Comments on current affairs
WAR = ENTERTAINMENT
13-03-2026The translation in Dutch of "INFINITE JEST" , a prophetic book of David Foster Wallace originally published in 1996 made me aware of one of the outcomes of our addiction to Internet, smartphone, social media and instant news, primarily in images. We receive the images of the war in Gaza, of the war in the Ukraine and the American/Israeli war against Iran. Instant pictures and videos don't give objective information. We look at them on our laptop and on our mobile but without any involvement. U.S. President Donald Trump appears on our media as the principal source of jest. He only speaks about his successes. His self-congratulatory messages on social media don't give information about what is really happening. His impatience means that he quickly looses interest. In the case of Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine, he prefers to blame the victim (Ukraine) over the agressor Putin. With the bombing of Iran we can watch rubble but without clear information on purposes or legitimacy of the bombings. Whenever we try to read and understand, we discover senseless warfare and major untold sufferings of the populations involved. Israel's Netanyahu's preference for killing leaders has never achieved its purpose Trump's (in the US tradition!) preference for massive bombing is self-defeating. His claim : "We have won" defies reality. Iran is a very large country, well prepared and heavily armed, in addition: supported by Putin's Russia in finding targets for retaliatory rocket and drone strikes. As a consequence, there is no more jest in continuing and Trump now wants to forget and walk out of the chaos he created. I was wrong with this conclusion. The war continues to be a source of jest for Trump, he loves rubble and humiliation of those who disagree with him.
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