Give Us the AI Overlords Already - Part 1
Witnessing a Genocide and Western Hypocrisy on the Global Stage.
Talofa reader,
It's been quite hard watching the state of the world at the moment with respect to the genocide happening in Gaza at the hands of US-backed Israel.
There. I said it.
As of writing this, the UN puts the number of people in Gaza killed, injured, or missing at 100,000.
My first sentence shouldn't even be controversial, as we're now at 122 days of relentless bombing of a civilian population.
Yet, here we are: story after story of denial and justification, deflection, and whatever word you can use for what I can only describe as deranged self-righteousness by those defending these atrocities, in the face of over 11,500 children murdered by Israel.
These kinds of atrocities, against anyone, are abhorrent, and my only consolation in the face of these events is that there will be justice.
That the systems we've put in place as a society will come to the rescue and make right where humans have wronged each other.
Don't worry, I'm not that naïve.
I don't expect the world to be fair; I haven't had that expectation since I was in primary school. I've always known that there exists a different world for different people and that the systems we live by in society were created for specific sets of people and not others.
We live in an age of information, of declassified top-secret government files, of tell-all memoirs of people who would know how the world actually works. Books, biographies, documentaries, and Broadway plays, all doing the same thing—telling us what we may have suspected, even had an inkling of, but were never too sure—was, in fact, true.
Enough time has passed, and the atrocities of the past are just cold facts in a file online, on Wikipedia, in a press release; it's just accepted now.
This is the way the world actually is, so let's just humour ourselves and set the self-preserving delusions aside for a moment and just stare at reality for a second, shall we?
Sorry, I don't mean to sound as sarcastic as I probably do, but anytime I've had to pull the veil off and reckon with "reality", it always pisses me off.
The West: Don’t Worry We're the Good Guys.
The "West" has championed this democracy thing for as long as I've been alive.
From a very early age, we're essentially indoctrinated to think that this adult at the front of the class, the police officer stopping me on my way home, these leaders we see on TV—are all part of this superior system of fairness and goodness for all.
Cartoons fed us G.I. Joe, and the movies fed us the "all-American good guy" standing up for justice and the American way—which was apparently just being a hero to all who believed in fairness, equality, and being good.
Any Black, Brown, or Asian thing I saw on TV was either super poor, super corrupt, or super backward. I remember thinking all of Africa lived in huts in the bush, so you can imagine my surprise when my mum came back from a church-related trip to Zimbabwe, and she showed me photos of skyscrapers and a skyline that put Auckland to shame.
I did most of my primary school education in Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, and every year there would be classes on the early settlers of New Zealand, and there'd be a trip to Lyttleton in Christchurch to see where settlers lived and heated their food, etc. I have zero, absolutely zero memory of Māori being mentioned at all in those years, to the point I actually believed it was because there were no Māori in the South Island, that they all lived in the North Island.
I remember the different wars I'd see on TV, the "West" was going over to these other countries to "liberate them" from a tyrannical government, some dictator, treating their people badly, and the U.S. and its allies were riding in to save the day.
NZ education, television, and news would all paint this same picture.
We are the good guys.
These other countries were evil and just "hated the West" for absolutely no reason. The West was just so great at everything that these other countries were jealous and were hating on the West for being so awesome.
This is what the NZ indoctrination consisted of, and it wouldn't have taken too much effort, really, to debunk pretty much all of this if I'm being honest.
But this is the history of colonialism and imperialism by Western powers, prioritising the extraction of resources and exploitation for economic gain; exerting significant influence on global norms and values through economic, political, and cultural dominance and undermining any values and systems outside of the Western paradigm.
I sometimes ask myself, now, why I didn't know this growing up—and while I can honestly say I didn't really have enough psychological space outside of just getting through life with my four brothers, in a single-income home, I think it also has a lot to do with the age we live in, of smartphones with the internet in our pockets, and a fire-hose of unfettered information coming at us from all ends of the globe1.
The Dying Illusion of the West.
