I am an anarchist and proud of it

Do you know what people like me are called? They would call me an anarchist. Anarchists are opposed to all forms of government. Anarchists are against all forms of domination and control. All governments are bad. All forms of domination and control are bad. So I am an anarchist and proud of it.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

‘You miss the point, RPK’.

‘Don’t turn this into a racial issue, RPK’.

‘You need to look at the big picture, RPK’.

‘We need to focus, RPK’.

‘We first need to change the government, RPK’.

‘The corruption in BN is much worse, RPK’.

‘BN is racist, RPK’.

‘What choice do we have? We have been oppressed for more than 50 years, RPK’.

‘We are not against the Malays, just against the Umno Malays, RPK’.

‘What do you expect? The Chinese have faced discrimination for more than 50 years, RPK’.

‘Compare things with the Chinese-run Singapore or Penang and you can see the big difference, RPK’.

‘When we had a Chinese Finance Minister like Tan Siew Sin things were much better, RPK’.

‘The Chinese got rich through hard work, RPK’.

‘The Malays want a shortcut to wealth, RPK’.

‘Criticising the opposition is helping Barisan Nasional to stay in power, RPK’.

‘You are confusing the voters, RPK’.

‘We should talk about all this only after Pakatan Rakyat takes over, RPK’.

‘After Pakatan Rakyat takes over we can clean out the rot in Pakatan Rakyat, RPK’.

‘If you do not support Pakatan then you must be a Barisan stooge, RPK’.

That and much more are the arguments that many readers normally put forward to justify and defend their stand. This is called ‘working backwards’. You take a stand and then you defend that belief with an argument. Religionists use this same method and considering that 80% or so of the world believes in a religion means that this method is very effective.

How do you prove that God exists? God exists because we are here. The fact that we are here means some higher power must have created us. Hence that higher power has to be God. So, since we exist, then God must also exist. If God did not exist then we would not be here.

Does this make sense? It certainly does to those who believe in a religion.

So and so is our Prophet sent down by God. And our Prophet told us that he is the true Prophet and that his religion is the true religion. How do you know this? The Holy Book says so. Where did this Holy Book come from? It came from our Prophet and was written by the followers of our Prophet more than 100 years after he died.

Does this make sense? It certainly does to those who believe in a religion.

So you see, any argument is a good argument if you already believe in something. Your belief is intact. It does not waver. It is only that you need to justify and defend this belief. So the argument is not to help you believe. You already believe. The argument is to explain and justify your belief and make it sound sensible and credible.

You already believe in your religion. You already believe in your Prophet. You already believe that there is a God. Your arguments are to make sense of a belief that would not normally make sense unless you can argue your belief. In that same spirit, you already have a political belief. And to make sense of this political belief you also need to put forward various arguments to defend this belief.

This is called arguing in circles. Arguing in circles would be as follows. My religion is correct because my Prophet says so. My Prophet is correct because the Holy Book says so. The Holy Book is correct because it came from God through my Prophet.

Okay, let’s stop arguing in circles. Today I am going to be blunt and brutal. Today I am going to call a spade a spade. And if you don’t like that then you had better stop reading at this point and go to another Blog or website. Malaysia Today is not for the faint-hearted. Malaysia Today is not for those who like to read nice things and things that dovetail with their belief system. Malaysia Today is not for those who live in denial syndrome. Malaysia Today is no holds barred.

Politicians need businessmen to finance them. Businessmen need politicians to make money. This is so in America, in Japan, in Malaysia, and in most places in the world.

In Malaysia, however, business is the domain of the Chinese while politics is the domain of the Malays. There are, of course, Chinese politicians as there are Malay businessmen. But the Chinese politicians need to kowtow to the Malay politicians just like the Malay businessmen need to ‘Ali Baba’ with the Chinese businessmen.

Hence we need to see ‘unholy alliances’ between the Malays and Chinese. The Chinese have to help the Malays get into power and the Malays need to help the Chinese get business deals. The Chinese need to use their money to help the Malays get into power and the Malays need use their political power to help the Chinese get business deals.

Money is the route to political power and political power is the route to making money. They both need each other. One can’t live without the other. This is so in America, in Japan, in Malaysia, and in most places in the world.

So it does not matter whether it is Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, just like it does not matter whether it is Islam or Christianity. Both Islam and Christianity apply the same ‘logic’ of arguing in circles. And both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat need the same politics-business alliance formula to make it. Business fuels political power and political power fuels business. Whether in the United States, Japan or Malaysia, it is all the same.

