Saturday, May 14, 2022

'If you see the other fella’s point of view you’re finished'

On Thursday evening the British ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston was interviewed on RTE’s Prime Time on the current controversy concerning the Northern Ireland protocol.

He explained the position of the UK government and batted for the position taken by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.

If the UK government changed its opinion tomorrow then Ambassador Johnston would explain why the new position was the right one to take.

Has there been an ambassador of the Russian Federation anywhere in the world who has disagreed with President Putin’s ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine? Doubtful. If so, it would have received media attention and the ambassador would have been recalled to Mother Russia.

If tomorrow there were a change of leadership in Russia and the new president decided on a totally different policy and withdrew from Ukraine, Russian ambassadors around the world would support the new policy and say it was the correct action to take.

What do ambassadors believe? Do they believe in anything or just mouth off what they are told to say.

But isn’t a similar story right across society in all jobs and walks of life?

While it seems clear to us in the West that the war in Ukraine is an act of aggression on the part of Russia, our counterparts in Russia seem to believe that Putin’s action has been to protect the homeland.

So too with the ‘diehard’ Unionists in the North of Ireland, they honestly believe the Protocol is not the road to take.

Are we all marionettes submerged in the prevailing environment, controlled by the powerful?

It looks like that.

Do we ever hear what people actually believe and think?

Would that lead to chaos and anarchy?

This train of thought is the result of overhearing a wise man say: “If you see the other fella’s point of view you’re finished."


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