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nigeltdeBook rec for the day: John Pilger's The New Rulers of the World. One of the scariest, most fascinating, most horrifying books I have ever read. It's of the type that are written really well and are still incredibly difficult to read - rendered so in this case often because of the numerous interviews with the people at ground zero, so to speak. It has four chapters: the first is on Suharto's murder of a million or so people in Indonesia and the West's happy participation in it; the second is on the total devastation in Iraq caused by the West's post-Gulf War sanctions (so ridiculous that there was no way in hell Hussein could've had any WMDs); the third is on the collusion between the UK and US govts, (oil) companies and the media with a focus on Iraq and Afghanistan; the fourth is on the decimation of Australia's Aboriginal population by our governments both in the past and today, ignored merrily by white Australia. It was published just before we went to war, which lends its contents an even more tragic aspect considering the numbers of Iraqi and Afghan civilians killed, the way fuck all substantive has changed in Afghanistan since then, the way conditions in Iraq have worsened, and the way they seem to be getting away with it. Also interesting is how exactly bloody the same Liberal and Labor, Tory and Labor, Democrat and Republican really are - the proof is in the policies.
If you are at all interested in human rights, international (in)justice, international politics, what governments do behind our backs, or in fact, just what type of people are in power today, and especially if you are Australian, I highly recommend this book.
If you are at all interested in human rights, international (in)justice, international politics, what governments do behind our backs, or in fact, just what type of people are in power today, and especially if you are Australian, I highly recommend this book.
