To Be or Not to Be – APEC or OPEC

To think out of the box will change the world. Indeed to stop thinking, opens up a new world. I was thrilled to hear on my return from my world trip that Aung Sun Su Kyi was released. She was incredibly strong and I often thought about her. It took around 18 years for her to be released, that is the price of truth and democracy.

I talk in the poem about the chasers which refers to a comedy program on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) where in 2007 the Chasers (chasers war on everything) breached police security during the APEC summit in Sydney (see youtube Chasers & Osama get into APEC!!! Updated: Official footage!). One of the comedians was dressed as Osama Bin Laden, they had badges on saying ‘joke’. They had a black four wheel drive car with men running next to the vehicle as pretend security. They kept driving and the police waved them through, apparently one policeman said the road is yours. Then they decided to test them further and the actor as Osama gets out of the car in white robes and beard (very funny) and starts walking but the guy dressed as security is arrested and they note that this guy is allowed to walk, they are metres from Bush’s hotel. The next day they said security was vamped up so they went back with little card board cars to see if they were stopped, and again had a laugh. Now the police were not laughing as it did show holes in Australian security but at the same time it is laughing at how seriously we take ourselves. These leaders and their importance. The whole of Australia watched this program, and laughed. I loved that. Sorry can’t tow the official line, it was hilarious.

One more story I can remember going to the G20 as a clown. My reason for going was not to protest but to ensure people didn’t get violent. My friends had an army truck with a pink heart on the front. They were negotiating with police to get it into Exhibition Street in Melbourne. Without thinking I bounced into their negotiations and lightened it up, I was told later it was getting heated and unwittingly I did diffuse it. My friends talked about their democratic right and the police were interested in safety and security. Fair for both. Anyway, they got the truck in to the city which was good of the police actually, and they set up music. I got up on the truck after a while and did some juggling. The funny part was a police cordon was formed around the truck and there were hardly any people it was quite surreal. Then my other friend had a dominatrix outfit on (to my surprise) and she had another guy dress as Bush (mask) and she read out war crimes to him and put fluffy pink handcuffs and paraded him in front of the police (the only audience, few people). I wondered what they were thinking. It was new for me too, first time I’d been in a protest like this. I went into the small group that were there and saw a woman staring at the police. I couldn’t see the point, I actually wanted to make friends with them. I am a clown for me all people I feel goodwill towards. I see my role as bringing sanity to insanity. If I can prevent violence and foster democracy, that is a good thing. I believe in freedom of speech and I know protest is important as releasing a safety valve for society. People need to feel they are heard, this is a subject I am becoming more aware of and I see it as essential, if we are to have a peaceful world. Grievances can’t be ignored, nor impacts that affect people, it becomes their business when directly affected. So what a day. So here is a poem I wrote about APEC and OPEC.

APEC or OPEC?

Regional cooperation or petroleum exporting?
For agendas run parallel,
Governments run parallel,
With economic interests.

Gas or hot air?
Clean coal or clean nuclear power?
Carbon emissions or carbon trading?
For to en-rich uranium calls to the prophets of doom,
For the genie in the bottle,
Will not grant 3 wishes,
For once released the camel is unable to pass back through the needle,
For truth is the needle in the haystack,
Rhetoric is the haystack in the feed lot,
A live feed repeating patterns of mass production,
As weapons of mass destruction fuel fields of fire,
For there is a geisha ghost in the machine.

John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Lao Tsu, Aung Sun Su Kyi,
Have promoted the clean virtuous way,
That is crystal clear,
For to en-rich the spirit honours the life cycle,
For it is value-able in a world in poverty,
For hope lives in memories of greatness enshrined in admiration,
As words are quoted infinitum,
Yet never acted upon in ones own life,
For what is the message of your life?

To know the truth one must truly seek it,
To seek it one must be willing to sacrifice beliefs that do not serve,
For why are the true messengers of peace
persecuted or assassinated?
When selflessness serves our humanity,
As banners of freedom and democracy,
Flying the flags of true community.

The turning point is today,
The burning point is tomorrow,
The critical mass awaits,
A mass that is critical,
For this is the signpost,
Yet how long do we wait at the cross roads,
Spectators in a coliseum of power games,
For the middle ages are not the middle east,
It is the mid west of occupation,
Where the majority do not move,
In fear of prosecuting dissent.

So have another drink on the house,
Enjoy another Doha round,
Perhaps a chaser to sober the illusion
of security,
For insecurity is penetrable,
Protecting a war on everything,
Erecting security barriers,
Policing another wall of Jericho,
In a State focusing on terror over justice,
That keeps some in and others out,
Fast breeding suspicion over civil liberty,
For freedom of speech becomes a decision
rather than a right,
For is this a Partnership in Democracy?
Or an uneven playing field of favours?
Yet as the summit eclipses expectations,
Who is in need of real protection?

For there are boys in the bubble,
Actors behind the mask,
Majors in the art of deception,
For Asia minor is not minimised,
Appreciation is the currency of surplus,
As the dragon celebrates its ongoing luck,
Energy is the line of credit that feeds each lot,
As the last dynasty demands more supply from the 3rd world,
For addiction to power is a moving line and two broken lines,
A trigram that warns the end of line-age,
For 10 earths are the ecological footprint,
As credit outstanding in the sands of our time,
For the hour glass is 10 seconds to midnight,
A significant signpost fading in the nuclear winds of silencing dissent.

The planet succumbs to universal laws of equilibrium and homeostasis,
Impervious to negotiation or trade deals,
Rendering the possible explorations as impossible for sustaining life itself.

Only non-violence is a force more powerful,
That is unemployed in a world that values structural violence over human rights,
Until what one values changes intrinsically for good,
The future is practically impossible,
To be or not to be is the only question
worth asking.