Fruitive Activity

The Saddest Poison

If you've ever been angry, wanting to hurt another person, I'll bet you have. If you've ever been proud considering yourself superior to another person, then you have been just a few steps away from extreme violence; maybe you've even done something akin to extreme violence.

Daniel Goldhagen points out that such an atrocious crime as genocide is merely an escalation that begins with exclusion. My own thoughts are that it begins a little closer to our own hearts than Goldhagen realises, or perhaps he's not able to make such a statement in his "quasi-authoritative" book(s). My own slant on this phenomenon is that it starts as close as resentment.

Well, now look at yourself. Who have you excluded from your group? Was it a "political" act? Was it about a group, or sub-group with whom you merely disagree? Look around you, look what's going on in your street, in your life. This ain't just governments and militia groups, this is deeply ingrained and very widespread.

I leave you with a few clips from YouTube by people who've experienced extreme violence first hand, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, growing up in the US of A, one can imagine, often feared for their life; their crime: black skin.

First Billie

Billie Holiday Strange Fruit 1939



Next, a little background to let you in on why we have to learn to love each other, not just get our way, by anger and violence. Billie didn't write the song, she sang it, but she sang it in such a way that it rammed the message home; sang it in such a way that only one who understood what living in fear for one's very life, 24/7, is all about. One who understood, how evil we can become with so little, or even no provocation, merely the greed for an easy life whilst others do all our work. What horrendous karma these poor people are generating for themselves and for those whom they teach their horrific ideas.

The story behind Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"



And then cam another African American who also took up the cause of awakening the people of the world via her vocal music. Who else but the inimitable Nina Simone.

Nina Simone - Strange Fruit

An altogether effective rendition of a haunting song.



After all that, a little doco (sorry no music to speak of in this clip) by Captain Brian Steidle, author of "The Devil Came on Horseback" (an eyewitness account of the genocide in Darfur).

I have read Captain Steidle's book. If you read it, prepare to be shocked.

All people are children of God. Punish them if it's your duty before God, if not, tolerate, cooperate and try your best to love whoever you can as well as you can. 

If you get caught up in this shit, your life is gonna be a whole lot worse than it currently is and for many lifetimes to come. 

Make music not war.

Joy to all beings