Party Boat

The world’s biggest monster

Our Rusuk Blog writer Sergey

The world is full of demons. People have to cope with their internal monsters, too. 

The world’s biggest monster is fanaticism. Throughout history, the phenomenon has been the biggest whip relentlessly chasing humanity. 

Plenty of wars and crimes have been happening because of it. I can mention crusades, various holy – and not so holy – wars, famine, genocide worldwide, etc. Funny enough, fanaticism is now primarily known in sports in developed countries. It is a soft version of the previous hardline editions, such as religious or political extremism. However, the old school fanaticism is still here, not just in the Third World. 

Meme on Fanaticism

Fanaticism is a curious psychological phenomenon. What makes people go to extremes and shake up their initial beliefs? I have no answer. I don’t see what is happening on the income, like various mental features and mind games that make human nature change to the degree that we get a maniac on the outcome. 

Yet, judging by what is going on as a result, I think it is a total disaster. I guess hundreds of millions of people have died because of various types of fanaticism. 

Now, let’s talk about the developed world’s forms of fanaticism. I think that #me_too is a perfect example of it: something good initially has been transformed into an ugly version of itself. It started as an active protest against men’s arrogance and cheap superiority. Now, I think it’s just another form of good ol’ fanaticism. In certain cases, men are horrified to say something wrong or look somehow suspiciously at women without risking being prosecuted publicly. 

To me, fanaticism in every aspect of public or private life is the scariest beast in the world.


Our planet’s largest monster

Roger Bara

It didn’t take me long to think about this one. 

It’s soft drinks. Sugary soft drinks. I’ll use Coca-Cola as an example even though this company is not the only one peddling potential illness or even death.

I do believe, in one of our blogs a thousand years ago or so, I claimed that sugar was the worst “invention” ever created. I stick to that.

Soft drinks, Coca-Cola in particular because of their invasive presence everywhere, are seriously meddling with people’s health and well-being. What am I talking about?

Coke Can

Take Mexico. Coca-Cola is an addiction for many, with an average of two big bottles drunk per person per day. Every single day of the year. It’s no more expensive than water, and a darn sight cleaner. But the sugar content is to blame for an obesity epidemic, and the rate of diabetes, especially in youngsters, is appalling. So many teenagers are losing limbs and lives because of their severe diabetes. 14 million adults in Mexico are living with the illness, and that’s gone up by 10 per cent in the last two years. Almost half of those living with the disease go undiagnosed.

Too many countries now have an obesity problem, and particularly for third-world places, it’s not a case of too much food consumption. It’s sugary, high-calorie drinks that causes all these health complications.

In the U.K., it’s projected a third of the population, both adults and children, will be clinically obese within three years. with diabetes being the fastest growing chronic disease. There’s no evidence to show that introducing a tax on sugary items has slowed down these sickening statistics.

This paragraph will show the benefits of sugary drinks………

Conversely, here are some of the drawbacks; large amounts of sugar are turned into fat in your liver and drastically increases belly fat; it’s considered the leading cause of Type 2 diabetes; it may well be addictive; it increases the risk of heart disease; it’s a disaster for dental health; it increases the risk of gout. There’s plenty more.

So, if anyone wants to lose weight, avoid chronic disease and live longer, dispense with this monster that is sugary drinks.


The World’s Biggest Monster

Photograph of Dean Lewis

Regular readers of these posts can easily guess who I would write about: Rupert Murdoch. Most people seem not to understand the danger this monster and his dysfunctional family pose to democracy and decent government around the world. Of course, you believe I have overstated my case, again. Perhaps a passage from The Failed New York Times will illuminate the issue: “His newspapers and television networks had been instrumental in amplifying the nativist revolt that was reshaping governments not just in the United States but also across the planet. 

“His 24-hour news-and-opinion network, the Fox News Channel, had by then fused with President Trump and his base of hard-core supporters, giving Murdoch an unparalleled degree of influence over the world’s most powerful democracy. 

Murdoch & Sons

“In Britain, his London-based tabloid, The Sun, had recently led the historic Brexit crusade to drive the country out of the European Union — and, in the chaos that ensued, helped deliver Theresa May to 10 Downing Street. In Australia, where Murdoch’s power is most undiluted, his outlets had led an effort to repeal the country’s carbon tax — a first for any nation — and pushed out a series of prime ministers whose agenda didn’t comport with his own.”

While we think of Brexit and Trump as unrelated, they in fact are related to each other and to the war in Iraq. And yes, the Times article is correct, Murdoch literally fired and replaced one Australian Prime Minister with one of his own choosing and has meddled in several other elections. If China had done the exact same, we would rightfully be enraged. Think about that a moment.

Obviously, I don’t know the Murdoch family and I honestly don’t know why they seek to sow hate and failure. My feeling is they just don’t know and don’t care. It’s not conservative politics; Trump is no more a Republican than Sergey. For example, Fox commentators don’t even like Trump, yet they actively promote him at the Murdoch’s direction. Why? I mean it’s almost bizarre. My guess it’s a combination of two things: the Murdoch family can lower taxes on themselves and it’s a huge ego trip, so every once in a while, you’ll change the course of a nation with some God-like proclamation to the minions.

I believe Lord Action’s words are true: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Clearly this is far, far too much power in the hands of two or three unelected individuals. They are using that power for evil.