They are burning down our house; why are we still fiddling?

We tend to assign our problems as the responsibility of others. The name of "Pra Siam Deva-Thirach" - our national guardian angel - has been invoked in most conversations. He has saved us numerous times in our past. We "expect" him to do the same this time, and in fact, all the time and every time. We entertain the false hope that "bad people" will eventually get what they deserve from their bad karma. Since when, or how often, have we seen good people finish first?

Where is our majority that is not part of the ongoing political conflict? Why are these people so silent and why do they let the voices of deceit grow louder? Why are we allowing some people to drag the whole country down into the sewer by making their problems the problems of the country and the people?

Let's take a good look at ourselves without our usual delusion of grandeur. Are we that far from being a failed state? Look up the ubiquitous Wikipedia entries for failed states. Who can say that Thailand does not fit most of the descriptive definitions?

And we, the people have been letting it happen, by default.

They said Nero (the last Roman Emperor of his dynasty, who ruled between AD 37-68, and was associated, rightly or wrongly, with tyranny and excess) was playing the fiddle when Rome was burning. Scholarly scribes say the fiddle was not even invented then. But it is all semantic. What it means is that someone takes great pleasure in seeing a catastrophe happen to his own home for reasons of self-interest. Plain and simple.

And the fire is happening here and now - in our home.

Misinformation has been spreading unhindered in our country. One-sided, myopic, misanthropic, biased, and unsubstantiated accusations are the norm. They, combined with the short-sightedness, poor judgement and self-serving actions of many in the seats of power, are the fuel that flames the fire of anger, alienation and hatred. The victim and martyr cards have been played so often that if they were real, physical cards, they would have been shredded to pieces due to overuse. Little by little, we have let the fabric of our society be torn into pieces. The ground we tread is filled with landmines.

Still no effort has been launched to rectify this. More uninformed people became misinformed, and because of it, they become more disgruntled and disenfranchised. These are the components of the formula for disaster. If brainwashing were not effective, we would not have the words "propaganda" and "proselytize" in our vocabulary. And the Chinese Cultural Revolution would not have been possible.

People who are still capable of thinking rationally and independently have developed apathy and jadedness to levels unparalleled in the recent past. "I am not the only owner of this country. I alone cannot change anything." These are oft-spoken phrases. It is beyond a tragedy to see such detachment.

When rational people stay away from the scene, bad elements descend to fill the vacuum.

If we look at the crazed expressions on the many people wearing black who are protesting at the Government House this week, demanding land reform, we could mistake them for prison escapees. It is the same expression that adorned the faces of teenagers who destroyed property during the "red" unrest in April of last year. A few yards away are innocent-looking people in well-structured tents. They are there as extras and props to provide legitimacy to whatever or whoever led them there for reasons other than what was stated to them.

Some "dissident" military officers justify their questionable actions by claiming they are "King Taksin's soldiers". It is hard to know what that means. But many of us wish they would stop soiling the good name of the king who fought outside enemies with everything he had and more, so that future generations would have a place called home. Our king and his soldiers would never turn their swords against their own people.

In life, a doctor will never wait until a patient enters a comatose state before giving treatment. A homeowner will never wait until termites have chewed up the entire foundation of the house before calling in pest control. But that is what our silent majority has been doing.

Once brothers and sisters start decimating one another on their own, as happened in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, it will take a generation or more for the rebirth of the nation. Hasn't our country and our future been wounded enough for the healing process to start now and not soon? Isn't it safer to prevent the fire from starting rather than trying to extinguish it after it has destroyed half of our home? Do we need another invasion from outside forces to wake us up?

Or it is all too late.

We've got the match

Watch out, you might get what you're after.

Cool babies, strange but not a stranger.

I'm an ordinary guy,

Burning down the house.

Hold tight, wait till the party's over.

Hold tight, we're in for nasty weather.

There has got to be a way.

Burning down the house.

Here's your ticket pack your bag:

Time for jumpin' overboard.

Transportation is here.

Close enough but not too far,

Maybe you know where you are.

Fightin' fire with fire."

("Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads.)