So, yes, we do want to see a two-party system in Malaysia. So, yes, we do want to see a ruling party without hegemony in Parliament and a strong opposition that can keep the ruling party in check. But we need a third force. We need an ‘auditor’. We need a ‘police’ system. And this role must be played by us, the people, the rakyat, the voters.

What is religion? Religion is a system of domination and control. Now, please, I repeat, please do not discuss this in the context of theology. Let us discuss it in the context of history. Theology does not make sense. History does. So I do not want to discuss theology but history.

What was Jesus Christ’s mission? Did Jesus introduce a new religion? Did Jesus tell his disciples, “God sent me to you so that I can introduce a new religion to humankind called Christianity”?

Jesus Christ’s mission was to break down the system of priests and temples, the religious hierarchy, which was a political system. Jesus wanted to end the domination and control that the system had over the people. The religious system was created to control the people. And Jesus wanted to end this control and give power back to the people. Before that power was in the hands of the system.

Hence Jesus Christ was merely a leader of a reform movement, a political movement of that time. And that was why they turned on him. Jesus was a threat to the political system of priests and temples.

Then, 325 years later, the system took back this power and what by then was identified as Christianity again dominated and controlled the people through the creation of a doctrine. And those who resisted were put to death so that eventually only those who embraced the doctrine remained.

Islam went through this same process 425 years later in 750. First the Umayyads grabbed power in 661, 29 years after the death of Muhammad. Then, the Abbasids ousted the Umayyads and grabbed power. Hence Islam went through the same process that Christianity went through 425 years earlier. And to justify things, doctrines (such as Hadiths) were created and those who resisted were killed off, just like what happened in Christendom earlier.

In the end it was all about political power and control over the people. But in those days it was political power through religious doctrine. That was what motivated Emperor Constantine in 325 and also what motivated the Umayyads in 661 and the Abbasids in 750 -- political power.

So, how different is it today? Today we have Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. In those days we had the Umayyads and Abbasids and, earlier, the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. The Abbasids created doctrines to justify the ousting of the Umayyads and the Eastern Roman Empire created doctrines to justify the ousting of the Western Roman Empire.

And is not Pakatan Rakyat also creating ‘doctrines’ to justify the ousting of Barisan Nasional?

Ultimately, it was all about control and political power. It still is. So we must make sure that neither Barisan Nasional nor Pakatan Rakyat controls us. Instead, we must control them. And to do that we must reject their doctrine. We need to decide that doctrine.

And that is why politicians are scared of people who are independent-minded, just like religionists are. If we are independent-minded they cannot control us. And politics, just like religion, is about control and power. In fact, religion is power, power over the minds of the people. And is not politics the same?

So, let us look at your arguments again.

‘You miss the point, RPK’.

‘Don’t turn this into a racial issue, RPK’.

‘You need to look at the big picture, RPK’.

‘We need to focus, RPK’.

‘We first need to change the government, RPK’.

‘The corruption in BN is much worse, RPK’.

‘BN is racist, RPK’.

‘What choice do we have? We have been oppressed for more than 50 years, RPK’.

‘We are not against the Malays, just against the Umno Malays, RPK’.

‘What do you expect? The Chinese have faced discrimination for more than 50 years, RPK’.

‘Compare things with the Chinese-run Singapore or Penang and you can see the big difference, RPK’.

‘When we had a Chinese Finance Minister like Tan Siew Sin things were much better, RPK’.

‘The Chinese got rich through hard work, RPK’.

‘The Malays want a shortcut to wealth, RPK’.

‘Criticising the opposition is helping Barisan Nasional to stay in power, RPK’.

‘You are confusing the voters, RPK’.

‘We should talk about all this only after Pakatan Rakyat takes over, RPK’.

‘After Pakatan Rakyat takes over we can clean out the rot in Pakatan Rakyat, RPK’.

‘If you do not support Pakatan then you must be a Barisan stooge, RPK’.

What point is that that I have missed? What big picture? Focus on what?

What choice do you have? You have a choice, a choice to determine your own destiny.

You faced oppression and discrimination for 50 years? Who voted for the same party for 50 years?

No lah, stop justifying and raising lame excuses. You are a victim of your own creation. Nobody did anything to you. You did all this to yourself. For thousands of years, people have allowed themselves to be manipulated, controlled, dominated, oppressed, suppressed, etc. They even created religion and doctrines to legitimise it. And then they scream blue murder.

I can’t see the big picture? Yes, I can. The big picture is very clear to me. It is about not giving anyone power. It is about taking back power. It is about power must be in the hands of the people.