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Turkish Daily News
Jan 27 2007
What others say
Saturday, January 27, 2007
The rulers and the ruled
Yücel SARPDERE, Evrensel
Many comments can be made about the hundreds of thousands at Dink's
funeral. You could say the people are not racist; they are filled
with reaction to the deeper state or speak about the anger caused by
murders of intellectuals, the influence of intellectuals or the
possibility that people would be living peacefully if racist and
chauvinistic ideologies weren't being pumped into the society.
However the masses at the funeral showed one thing for certain:
People retain their humane side in the deepest part of their hearts,
while those who rule the country are fanning racism and chauvinism.
Imagine the `supreme race' theme being promoted everywhere, from
textbooks to newspaper pages and TV screens. For tens of years the
paranoia of the `betrayer within' and the disintegration syndrome
have been nurtured. If this many people are flocking to the streets
in such an environment and calling for brotherhood then what would
the world be like if we lived in an environment where racism and
chauvinism did not dominate?The rulers will always fear that free
thought will create the free man. They invent imagined enemies and
try to cover up class conflicts drawing on `racial
differences.'Suppose that an unemployed youth goes to bed wondering,
`Who will be disintegrating our country tonight,' and then goes on a
hunt for `betrayers' in the morning. He will fire a bullet. Then
those at the top, the moguls and their supporters in the media will
shed crocodile tears as if they were not the ones to manufacture
those internal and external enemies. The people have flocked to the
streets and shown who it is that creates hostility and racism.
Jan 27 2007
What others say
Saturday, January 27, 2007
The rulers and the ruled
Yücel SARPDERE, Evrensel
Many comments can be made about the hundreds of thousands at Dink's
funeral. You could say the people are not racist; they are filled
with reaction to the deeper state or speak about the anger caused by
murders of intellectuals, the influence of intellectuals or the
possibility that people would be living peacefully if racist and
chauvinistic ideologies weren't being pumped into the society.
However the masses at the funeral showed one thing for certain:
People retain their humane side in the deepest part of their hearts,
while those who rule the country are fanning racism and chauvinism.
Imagine the `supreme race' theme being promoted everywhere, from
textbooks to newspaper pages and TV screens. For tens of years the
paranoia of the `betrayer within' and the disintegration syndrome
have been nurtured. If this many people are flocking to the streets
in such an environment and calling for brotherhood then what would
the world be like if we lived in an environment where racism and
chauvinism did not dominate?The rulers will always fear that free
thought will create the free man. They invent imagined enemies and
try to cover up class conflicts drawing on `racial
differences.'Suppose that an unemployed youth goes to bed wondering,
`Who will be disintegrating our country tonight,' and then goes on a
hunt for `betrayers' in the morning. He will fire a bullet. Then
those at the top, the moguls and their supporters in the media will
shed crocodile tears as if they were not the ones to manufacture
those internal and external enemies. The people have flocked to the
streets and shown who it is that creates hostility and racism.