‘Never let yourself be diverted by what you think could have beneficial social effects. Ask only and solely: “What are the facts?” Bertrand Russell – By James Porteous
09 May 2022 | James Porteous | Clipper Media News
by James Porteous
“When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only ‘what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out?”‘
The Nobel Prize-winning philosopher, mathematician, and peace activist Bertrand Russell spoke those words in 1959, just short of his 87th birthday (see below.)
One can only imagine what he would have thought of this latest war, The Great Propaganda War of 2022.
Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.
Herbert Hoover
Hover might have said it is also the woman and children who must die.
We have become so enamored by the West’s patriotic call to arms that we have yet to even acknowledge or realize that it is only the men, women, and children of Ukraine who have been called upon -by us!- to fight and die.
There are no bodies in the streets in the United States, Germany, the UK or Russia.
We have also become so enamored by the West’s patriotic call to arms that we actually believe the notion that the 9th of May Victory Day in Russia and The Immortal Regiment held around the world in 2022 were little more than examples of ‘Putin’s’ propaganda.’
Can you imagine? Picture a ship of aliens (from another planet) arriving on earth and hearing ‘world leaders’ proclaim the memory of the horrific, unimaginable suffering of millions of people who gave their lives fighting for freedom –our freedom!- was officially verboten?
Such notions are the result of a massive war propaganda machine, designed to prove that we in the West are the only ones who truly understand real pain, and our pain is far worse than anyone else can imagine.
And it is designed to tell the youth of the world that when we will call upon them to fight the next big war (this is not the next big war) they would be fools to die for the wrong cause but heroes to die for the right one. And there is only one right cause.
And will they do it? Will the youth of the world put down their cell phones and video games and fight for such a cause?
Not without help, they won’t. Not without propaganda, they won’t.
So no, we will not mark the passing of millions of Russians this year any more than we will mark the passing of millions of war-dead in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or Yemen.
It is too painful for us to think about such things. We would rather join in with the movie stars and the presidents and invoke the name of Hitler and Nazis while calling for more arms and sanctions to fight this latest war for peace.
And we should also note that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday (08 May 2022) acknowledged the role his country played in World War II and even went so far as to articulate ‘four clear principles at play in German foreign policy over the war.’ This war:
“First, no German unilateral action! Whatever we do we coordinate in the closest possible way with our allies… Second, in everything we do, we must take care to maintain our own defense capability… Third, we will not do anything that harms us and our partners more than Russia. And fourth, we will not make any decision that would make NATO become a warring party.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (see video below)
So no calls for peace. And does ‘never again’ now mean that the only route to peace is war? More war and arms and sanctions and a massive, almost unimaginative buildup of Germany’s ‘self-defense’ capabilities.
All of these messages are meant to show us that our guiding light is not the road to peace, but rather our unflinching ability to add Ukranian names to the list of dead so that we might once again proclaim, with righteous indignation, ‘never again.’
Never again until the next time.
It is truly time to pick a side once again.
And the ‘side’ we must pick is not between Russia or the United States.
The side we must now choose is: Do we Stand for War or do we Stand for Peace.
Do we stand for history and humanity or do we stand for the endless propaganda that will not stop until they have destroyed all of history and humanity?
Do we have what it takes to call upon the US and Russia to come to the table and fight for peace?
I’m not sure.
But it is certainly clear that only when the people of the United States, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, and the UK decide to #standforpeace will we ever be able to say that we have earned the right to carry on.
And the only way we can achieve that is to start thinking for ourselves.
‘Ask yourself only ‘what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out?”‘
James Porteous | Clipper Media News
Bertrand Russell – Message To Future Generations (1959)
Bertrand Russell – Message To Future Generations (1959)
“And if we are to live together and not to die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.” Bertrand Russell in this capture.
In 1959, Bertrand Russell, the Nobel Prize-winning philosopher, mathematician and peace activist was just short of his 87th birthday, when he gave wide-ranging interviews to the BBC and the CBC
In this capture, Russell gives life lessons — lessons about critical thinking, love and tolerance — to a generation living 1,000 years in the future. Interviewer: John Freeman.
This is an excerpt from the video “Bertrand Russell – Interview (“Face to Face”, 1959)”. The full version is here.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these in any profound sense.
TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEWER One last question: Suppose Lord Russell this film were to be looked at by our descendants, like a Dead Sea scroll in a thousand years’ time, what would you think it’s worth telling that generation about the life you’ve lived and the lessons you’ve learned from it?
BERTRAND RUSSELL I should like to say two things, one intellectual and one moral: The intellectual thing, I should want to say to them, is this: When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only “what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out?”
Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe or by what you think could have beneficial social effects, if it were believed.
But look only and solely at: “What are the facts?”
That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say. The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple. I should say: Love is wise, hatred is foolish.
In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact, that some people say things that we don’t like.
We can only live together in that way. And if we are to live together and not to die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.
Scholz commemorates WWII as new war rages in Ukraine
08 May 2022 | German Chancellor Olaf Scholz | DW
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday warned that there can be “no peace under Russian dictatorship” in Ukraine during a speech to mark the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
“Ukraine wouldn’t accept that and neither would we,” Scholz said, according to the text released by his office of the speech that aired on German TV.
The chancellor said he is “deeply convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not win the conflict, which began on February 24.
“Ukraine will prevail. Freedom and security will win, just as freedom and security triumphed over servitude, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago,” he added.
Scholz also recalled how Russians and Ukrainians once fought together and made great sacrifices to defeat Germany’s “murderous National Socialism.”
But now, “Putin wants to subdue Ukraine, destroying its culture and identity… [and] even equates his barbaric war of aggression with the fight against National Socialism. This is falsifying history and malicious. It is our duty to state this clearly,” the chancellor said.
The chancellor also spoke of four clear principles at play in German foreign policy over the war: “First, no German unilateral action! Whatever we do we coordinate in the closest possible way with our allies… Second, in everything we do, we must take care to maintain our own defense capability… Third, we will not do anything that harms us and our partners more than Russia. And fourth, we will not make any decision that would make NATO become a warring party.”
But in reference to pressure on Germany to speed up the transition from Russian natural gas imports, Scholz said “we are not simply doing everything that is demanded of us,” adding that “I swore in my oath of office, to prevent harm to the German people. That includes protecting our country and our allies from danger.”
