Was listening to a very interesting talk by Indian journalist P. Sainath yesterday. He ended his talk with a reference to two historic events:
Queen Victoria's party and
Nero's party. In short he makes a call for all artists and intellectuals to refuse to take part in the destructive policies of governments and corporations which are presently destroying the last largest population of small farmers in the world in India. Farmer suicides are happening at a rate of one every 8 minutes, which essentially amounts to a form of genocide. He goes on to say that it would be cheaper and more efficient just to bomb the Indian countryside. At Nero's party attended by the smartest and most brilliant artists and thinkers of the day, they used the fat from criminals who were burned at the stake to illuminate the festivities. Let's not allow ourselves to be like Nero's guests.
