The Summer Garden has beautiful tree lined paths that are remnant of the New York’s Central Park. As you transcend into this park you encounter beautiful statues and a series of elegant fountains.
Warning! this blog is about to get very political...
I suspect a vast majority of Western perception mistakenly believes Russia is a grey underdeveloped country where you queue for food and there are nothing but shops with empty shelves. Nothing could be further from the reality.
Wherever I went in Russia, I was always welcomed and people I met were curious to know more about where I was from and wanted to share experiences.
Russians are a warm hospitable people.
I know what is happening in the world, but I can assure you that Russians do not have war in their hearts as was proven in WWI when the Russian army threw away their guns and walked home. This refusal to fight led to the overthrow of the Tsar and the subsequent revolution.
Is history repeating?
As I observed People congregating in the park sharing moments of love with family and friends, I could have easily believed I was in New York, London or Sydney.
People the world over seek the same things and we are only divided by politicians driven by self serving agendas
Even with the international sanctions in play, there was no sense that St Petersburg was being impacted negatively. People go about their daily business, smile and laugh the same as in any other country. But if you attack a people for their leaders actions, that they have no control over, you will get a Nationalist defence that results in an increased support for their leader.
People do not want to believe their leaders do evil. Ask most Americans about the CIAs actions internationally to overthrow democratically elected leaders who were critical of US foreign policy, or their thoughts about their government's installation and support of evil tyrannical dictators who murdered and persecuted their people. You will most likely get denial, but it is a fact the US has done this on numerous occasions. Al Qaeda was financed and trained by the US during Operation Cyclone and existed because of US funding.
Walking through the Summer Gardens, I was reminded that the world's perception of another country is a distortion of another country's political agendas and misinformation. I am not here to condone wars, but all governments seek to generate fear and division so as to have control over their people. Conflict becomes a necessity to distract and unite against the greater evil, whilst we forget the evil within.
The US goes to War against Saddam Hussein, but the Saudi's have a far worse human rights record. Why have the Saudi's been an ally to the US and untouchable for their crimes which included the well known sanctioned murder of a journalist? Is it because the Saudi's give the US Oligarchs that influence or buy government, just enough cash to keep the government silent?
There are no innocent on the world political stage.
We currently face an oil crisis, which could be easily averted if the US was to remove sanctions against the world's largest oil supply of Venezuela. The US is happy to do business with one tyrannical power but not that of Venezuela and this has nothing to do with human rights. Its about bribes, corruption, greed and who is getting a piece of the pie.
People are rarely a representative of their leaders and we should know this from our own experiences with our own leaders and this example of the US Saudi Venezuelan relationship shows the greed of the few outweighs the interest of the majority. Hardly a democracy in my view.
Opening the tap on Venezuela Oil would destroy the OPEC+ monopoly and avert inflation that is the result of soaring oil prices.
As I watch Russians walking through the park, I sat pondering whether Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Scott Morrison, Biden, Macron, Truss, etc are a true reflection of their people or what they stand for?
None represent my views and I find it hard to agree with any of their objectives, which I see as self-serving.
Even in western countries, free speech and freedom of press are fast being brought constantly under attack and restricted under the unjustified guise of national security. I constantly question, what security is under threat when we criminalise whistle blowers who publish factual and indisputable evidence that our governments committed criminal actions, war crimes and the like? How can we the people accept the cover up of any crime by labelling those who bring such abdominal acts into the public domain as traitors?
I believe the traitors are the Governments who commit the crimes and, in doing so, betray the trust of their people and what is morally right.
Are Edward Snowden, Christopher Boyce and Julian Assange the traitors or the heroes of the story? Sadly, history is always written by the victors and we will live with a biased record or what really happened. People have a right to demand Putin be investigated for war crimes and he should be punished if proven guilty, but we also should be as aggressively investigating George W Bush and Tony Blair for their actions and equally punishing them if they are found guilty!
Enough of politics, or should I say corruption?
©2022 Noel Castley-Wright