How Stupid are Arab Boomers, really ? Vol 47

If you have never failed, you must be a Boomer !

Having been sidelined during my knee surgery and a vacation, I missed commenting on a string of stories with global repercussions for Boomers. These include the Middle East, Putin and Ukraine, Hamas, ISIS, and Iran. I do this with a Boomer view of the world, a western view, a futurist view, lamenting the wasted time, energy, passion, and talent. We have better things to do.

First up, the Middle East, and the Arab Summer. There have been many articles and writers commenting on the area, the religious tensions, the various strategies, the possible outcomes, and the carnage. I suppose we could now define the Arab Spring as the time when we witnessed the overthrow of many of the clans or families that controlled the Arab world. All were Boomers. Now, the next stage of the process, what some might call the liberalization and / or democratization of the region, has begun. Frankly, I am an Arab optimist long term. The demographics foretell the time when the next bigger cohort will take charge, and see that bombing their homes and countries back to the stone age is completely a waste of, well, everything. It will take time, but eventually, ISIS, the Sunni tribes, the Shiites, and rest of the players in the region will recognize that theirs is a lose lose sum game. Really, over olive trees !!!!

Hamas is a perfect example. When they were handed Gaza, they had a chance to build a vibrant Palestinian economy, a beach destination worthy of tourist travel, and a just society. I understand the need for self determination and their own state, a path the international community would have helped push Israel towards. Instead, the greenhouses needed for growing a sustainable food supply were destroyed, the cement imported for building was used for tunnels, and the monies Hamas received was used for militancy. To what end, I ask ? Today, Hamas is friendless, broke, and its citizenry homeless. As someone once said, they have missed every opportunity to miss an opportunity. Based on this, they are early contenders for the award as the stupidest Boomers on the planet !

Please notice that I specifically used the term Arabs. The vast majority of Muslims live peacefully all over the globe, members of various societies in good standing, builders, peacemakers, enlightened in their view of human rights. it is interesting how Muslims who embrace their religion are peaceful, while all the shit occurring in the Middle East is done in the name of religion. It seems to me that it’s the groups like ISIS and Hamas who are not Muslims. How can they target civilians and still say they are pious people ? Caliphate my ass !

While I do make a generalization concerning the inhumanity of Arabs, I do appreciate that there are some smart guys. The leaders of ISIS, for example, be-headed the American journalist for multiple tactical reasons, showing intelligence in working towards their strategic goals. First, they need to keep their recruitment drive going, just like Amazon.com has to. What better way to do that than have the US bomb them, allowing ISIS to use their oppression as a recruiting tool. Republicans do this with same sex marriage. ISIS probably had to buy the journalist from his captors, so this bespeaks a business model, just like their kidnapping operation is a funding mechanism. Also, US involvement strengthens their political play within Iraq, keeping Iran and the Shiites at bay. The be-heading also got them noticed in the Sunni tribes as willing to do the dirty work needed to fight off the Shiites and their proxies in Syria. Nice outcome, really.

Putin and Ukraine, on the other hand, exhibits a strategy that makes sense. I disagree with Putin\s tactics, arming the rebels and giving them advanced weapons ( how was he supposed to hide the fact that they were Russian when all the guys showed off their black and white striped undershirts ), but one can understand his concern about the security of his country, and the future of his nation. Like Syria’s Assad, Putin’s days are numbered. He is being forced to strong arm his neighbours for internal propaganda, as the Russia’s economy, much like Canada’s, is a petro state that is running out of steam. The economic winter is fast approaching, driving strife that will bring him down. Calculation will delay the inevitable, but he is done. downing of the airline and subsequent handling of the crash site was just more bad luck for a regime in decline.

The interesting and unknown piece of this play belongs to Iran. Amazingly, they have stayed out of the news lately, after being a staple of the CNN daily news cycle. What is happening on the nuclear deal ? Are they still funding Hezbollah ? Why are they not more vocal in Iraq, after seeing their hand-picked Prime Minister get booted ? Are they helping Hamas at all ? Are the hard liners taking over, or is Rouhani, the current President, making progress !

Overall, the real winners in the Middle East will be the people who value their children the most. I understand that it will take time for the current crop of Boomers to see that, but it will happen. We need to do everything we can to help them see the future, without being part of the past. There is no magic formula for this, just as there was no one solution that stopped the religious fighting in Northern Ireland.

Gaza is a particularly useful illustration of a people handed the future, biting the hand that helps, and blinded by hatred, killing any future. The Palestinians and Jews both started from the same point, in the desert with nothing but sand, and now, one has an iron dome missile shield, and the other lives in dark rubble, a clear winner in the race to be the stupidest Boomers on the planet.

Next on Boomers – wtf !, cocooning Boomers and their Kludges !