Critical thinking needed in era of social media

So the Russians tried to inconvenience Ursula von der Leyen as she flew into Bulgaria. Well it is no wonder the Russians can’t conclude the war in Ukraine, if that is the best they can do… an itty little bit of jamming that caused the pilot to use his training to land. 

Of course, we are not sure it was the Russians, but we are told the Russians are suspected. It could have been the Israelis. They are not averse to sewing confusion by jamming the communications’ network or whatever it is that needs jamming. Or it might even have been a bunch of leprechauns in Belmullet with little better to do with their time. In this consumer age when shoes are disposed of rather than fixed there is not much demands for the skills of the leprechauns.

The sad thing is that the western media is conditioned to believing that anything that might be considered sinister with regard to a potential “attack” on the EU or the US must be the work of the Russians. And so RTÉ and indeed Virgin Media tell us that the incident that caused von der Leyen to land in a huff is because of a suspected Russian attack. They might as well have left out the reference to the Russians because a gullible Irish public is now conditioned to blame the Russians in any event. Remember the Russian spy in the Dáil? I wonder what he is up to. Could he be advising our Taoiseach on who would be a suitable candidate to send to the Áras? A man/woman who might be inclined to do the Russians’ bidding.

The Brits or the EU or the US don’t engage in such tactics, of course not. The reason Musk has sent 9,000 satellites into orbit is so that the Russians can jam up our communications. In a pig’s eye! The reason we have to spend much-needed billions to protect the undersea communications cables belonging to global corporations whose wealth would buy and sell Ireland many times over is because of the Russians. Russian ships are among the many ships, including British and US and French and German, who ply the waters of the Atlantic up and down, back and over. These Russian ships are “blockade breakers” carrying Russian oil from the Crimea through the Mediterranean and up by Portugal and Spain and France and the UK and around by the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Finland.

They don’t fly the Russian flag of course. They sail under a flag of convenience. They could belong to any country, but no. Someone, in Chatham House or the CIA or MI5 or NATO, on our behalf, points the finger and we blame the Russians. We, of course, being our elected leaders and those who know better that the plebs. And we, the Irish people are charged with responsibility for policing these Russian interlopers and are stampeded into spending hundreds of millions, as a neutral country, to ramp up our defence capabilities. The last time I had a look, I did not see the Russians or any other nation lining up an army to invade Ireland.

There was a time when the Germans considered coming to invade Ireland, at the invitation of some modern day IRA type Dermot MacMorroughs, but not even the mad Hitler was mad enough to undertake an invasion. Not even Trump would contemplate an invasion because the Irish in America who support him might consider such an escapade a step too far. The only power in the modern world that might decide to invade Ireland is the UK and, having been ousted once, their inclination to invade a contrary island is miniscule - mind you that might change if they elect Farage.

I suppose what I am trying to suggest is that we need to reflect more critically on what we are being fed by the media. Even the media, well print media, would suggest we need to read between the lines. But, nowadays in modern society, which is fed on a diet of sound bites (bytes?) and is tuned in to their phones for social media content there is nobody advising caution. There is nobody saying hold on a tick there and let’s consider what the implications or ramifications of a headline is.

Now I was very impressed by the display of military might that was on our screens and in our newspapers as the Chinese showed the world that Trump and the US is not the only show in town. Of course the message that was delivered to us was that the Chinese, the Russians and the North Koreans, all nuclear powers, were flexing their muscles in preparation for world domination. What I took from it was that the Chinese were delivering a message to Mr Trump that they were not going to be bullied by the US and the 'western powers'.

The Chinese president Mr Xi Jinping, as I saw it, was a man of bearing and in his remarks to the watching world was a model of sobriety and commonsense - unlike some others we could allude to! His message was one of peace but, if ye want war, well bring it on. Even Mr Trump would think twice before engaging with a country that could put on such an impressive display of military might. 

And it was not just the armaments. The march-past of the military personnel was a perfect display of symmetry, such that few armies could emulate. On our television screens and in the printed word we saw a proud people put on a display showing their country at its best. But, just in case we might be impressed, there came the warning from our western “experts” pointing out that Mr Jinping is an autocrat, leading a billion people who are kept underfoot and oppressed and has his eyes on Taiwan as a first step towards empire building. Taiwan next week and then Japan and then….

The Chinese Communist Party is the only political (with a small 'P') party in China. By our democratic yardstick that makes Mr Jinping a dictator. He is a dictator in a country that has shown remarkable progress in the past century. From being a country ripe for exploitation by western democracies, it has developed into a world power despite (or because of) its authoritarian leaders. The reality is that authoritarianism would seem to be the best form of government suited to China.

Mr Trump, a democratic politician of considerable intellect when it comes to wheeling and dealing, thought that Mr Jinping might have congratulated the US on their contribution to the defeat of Japan in World War II. He was a bit miffed, but he was strangely subdued. Perhaps his bullying instincts were cowed by the display of military might. It did not stop him, of course, from threatening the EU if they dared to insist on regulation to curb the worst excesses of US tech companies. Nor did it stop him from telling Netanyahu to get in and finish the job in Gaza. Mr Trump still believes that uprooting every Palestinian in the Middle East and transplanting them somewhere, anywhere, else is the answer. The two-state solution is not a solution unless the Israelis agree and they are not about to agree.

We are convinced that our democracy is the way forward and that other forms of government are anathema. Churchill, and I have to say that I, unlike some people, don’t dote on his every word, reckoned that democracy was the worst form of government, except for all the others. Hardly a ringing endorsement. My philosopher mentor Plato reckoned that democracy led to anarchy and tyranny and that its leaders (when in power for a period of time, no doubt) were lacking in skill and morals. Does that definition remind you of anyone? Mr Trump? Charlie? Boris? Bolsonaro? Anyone of a host of leaders of democratic countries in the western world? Leave them in power long enough and they become tainted by the power.

Thought for the Day 

I am not arguing with you. I’m telling you.

- J A McNeill Whistler