folio

For some, everything changed ten years ago, with a singular act of barbarity on British streets. That was the moment, say those who make this claim, that they finally understood what they were up against. Everything changed after that.

But for some, everything changed on 13 April 1919 — 104 years ago today — when soldiers commanded by a lauded British brigadier opened fire on peaceful protesters in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, killing hundreds and injuring over a thousand more.

For others, everything changed twenty years ago, when a coalition of wealthy nations rained shock and awe down on Iraq, at the start of an occupation that would last eight years. Then, just as that war officially drew to a close, the very same coalition rushed into another battle just across the Mediterranean sea.

Yes, and as shock and awe rained down on that land, the civilised nations this time justifying intervention in order to aid rebel groups that looked an awful lot like the insurgents they claimed to be fighting in Iraq, everything changed again for some.

For still others, everything changed on 30 January 1972, when British soldiers opened fire on protesters in Derry, leaving fourteen dead. For some, everything changed on 13 March 1996, when a lone gunman killed sixteen children in Dunblane, Stirling.

In every era, and every nation, atrocities capable of changing the trajectory of both societies and individuals. For some, either ignorant or forgetful of past barbarity, a singular act may become a turning point. It may be the moment they are radicalised in pursuit of whichever movement takes their fancy.

For some, it’s the call of patriotic nationalism, for others ethnic supremacy, for some the impetus to overthrow imperialism, for others to round on the poor and defenceless. Their chosen cause, they declare aloud, minting new blogs, channels and protest movements, changed everything.

Here collective amnesia is essential, to strip away all semblance of nuance and context. The singular act is singular because we have voluntarily chosen to forget all other victims of all other equally heinous crimes.

If we are a white supremacist we will conveniently forget crimes perpetuated by white supremacists. If we are a religious extremist, we will forget crimes perpetuated my our coreligionists. If we are the spokesmen of state, we will whitewash our legacy and history, near and distant, pretending to be a superior people untarnished by all that we attribute to the vanquished other.

But the truth is, nothing changed. Men are still killing other men, out of some sense of moral duty and self-proclaimed superiority. Nothing changed at all. All each singular act of barbarity achieves is set the stage for more war and conflict, leaving multitudes of nameless innocents dead.

No, nothing changed after all. Just see how the madness unfolds. Or if you prefer not to recall, just drink yourself stupid and dance the night away. What is it all for anyway? We have mortgages to pay, new stuff to buy.

Everything will only change when we realise that one day we will all be held to account. On that day, everything will change. Who dares mint a new blog to talk about that? But even if they do, will anything change?