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2 days before the war, ppl in Sarajevo told me there couldn’t be a war - unthinkable. 9mo later they were burning books for warmth. When a state collapses, it happens faster than you imagine, but liveblog ‘bang bang’ won’t tell you why. We are all the proverbial boiling frogs...
How did the UVF drag act get a say in removing my fundamental freedoms? Why are cretins like Fox, Francois, Davis taken seriously? Why are Spiked/RCP now everywhere? Telegenic, simplistic positions + media literacy gets the seat at the table that a wrecking minority needs to win.
Karadzic was laughed at. Funny hair. Mad poetry. But if they had their time again, Bosnians would no-platform the hell out of him. See Hemon’s eloquent critique of the media’s belief that they can somehow out-argue contemporary fascists: https://lithub.com/fascism-is-not-an-idea-to-be-debated-its-a-set-of-actions-to-fight/
Karadzic didn’t have a view of a better society. Like Bannon and the ERG Brexiteers, his was a negative vision of destroying co-existence, with little idea of what might come next. Serbia & Bosnia are still paying the price; only organised crime really won.
And the rewards for wrecking can be huge. One eg among many is JRM’s partner Odey, laughing all the way to the bank: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/it-s-been-a-good-day-for-me-claims-hedge-fund-tycoon-crispin-odey-sr3zqf5hz - it is no coincidence Brexit was bankrolled by the nastiest super-rich ppl in UK. Where is the outrage?
Yet here we are, liveblogging the barely literate ‘no confidence’ letter of a fat bloke from Essex who I wouldn’t trust to service my car, whilst ignoring business leaders, civil society, 3m EU Brits, etc because they are soooo boring & keep saying the same thing. Not sexy!
UK is not Bosnia, of course. But neither was Bosnia til ‘92. There is a chance the UK will break up if it crashes out, and then who knows? But the media continue to give attention & credibility to the bad actors marching us towards the cliff.
Maybe I am getting old, but in a mature society that just about functions despite its inequalities, a good maxim for pols & media alike should be ‘first, do no harm.’ Media hunger for tweetable soundbites should not override responsibility to seek the truth. But maybe too late?
There's no conspiracy behind this, & plenty of decent people working hard in media. But the BBC's outdated version of balance is incredibly vulnerable to exploitation by bad actors, and no longer fit for purpose IMO. As with climate change, it let us down when most needed /END