The age of the internet and social media means there is no hiding anything from anyone; the best the oppressors can do is censor and threaten those they have leverage over and muddy the waters with disinformation where their direct controls don't reach.
The West has been able to maintain this illusion of being the "good guys" and doing no wrong in large part due to the media.
I sound like one of those conspiracy theorists now, but how many times can one side tell lie after lie and have it repeated uncritically by Western media?
It's been mind-boggling to see—not that it happens, but the extent to which Western media has gone to paint things so one-sidedly against the Palestinians.
How many stories and news reports all adopt the same language and framing of a situation, as if they were all literal clones of each other, desperate to condemn Palestinians while painting any logical justification for condemning the genocidal acts of Israel as "anti-Semitic"?
I've read countless tweets arguing in threads, watched Israeli spokesperson after spokesperson engaging in absolute bad faith, gas-lighting us all into believing Israel means no harm to Palestinians and are actually the victims in this situation.
Meanwhile, their elected officials are on numerous records calling for Gaza and Palestinians to be wiped out or "voluntarily migrated" off their homeland.
Watching the Western world's media, from CNN and BBC all the way to our local RNZ, all framing the oppression and rightful resistance of the people of Palestine as terrorism, while going to great lengths to gloss over the fact that Gaza and the West Bank are "occupied territories" and therefore the subjects of rightful resistance, was infuriating to say the least.
Social media, known for lots of bad stuff—misinformation, wilful disinformation, grifters, and absolute nutters—is also the same place that can bring you raw, unadulterated, unfiltered information in the form of video, images, and average people just telling you what they're seeing or experiencing at the scene, with no corporate or imperial agenda, just raw, flawed human information.
If it weren't for social media, we would all be drinking from the same Western media Kool-Aid2, believing the utter nonsense being peddled by the Piers Morgans and Eylon Levis of the world.
Even saying that is probably enough to be labelled "the Samoan chapter of Hamas", because if South Africa, who took Israel to the International Court of Justice with a legal case that had experts saying:
"I find South Africa's application very strong. This is a very solid and well-prepared petition. Of course, this is not a surprise because, among South Africa's lawyers, John Dugard and other legal experts are very successful individuals and experts in this field,"
And successfully got a provisional ruling issued against Israel by proving, with evidence and facts.
...to which the Israeli spokesperson said South Africa was "acting as the legal arm of Hamas". 🤦🏾
No words.3
War Crime Receipts
It's odd; we've always known, as a society, that there's a hierarchy or world order, but we've really only engaged with it subconsciously in media4 and, in my experience, academically as an International Business major.
We all know the U.S. and its allies are the superpowers, aka the "world police," and that they get to determine who the good and bad guys are. And almost exclusively, they are always the "good guys".
Even when they rape, pillage, and murder their way through most of Asia and the Middle East.
This feels like a brutal line to write, but after recalling articles I'd read on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and some notes I'd written from reading a few Noam Chomsky books citing atrocity after atrocity happening in history, this really, really isn't that hard of a line to write.
The passing of a recent iconic American Foreign Policy figure really brought a lot of the U.S. war crimes back into my consciousness.
I'd heard the name before but didn't know much about Henry Kissinger5 before his passing.
And it took this quote from Anthony Bourdain, to get me to look into why he felt this strongly:
"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević."
It was a good reminder too, that there are good people everywhere in the Empire. People who don't subscribe to the way the machine works, even if it benefits them above all else.
There's a reason I say "US-backed Israel" (same reason Western media say Iran-backed anything) because they are, again, not controversial, it's on record.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of major incidences where the U.S. has been accused or found to have committed acts that could be considered war crimes:
Philippine-American War (1899-1902): Allegations of war crimes by U.S. forces include the use of torture, the massacre of civilians, and the establishment of concentration camps.
World War II (1939-1945): The strategic bombing campaigns over Germany and Japan, including the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been subjects of debate regarding the distinction between civilian and military targets.
Korean War (1950-1953): Accusations against U.S. military forces include the bombing of civilian targets and the No Gun Ri Massacre, where a large number of South Korean refugees were killed by U.S. forces under the suspicion of containing North Korean soldiers.
