Associations with the Centenary of the First World War

By Chen Chi-Hsiang. This year, Europe is holding grand commemorations for the centenary of the First World War, one of the most brutal conflicts of the twentieth century, delivering an unprecedented and fatal shock to civilization. Exhibitions rich in text and images, as well as memorials, are held everywhere across Europe. Special programs have been launched on mass media and television to reflect on the causes and consequences of the Great War and its political and economic impacts. Of course, this fatal shock brought about a rupture in thought and values, aiming to construct a new society, much like the Soviet Revolution at the time. Humanity has always longed for that illusory utopia; avant-garde and contemporary art were no exceptions. Is this the evolution of civilization or what? Is civilization built upon bones, embodying a patricidal sentiment?

There are many reasons for war, but what are the underlying motives? The reasons may seem justifiable, but who knows what "just" truly means? Who gains the greatest benefit, or who is manipulating events? Does historical record reveal the truth? History often follows the adage that the victor becomes king while the loser is branded a bandit. The obvious truths and the deceptive scripts of history seem to be performed with great realism. Thirty years later, the outbreak of the Second World War revealed humanity's true face of greed, which was unbearable to witness. It appeared that material progress had advanced into the atomic age, yet humanity had not evolved at all—perhaps regressing even below primitive humans. Is this a utopia, or whose ideal state? Who conquered whom? There was only destruction, territorial changes, and regime shifts. Was civilization merely a facade? If there were no interests at stake, would there be any struggle?

The philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi long ago understood the existing truth: that which is useless has the reason for existence. However, this is impractical in today's world. Uselessness is obnoxious, leaving behind fire, smoke, ash, and embers. Under the post-war geopolitical stance of the two major political blocs (East and West), those who comply live, and those who resist die. Civilization continues to use its invisible demonic hands to conquer and persecute others. In fact, war has never stopped; it is either here or elsewhere. Is this the primal driving force of existence? Under Western civilization's Darwinian evolutionary narrative, the strong devour the weak, compounded by human greed and selfishness, making it hard to imagine. Seeking safety and harmonious coexistence, the European continent established the European Union, finding a partial refuge.

At the end of the twentieth century, after the fall of the East-West wall and liberation by democracy, flames of war spread across the European continent, starting from the post-communist Balkan Peninsula. The dissolution of Yugoslavia burned into current tensions involving Belarus, Ukraine, etc. The EU and NATO continue their standoff with Russia. Is this a struggle for interest or a political battle? Complex and hidden mysteries leave people bewildered. Who believes that history holds the truth? Stop being naive.

In fact, perceiving the current situation, how is the Earth doing? From the natural environment to the atmosphere, typhoons, sandstorms, storms, droughts, tsunamis, and earthquakes—dramatic natural disasters combined with human-made calamities become daily entertainment news programs. War has become a video game theater, a world that leaves you confused and helpless. The new century has not brought a new vision. Who could have imagined the events of September 11 in New York? What happens before your eyes—is it real? So real that you cannot imagine it, speechless. How is the truth? Who knows.

Today, it seems we are not far from a Third World War, or perhaps it is already happening. Flames spread everywhere. The African continent has never known peace; it is a field for powerful powers to plunder natural resources, filled with killing intent and even ethnic massacres. Southeast Asia, after the Vietnam War, Laos, and the red Khmer Rouge Cambodia, found a partial refuge. China's rise brings continuous territorial disputes in border regions. Thailand and Japan faced the natural disaster and human-made nuclear disaster of the great tsunami. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East is unbroken. Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya are crushed by war. Syria is plagued by continuous fighting. Powerful forces continue to pressure Iran regarding nuclear weapons. A new military force of Islamic resistance against Western power is rising. The Middle East has become the fuse for a world war. Following the collapse of Yugoslavia, the current civil war in Ukraine has triggered a military standoff between the West and Russia, threatening to erupt into an uncontrollable great war at any moment. Are all these wars merely about territory? Great powers are nihilistic and cynical. Ideology is just decoration, hiding political and strategic geographical interests and the plundering of natural resources. Even more so, the manipulation of the global financial and economic system. Would there be war if there were no profit? South America finds temporary refuge, moving from military dictatorship eras to socialist flourishing states. Brazil rises as a place with the most prospects. China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Russia—the BRICS nations—lead the current rise, which has become a fact.

Open your eyes. It seems that as long as it is not on one's own land or nearby, it is worth celebrating. This is the lifestyle model of the Western consumer society seeking partial refuge, but life is impermanent, and disasters can occur at any time. This century is hard to imagine, witnessing events that seem like legends: the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the crashing of skyscrapers in the US, the financial crisis, the Arab Spring, the bankruptcy of Iceland and Greece's national debt, the tsunami and nuclear leak in Fukushima, and recently the disappearance of a Malaysian passenger plane from radar in broad daylight. Earlier, the SARS virus and recently the Ebola virus ravaging Africa, etc., are full of magic and imagination, yet so realistic they feel virtual. Who can tell me if the financial crisis or sandstorm occurred naturally? Malaysia Airlines, despite today's digital detective technology, cannot detect the wreckage. What is the logic behind this? There must be hidden secrets. As for another Malaysia Airlines flight last month, shot down by missiles over Ukrainian airspace, it is truly unimaginable. An Algerian plane crashed in the airspace of Mali, Africa, with half French military passengers on board. The French government insisted from the start that the plane crashed due to lightning strikes. Whether it is the content of the black box or fabrication, the black box investigated by France did not reveal much information. Opening one's eyes to speak nonsense, who knows. These major events, in today's schizophrenic era, are quickly forgotten by us after a few days, more virtual than the internet itself. As for the nuclear leak and pollution in Fukushima, Japan, it seems never to have happened. Under cheap tourism promotions from Japan, Taiwanese people flock there. The forgetfulness of modern people is imaginable.

The events of September 11 opened the struggle between civilization and the devil in the new century. The powerful naturally belong to civilization, while the devil represents uncivilized barbarians. Who sets the standard? The oppressed will resist to the end. The facade of civilization continues to play the role of a democratic savior, eventually becoming a confrontation between Western Christianity/Catholicism and Muslims. Is this the battle of the new century? The West continues to use the slogan of democracy as a pretext for powerful invasion to overthrow autocracy. Civilization uses its self-made international public power as a legal excuse to openly "liberate" Islamic religious countries and dictatorships: from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, gradually entering the deep pocket of Western political, economic, and strategic geographical maps. Hidden within are other mysteries. Under multiple factors, is it to relieve Israel, or to construct a new world core?

The new resistance of the century is occupation: occupying Wall Street, squares, parliaments, and public spaces. The new generation, under heavy life pressures and existential dilemmas, awakens consciousness, facing new challenges and fighting for existence. Southern Europe is crushed by national debt; the Middle East is conquered by civilization; China is submerged by money and capital; the world is integrated by the internet. Everything is more real than virtual, so real that it is more false than virtual. Democratic trends expand and spread. The flowers of the Arab Spring bloom brilliantly but soon wither into winter. Hope is shattered. Tyranny is overthrown by the people, but new ethnic and religious disputes continue. Democratically elected religious regimes are quickly accused. The flowers of democracy are fragile. Military regimes take over immediately. The dramatic plot continues to unfold, performed beautifully and realistically. Taiwan's democratic comedy and tragedy also do not lose out, leaving people confused and helpless. The incompetent and corrupt "Toilet" [Ma Ying-jeou] continues to sell out Taiwan. Moths flying into fire, walking into traps by relying on China, the Toilet regime acts arbitrarily. The people become sacrifices, kidnapped by democracy without realizing it.