, that they are being "played" by the spin-masters and political pirates who hold the nation at "ransom" - like our "good friend" Mr. Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe. He'd only agree to "lose", if he can "share power"!
The principles of Nelson Mandela, in not being enslaved by political power doesn't figure in the equation.
Mandela did not hold the Nation at ransom, after having given birth to it unlike some others .....

Malaysia is today a nation "abducted", and held at ransom by a select elite, bent on rape & plunder of the nation's resources.
Who the perpetrators or victims are, don't seem to matter any more. Neither do the law, public opinion, justice or truth.
What matters today is - who weilds the power - and the "law" is that which the "powers that be" sees fit, will deal with irresponsible elements who "disturb the peace".
Might is Right, in Malaysia - it is the law of the jungle.

The only difference is, nobody is dying (as yet, at least) - cos it's only the monkeys who are restless, and are making the most noise as yet. They are throwing the fruits at their perceived enemies ....
The vultures are already flying overhead and the Hyenas are encircling their prey - the people.
Although the dogs (who are clueless themselves) are yet to be unleashed by the monkeys, they are however definitely on standby.
The tiger is slowly awakening out of his slumber .....
The "trojan" Horses are meanwhile busy trying to cut deals with the pigs, so as to get a piece of the pie (although they'll only end up with the slop).
And the birds have begun taking flight, although the tension on the ground wouldn't hurt them so badly.

But of course the show must go on, so we had a "debate" - and much was spoken about Money.
The bottomline in it all was about "Money"
- yes, "It's the Money, Stupid" .....
That reminded me of the best parts of Atlas Shrugged.

Here it is, an excerpt, though not in the actual order (for the sake of relevance):
(To those who cannot see the relevance, I apologize for the lack of clarity).

"When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others.
It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money.
Not an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow.
Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor - your claim upon the energy of the men who produce."

"But money demands of you the highest virtues, if you wish to make it or to keep it.
Men who have no courage, pride or self-esteem, men who have no moral sense of their right to their money and are not willing to defend it as they defend their life, men who apologize for being rich
- will not remain rich for long."

"They are the natural bait of the swarms of looters that stay under rocks for centuries, but come crawling out at the first smell of a man who begs to be forgiven for the guilt of owning wealth.
They will hasten to relieve him of the guilt
- and of his life, as he deserves."

"Then you will see the rise of the men of the double standard
- the men who live by force, yet count on those who live by trade to create the value of their looted money
- the men who are the hitchhikers of virtue."

"In a moral society, these are the criminals, and the statutes are written to protect you against them."

"But when a society establishes criminals-by-right and looters-by-law
- men who use force to seize the wealth of disarmed victims
- then money becomes its creators' avenger.
Such looters believe it safe to rob defenseless men, once they've passed a law to disarm them."

"But their loot becomes the magnet for other looters, who get it from them as they got it.
Then the race goes, not to the ablest at production, but to those most ruthless at brutality.
When force is the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket.
And then that society vanishes, in a spread of ruins and slaughter."

"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money."

"Money is the barometer of a society's virtue.
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing
- when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors
- when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work,
and your laws don't protect you against them,
but protect them against you
- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice
- you may know that your society is doomed."

"Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality.
It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot."

"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters:
the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably;
the man who respects it has earned it."

So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another
- their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun."
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
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