Vietnam War (1955-1975): The My Lai Massacre is one of the most well-documented instances where U.S. forces were found guilty of murdering hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians. The use of Agent Orange and other herbicides has also been criticized for its long-term health effects on civilians and soldiers alike.
Invasion of Panama (1989): Operation Just Cause led to accusations of excessive force used by the U.S. military, resulting in civilian casualties and destruction of property.
Iraq (1991 Gulf War; 2003 Iraq War): Allegations include the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus, which have been criticized for their health impacts on civilians and the environment. The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal during the Iraq War, where detainees were subjected to severe abuse, is another significant incident.
Afghanistan (2001-present): Incidents such as the 2010 killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. Army unit, known as the "Kill Team," and the accidental bombings of civilian targets, including hospitals, have led to accusations of war crimes.
War on Terror (2001-present): The use of torture and rendition, as well as drone strikes in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, have raised significant legal and ethical concerns regarding civilian casualties and the legal framework governing the use of force.
These I got ChatGPT to fetch for me, and then double checked these online to make sure none of them were made up.
I was curious what came of these acts, given there's a whole International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, so I asked ChatGPT if the U.S. have ever been charged.
And this was the answer:
"To date, the U.S. has not been officially charged with war crimes by an international tribunal like the ICC. This is partly due to the U.S.'s non-participation in the ICC and the complexities of international law, which often relies on the cooperation of nation-states to enforce rulings.”
Awesome.
Let's be honest with ourselves now—we already knew the answer to this long before we even asked our AI buddy the question.
This is the world we live in.
The hypocrisy. The double standards. The Western hegemonic powers.
The Empire, Colonialism, and Imperialism.
Now What?
Good question.
There are a few ways to go with this so we don’t go crazy. We could adopt a stoic attitude and accept that we can’t control external events; we could take an existentialist perspective and realise as individuals we have the freedom to assign our own meaning to the absurdities of life.
But to be honest, this piece was just to vent and say some things out loud because it was feeling crazy that we’re all just sleepwalking through this time, talking about “cloud” and “careers” when a group of people are showing us their own genocide via social media as tens of thousands of them are being murdered before our eyes.
I'm sure like a million generations before me have said, this has to change. I'm sure plenty has changed over the generations. I can remember professors and other scholars online always pointing out, "It's never been better than it is right now, with medicine, mortality rates, quality of life, planes, food, and shelter". I get it, we have made progress. We should just be happy and shut up, right?
I don't have the solution to any of this.
This edition was to vent. I saw David Farrier having a good rant about AI images and how we're all doomed— which makes me feel better for just writing a piece that's like, "What the actual heck is the world coming to right now?!"
End Credits
But, in true end credits scene fashion, this edition is titled "Give Us the AI Overlord Already - Part 1".
Why would I mention AI Overlords and not talk about it anywhere? And why is it "Part 1"?
Well, dear reader, that's because as I was writing this existential meltdown of a newsletter edition about the absolute tragedy of Gaza and the Western world, I suddenly thought, in my geeky brain:
"You know what would make the world a fairer and better place? An AI overlord. Get rid of these flawed, greedy, religiously fanatical, and supremacist human beings and bring on the AI who will have absolutely none of that illogical nonsense."
Sure, it may have its problems—but we can look at that in the next newsletter, where I can talk about why it would be a great and/or absolutely horrible idea.
Thanks for reading- and if it wasn’t obvious already:
🇵🇸 Free Palestine.
See you in the next one.
Ron.
but also, probably a bit of a self-centred kid who was just looking to have a good time.
in fairness, social media leads plenty of people to drink all sorts of other kool-aid.
Side note: the fact I was agreeing with Andrew Tate of all people, as he was having it out with Piers Morgan, really says something about how upside down the world has become the more the matrix glitches and the deprogramming begins to destabilise our reality.
For example when the news is like “Looks like no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were found.” and we all nod along and forget the reason 100’s of thousands of Iraqi’s are dead is because of these so-called WMD’s.