Arundhati Roy’s Incisive Revelation of the World’s Political and Economic Power Plays in LiveWire
February 1, 2023 Leave a comment
Arundhati Roy has a profound breadth of insights into the political and economic power play reality of our world. She leaves no stone unturned in her bold ascertainment. Funny how she talks of the vulgarity of the theme of economics. Excerpts from this article in Livewire. It’s well worth one’s time to read and digest the entire article of essential information that needs to be shared.
Arundhati Roy on Things that Can and Cannot be Said: The Dismantling of the World as We Know It
“Snowden, who warned us years ago that we were sleepwalking into a surveillance state, continues to live in exile in Moscow. And we have tumbled enthusiastically into the surveillance state he warned about, with our little phone-companions that have become as intimate and as indispensable as any vital organ in our bodies, spying on us, recording and transmitting our most personal information so that we can be tracked, controlled, standardised and domesticated. Not just by the state, but by each other too.”
“Both instances – strict hijab in Iran and the prohibition of hijab in India and other countries – may appear to be antagonistic, but they aren’t really. Forcing a woman into a hijab, or forcing her out of one, isn’t about the hijab. It’s about the coercion. Robe her. Disrobe her. The age-old preoccupation of controlling and policing women.”
“When the Cold War ended, demilitarisation and nuclear disarmament should have begun. Instead, NATO did the opposite. It amassed more weapons, fought more wars and used the territory of its allies and proxies for the aggressive and provocative forward deployment of troops and missiles. If Russia had done through proxies in Europe or the US what NATO is doing to it, there is little doubt that we would be seeing the moral arguments and western media coverage turned inside out.”
“Perhaps it’s hard for the rest of us to understand the mystery of the British people’s love and enthrallment with their monarchy. Perhaps it has to do with a national sense of identity and pride which cannot and certainly ought not to be reduced to vulgar economics. But allow me to indulge in some vulgarity for a minute or two.”
“A recent analysis in the Financial Times concludes that income inequality in the US and the UK is so great that they could be classed as “poor societies with some very rich people”. They’re like us ‘Third Worlders’ now, Banana Republics whose wealthy have seceded into outer space and whose poor are falling into the sea.”
“Capitalism is in its Endgame. Sadly, as it goes down, it’s taking our planet with it. Between nuclear hawks and mining corporations, it’s a race to the bottom.”
“…Meanwhile, for light entertainment, let’s all fight about what gods to pray to, what flags to wave, what songs to sing.”
Carol Keiter the blogger
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