Is there really a democracy? Or are billions of people being duped that democracy does exist? Why should people like Anna Politkovskaya be killed as if they are untamed wild beasts when they are only after exposing the truth? It's really sad and, at the same time, frightening that the unscrupulous use all means to tame the principled when they should be the ones who should be shot and not the other way around.

One of my fave books is Albert Szymanski's Logic of Imperialism. Unfortunately, this author killed himself in the late 1980s - for reasons that only hopelessness can explain. Szymanski said that it is imperative for the big-time capitalists that no day passes by without groups of people fighting. War is essentially a very profitable business in the guise of "democracy" or "liberation" from forces that seem to counter the interests of the elite. He also questioned the sincerity and authenticity of purpose of so-called NGOs, as some of them are co-opted by hegemonic powers to fight for causes which are essentially for their benefit. Division among humanity is, indeed, a crucial ingredient in sustaining the status quo.

No political ideology or religious dogma can ever solve or fully explain human-made dilemmas. As it is, the legitimacy of some groups is borne out of the existence of problems they are supposed to quell. It is always good to "feel needed" or even be a "pioneer" at addressing particular social ills. But how far can such idealism go? Where will these movements lead us to? Can social injustice be overcome without causing further division among us?

What happened to Anna Politkovskaya, that brave woman journalist from Moscow who got assasinated in broad daylight, is a threat to principled journalists elsewhere in the world. How much of the truth is really out there? And is the truth really what it seems it is?

I have read that Karl Marx believed education as a potent tool to effect social change. He was never for violence - a far cry from what his so-called "descendants" espoused. Journalists help educate the public by raising their awareness about what is really happening in our world. But then, effecting social change has a price - both materially and otherwise. Yet sadly, even education itself has become a business venture, since most governments fail to deliver what they are supposed to do.

What then is left for millions of us if truth can be suppressed, killed, and even bought? Does democracy mean letting hegemonic forces run the world at the expense of the powerless? How far can this craziness go? Why should many people suffer like this? How much power and wealth do they really want?