I was at school back in 1986 when Chernobyl happened. When the news that something had happened- and as you state, nobody knew just how bad it was due to USSR obfuscation - the advice from the BBC was to to shut your windows. Feeling panicked, I turned to Radio 1’s Newsbeat (a news show aimed at ‘the youth’) for more details.. At the end of the news on Chernobyl, Radio 1 launched straight into playing ‘I’m Your Man’ by Wham. The juxtaposition of Chernobyl with such banal pop music, prompted Marr and Morrissey of The Smiths to write their track ‘Panic’, Marr later revealed the New Musical Express; “because the music they constantly play, says nothing to me about my life...hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ...”
Morgoth, I guess this excellent 2-part production offers hope. If Gorbachev was right, and that it was Chernobyl that actually brought down the Soviet Union, then optimists might look to the needlecraft fiasco and believe it could eventually spell curtains for the current tyrannical system. They might be correct, but what I see as being the main difference with our situation is that we don't have any idea what an alternative way of living might look like - at least not in the modern world.
Capitalism is the last girl at the Soi 7 beer bar. She's already got drunk on most of your money, stolen your watch and knee-ed you in the groin. Communism was the only other girl present when you came into the bar, all those long hours ago. She was mean, hard-faced and you didn't give her a second look. At some point, she departed the scene and has possibly re-appeared as the Mamasan on the other side of the counter, but you are now so well-oiled it's not easy to tell for sure.
The only smart thing to do is leave the bar and to turn your back on everything that's inside there. Infinite possibilities lay outside, but walking away is not easy without a clear head and a map to guide you home.
America’s Chernobyl is already happening with the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Check out @TrashRadio’s thread on Twitter (aka stained Hanes). Alarm systems ignored. There will be more.
Another good essay, I'm glad you came back to this so soon.
I liked how you wove and contrasted 'On Power' to 'Chernobyl; History of a Tragedy'. By the end you make a good, grim point about how the people in the West no longer trust those who rule them. What will our disaster be? Or is "just" COVID. I suspect worse is to come. After all, there are four horsemen, not just one.
Great work, you make these connections no one else does.
I’ve believed since the Iraq wars that the American regime is every bit as false and cruel as the USSR ever was, probably worse. The people are bought off by the luxurious standard of living.
The first I heard of it was as a kid, my mum asked me to sit down and told me that she had to go for an operation to get a cancerous lump removed from her throat. The doctors later thought it was caused by the radiation which made its way to Scotland.
A virus that has gone through gain of function evolution in a lab to be incredibly deadly now ravaging the world might be the next thing to worry the elites enough to get them up before dawn.
I was at school back in 1986 when Chernobyl happened. When the news that something had happened- and as you state, nobody knew just how bad it was due to USSR obfuscation - the advice from the BBC was to to shut your windows. Feeling panicked, I turned to Radio 1’s Newsbeat (a news show aimed at ‘the youth’) for more details.. At the end of the news on Chernobyl, Radio 1 launched straight into playing ‘I’m Your Man’ by Wham. The juxtaposition of Chernobyl with such banal pop music, prompted Marr and Morrissey of The Smiths to write their track ‘Panic’, Marr later revealed the New Musical Express; “because the music they constantly play, says nothing to me about my life...hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ...”
Morgoth, really a compelling article. thanks for all you do
Morgoth, I guess this excellent 2-part production offers hope. If Gorbachev was right, and that it was Chernobyl that actually brought down the Soviet Union, then optimists might look to the needlecraft fiasco and believe it could eventually spell curtains for the current tyrannical system. They might be correct, but what I see as being the main difference with our situation is that we don't have any idea what an alternative way of living might look like - at least not in the modern world.
Capitalism is the last girl at the Soi 7 beer bar. She's already got drunk on most of your money, stolen your watch and knee-ed you in the groin. Communism was the only other girl present when you came into the bar, all those long hours ago. She was mean, hard-faced and you didn't give her a second look. At some point, she departed the scene and has possibly re-appeared as the Mamasan on the other side of the counter, but you are now so well-oiled it's not easy to tell for sure.
The only smart thing to do is leave the bar and to turn your back on everything that's inside there. Infinite possibilities lay outside, but walking away is not easy without a clear head and a map to guide you home.
You are fucking dark. However, I think you are correct in every respect.
America’s Chernobyl is already happening with the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Check out @TrashRadio’s thread on Twitter (aka stained Hanes). Alarm systems ignored. There will be more.
Another good essay, I'm glad you came back to this so soon.
I liked how you wove and contrasted 'On Power' to 'Chernobyl; History of a Tragedy'. By the end you make a good, grim point about how the people in the West no longer trust those who rule them. What will our disaster be? Or is "just" COVID. I suspect worse is to come. After all, there are four horsemen, not just one.
Thank you for writing and recording this.
Great work, you make these connections no one else does.
I’ve believed since the Iraq wars that the American regime is every bit as false and cruel as the USSR ever was, probably worse. The people are bought off by the luxurious standard of living.
The first I heard of it was as a kid, my mum asked me to sit down and told me that she had to go for an operation to get a cancerous lump removed from her throat. The doctors later thought it was caused by the radiation which made its way to Scotland.
A virus that has gone through gain of function evolution in a lab to be incredibly deadly now ravaging the world might be the next thing to worry the elites enough to get them up before dawn.