Bahrain is Broken

The time when unspoken divides remained unspoken and hate was nothing but an itchy feeling at the back of your brain is officially gone. The old Bahrain, oft criticised, far from perfect, constantly annoying yet oddly endearing, is dead..

This is the new Bahrain that nobody wanted. It’s the Vista to the old XP, the unwanted sequel that never should have been. The events of the past month have altered the fabric of our existence in a profoundly disturbing way. Lines have been drawn, first in sand... and then with blood, tears, hate and idiocy. Evolution from an apolitical existence into a world flooded with political opinion should never happen overnight. At best, politics are a tumultuous bastard of a game that should be played carefully. But we, the all-knowing, the wise, the arrogant, the holier than thou people of this broken Kingdom, we take sides and cling desperately to them without knowing why, how or what the fuck is going on. We presume to be knowledgeable, and use our new found genius to indoctrinate those who know not what we know. We dismiss conflicting opinion, and rather than engage constructively, or god forbid, intelligently, we wage war. The crack in our society has grown into an abyss.

We can only blame ourselves, collectively, for the tsunami of shit that rains down on us. Idiots hijacked the promise of a new tomorrow, turned it into a competition, cheated and then pretended to win. Instead of actually uniting, people spoke of unity and then somehow managed to bastardise the concept entirely. People pointed fingers and threw blame about so wantonly that the whole fucking world is now stained with it. This was never about sides. This was about reality, existence, inequality, transparency and dignity. But then blood was spilled. And fingers pointed. And, logically yet tragically, demands became louder. And more stubborn. And more confused. Every passing moment detracted from the urgency of the movement. Instead of seizing the moment that circumstances, bravery and the blatant idiocy of the powers that be had created, it was squandered by idealism. Idealism that for a fleeting moment energised Bahrain, electrified the population and gave rise to the most amazing thing... real, true, actual freedom of speech. People spoke without fear. Hushed whispers turned into heated discussions. Bahrain was evolving. Everybody, pro or anti, for or against, idiotic or otherwise... everybody participated. Everybody got a chance, a brief chance, to feel what Bahrain could be like had cooler heads prevailed.

We had this new gift, this power, and we knew not how to use it. We tested it out. We exploited it. We abused it, just to see if it was real. And with every passing day this new gift polarised us further. Those demanding change lost their clarity under murky veils of understandable, justifiable, but ill-advised hatred. Those afraid of change responded to hate with hate. Instead of taking a step back and attempting to understand the complexity of the situation that Bahrain was in, everything became about sides. Pro and Anti were the buzzwords that destroyed Bahrain. And sensing opportunity, the propaganda machine stepped up a gear. Or three. They worked on the cracks with jackhammers and dynamite. Bahrain’s media, particularly BTV- the sick, idiotic bastards that they are - threw as much fuel on the fire as they possibly could. Hope suddenly turned into fear. Protesters were labelled rioters and terrorists. Mercenaries and thugs were called protesters. Bahrain was suddenly gripped by fear, confusion and a disturbing amount of hatred. Everything went wrong.

Precious time ticked away. Frustration became anger. And anger turned into violence again. And now we’re all well and truly fucked.

The prospect of exciting change, of evolution, that lurked teasingly on the horizon was replaced by foreign armies, live ammunition, a state of emergency and the obliteration of human rights. The promise of equality and democracy was ripped apart and set on fire. Bullets are being used to silence words. Progression became repression in the blink of an eye. Freedom of speech is no more. Freedom is no more.

Bahrain is no more.

It was never anti-government.. It was always pro-equality. It was never pro-government.. It was anti-change. It was never unity, because unity is an illusion in politics. A myth. Unity was the third way, a middle road that confused one side and angered another before being hijacked by both. The refusal of Bahrain to understand, manage and thrive in a world of divergent opinion was our undoing. We’re all arrogant bastards and we should all be ashamed of ourselves.

And if you want to blame something, if you need to blame something, blame BTV. Whores.

Enjoy captivity. It’s not like you’ve got a choice.