A Few Comments on the ICE Riots, “No Kings Day,” and the No-Iran-Nukes Operation
Janus:
– 14 June 2024 –
Janus:
These days, I do try to comment on major world events, at least about some aspect of them. Right now, two dramatic events have the appearance of being significant enough to talk about: the illegal alien riots and protests in the United States that started in Los Angeles, and the so-called war that Israel launched on Iran a few days ago. But so far at least, these events aren’t that significant.
For now at least, the anti-ICE riots and the missile exchanges between Israel and Iran really don’t rise to the level of pivotal, world-changing developments. Nor do they expose such developments.
Some world events are significant enough to gain general notice or interest, but not significant enough to alter the course of history. Like a huge earthquake or hurricane, for instance, or maybe an enormous industrial accident; they make a big mess, but people clean up and forget about it. Riots or assassinations or heinous crimes also tend to fall into this category. For the people involved, these tragedies or disasters bring great personal trauma and forever shape their individual lives. But most of the time, these events do not amount to anything in the grand scheme of things. They don’t change anything. They end up being footnotes, largely forgotten after a few years.
Other kinds of world events exemplify ongoing trends, but they do not seriously change the course of history. Such events might bring as much shock or drama as an earthquake or a terrorist attack, but taken by themselves, these, too, don’t amount to much after a few years.
The recent LA riots seem dramatic, and the No Kings “mass protests” in their wake. They are newsworthy for the day, sure. Plenty of shrieking hysteric-types are predicting civil war and such out of all this, as they always do. But so far, the energy behind the ongoing riots and protests is significantly less than the energy behind the 2020 George Floyd/BLM riots and protests. The 2020 riots, for their part, did represent a pivotal moment for society, as they helped to foster that year’s election theft, and they helped to launch four years of institutional lawlessness and leftist insanity under the bumbling Biden regime. But the attempt today to rekindle that 2020 energy fails to take into account that the mood of the country has changed, and common people today have grown tired of this lawlessness and chaos. Despite the careful marketing efforts to make this look classically and apolitically patriotic, it falls flat, like a match trying to ignite soggy twigs. Common people aren't falling for it. A lot of people might not especially love Trump, but the years of total Leftist insanity are still fresh in their heads. Barring the wholesale execution of protesters by the police or national guard, this sad attempt to ignite a color revolution is most likely going to fizzle out.
The air and missile strikes between Israel and Iran also represent ongoing international trends. The footage of missiles striking targets, of burned up wreckage, and the news of perished government officials makes for good news fodder. But the attacks aren’t really changing anything. Neither side is especially determined to try to destroy the other at the risk of getting seriously harmed themselves. In all likelihood, Israel will settle for some setback in Iran’s uranium enrichment program, and Iran will quietly cut their losses for a while. In a serious war, each side does not keep running their mouths, making dire threats about the monstrous damage they are going to do. They just do it. They just act. Wake me up from my cozy nap when Iran sinks an aircraft carrier to block the Straits of Hormuz, or when Israel starts throwing nukes, or when either government starts to collapse somehow.
I have an example of this idea that most current events don’t rise to the level of historical importance.
Sometimes I like to read old annual almanacs, like the World Almanac and Book of Facts that has been published every year since 1886. These yearbooks can’t help but trap the moods and mindsets of their respective days within their pages, like insects and pollen trapped in ancient amber, and this kind of almanac includes a section that lists the major events of the previous year. These are events that made headlines and seemed so significant in their moments, but most of them amounted to nothing in the long run and would quickly fade from historical memory.
Here is an example of what I mean, from the World Almanac‘s event list for June 1914, the month before World War I began:
Out of all of these listed events from June 1914, the only one that mattered to greater history was the June 30 demonstrations in Bosnia that led to World War I. But maybe 1914 was a slow news year up to the time of the war, as world tensions were not dramatically high up to that time.
To use an example during a time of heightened tensions, like ours, let’s look at the World Almanac from 1940, covering events in 1939. I’ll pick the middle of June from that time, mainly because it’s the middle of June today. (World War II broke out on 1 September that year, though the United States, where the World Almanac was published, didn’t join the war until 1941….)
Self-righteous diplomatic posturing. Wars, accidents, and disasters. Ethnic squabbles and labor disputes. Crimes and scandals. The more things change, the more they stay the same…
But it demonstrates the same point. Very few events or changes rise to the level of historical importance, and most just represent the norm for the times and are quickly forgotten.
I do believe that major events are lining up across the horizon right now, and that world war is all but assured. We have entered pivotal times, with one era replacing another.
But these riots/protests and this rock-throwing between Israel and Iran almost certainly amount only to historical background noise.
I tend to observe things like this, but rarely will I bother to comment on them.