World peace is none of your business?

World peace is none of your business

You must not tamper with arrangements 

Work hard and sweetly pay your taxes

Never asking what for
Oh, you poor little fool oh, you fool

World peace is none of your business

Police will stun you with their stun guns

Or they’ll disable you with tasers

That’s what government’s for
Oh, you poor little fool oh, you fool

World peace is none of your business

So would you kindly keep your nose out

The rich must profit and get richer

And the poor must stay poor

Oh, you poor little fool oh, you fool

                                                  Morrissey

Out today is the long- awaited book by a real living hero of mine. He calls himself “ordinary” but Macer provides inspiration in these dark times. The story of a city trader who, shocked by the sickening events in the Middle East, gave up his conventional job and went and fought the evil. Two things permeate everything Macer either says or talks about his life. Firstly, his love of the people who were first the victims of ISIS  and then their conquerors. He is always at pains to talk of the thousands and thousands in Syria who fought back against the odds. Secondly, Macer is always intensely humble about his own efforts. He is neither a member of what Orwell called the “pansy left” unable to commit to anything that might lead to personal danger or commitment. Neither is he part of the “Gung-Ho” adventure seeking literature. Like Orwell, he is a product of a particular class and time, and yet realised what was happening in the wider world and sought to help.

The plight of the people in the Middle East, and the Kurds and Yazidi in particular, moved Macer to action, serving as a front line medic in the Y.P.G. ( the heroic people’s protection units where other foreign volunteers joined the fight). I.S.I.S.  may have been banished but ironically it’s  the Turkish army now threatens the liberated areas. Whatever reservations one may have about the Stalinist P.K.K., you must find sympathy for the plight of the Kurdish people. Macer, like Orwell, does shine a light on the dire international situation that literally consumes people in wider politics.

 Syria and Spain – echoes through time.

Over twenty years a go I sat and drank coffee in the cafe where in the Spanish Civil War , from where Orwell had rolled hand grenades down the Ramblas towards the Fascists holed up in a shop doorway. When one reads of such instances , you cannot be humbled in comparison with your own life’s achievements. Macer’s story similarly uplifts one’s spirit but also leaves one without excuses for one’s own powerlessness. “Fighting Evil” by Macer Gifford is released today. 

Postscript: In Homage to Catalonia, Orwell writes how due to his military experience, he was put on the cupola roof of the cinema opposite the Hotel Falcon. The old caretaker of the hotel told me when I visited that the P.O.U.M. militia sited the lanky Englishman on the roof to keep him safe if serious fighting broke out! Both George Orwell and Macer Gifford are worthy of our respect and gratitude.

Each time you vote you support the process

Each time you vote you support the process

Each time you vote you support the process

Brazil and Bahrain

Oh, Egypt, Ukraine

So many people in pain

No more, you poor little fool

No more, you fool