The Generals, The Nation and Their Ideologues

"It is known that one elephant who was rather slow in learning his tricks and had been punished severely by his master's beating, was discovered later that night, alone in his tent, practicing those tricks."
~Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book III

Some forty years ago, when the old people were young, the communist attempted a coup that went bad and resulting in the biggest manslaughter of the post-WW II world. It took several years, but by the time they were done, Communism was so thoroughly discredited, its many different forms eradicated and all of its ideas extinguished. It was even made into a law to ensure that any intellectual adventures into the far left is deemed unworthy and therefore categorically treated with suspicions similar to treason.
History books are littered with references to the bad reds and the promising future of the new blues.

These same guys were issued free rounds and the moral theatrics in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands communists by the US Government (CIA financed the operations, some 800,000 people were killed in 1965). They were duly rewarded with wealthy aids and healthier pensions and to sit in high places shaping policies in important things and ultimately, to identify and ensure all the right ideas to flourish. In short, to do what they do best. What they did was monstrous and they created a monster.

Following the last crumbles of the USSR, America duly changed its course and went about in a confusing lapse of judgement. With no big bad red enemy, America has less use of third world country proxies and they’re fading into irrelevance in Pentagon speak. The wall was gone and everyone for himself from then on. The generals were left holding broken machine guns. It began with a sudden jolt of guilty conscience and completed with yhe economic crisis of the late 90s for the last free kick to the groin.

Bankrupted and embarrassed, the Generals were robbed of their toys and they went shopping around in the previously unthinkable regions instead. Of the eight F16s in the Indonesian Air Force, none of them really flies anymore since they’ve no spare parts to fly them with (complete military embargo). These days, the new funky jet orders go to China and Russia.
Soon enough, everybody want to go to China.

Cautious in embracing an old nemesis, it’s not really surprising that lacking a suitably solid ideological safety net they would look for the comfort of the traditionalist-nationalist-fundamentalist cocktail school.

Post 911, the world’s largest Moslem democracy gained a sudden relevance. Again, America returned to point out at obvious mistakes: any movement reflective of religious tendencies get itchy reactions from the American establishments and the tap water becomes unpredictable.
It doesn’t help that now everybody on the Western Hemisphere generally identify their faith with an alarmed sense of aggression. The generals are getting old and death is real and they’re being told their God is evil. Some scary shit.

The old men are getting bored of the whole dance of point and vote game.

You can not teach people to vote and at the same time telling them who to vote for without seriously considering the conflict of interests.
You might force yourself to do that every once a while, but they always cost a lot in moral capital. This time around, it’s stretched too far to be safe.

Even old soldiers got tired of being told around all the time. They were soldiers in 1965. They’re Generals now. They don’t die, remember? They fade away.

As V would have it, they become the ghosts of Christmas past.

Or is it just another proof that population are rational?

But that’s an entirely different subject.