THE INCREASE IN GLOBAL CONFLICTS EXPLAINED

 

THE INCREASE IN GLOBAL CONFLICTS EXPLAINED

 

The inspiration for this article hails from questions raised by readers and they basically center on the why behind everything: why are we spending more money on defense, why are we gearing up for battle, why is there so much animosity?  The simple answer lies in how we have always reacted within the human world.  All lifeforms are driven by energy and momentum and this dictates how we behave and act.  Within the framework of this article I will stick to a basic description of the energy required by humans: energy is everything that either powers or sustains, affected by momentum and impact.

The threat of energy scarcity.

Amongst all the different human tribes and nations there is an urge to lead and to protect.  It is incredibly strong, especially if it is motivated by national self-interest.  Strong nations will invade or occupy weaker nations if they feel that their energy security is threatened or is perceived to be under threat.

The United States for instance is up to its eyeballs in debt.  Nationally its economies are struggling.  Domestic energy sources are expensive and depleting at an alarming rate.  Their role on the international stage is weakening.  The pressures to keep everything going and moving, socially and economically, are fraying nerves and tempers.  The eagle is starting to show its age. 

We are absolutely wonderful creatures if all goes well and bellies are filled and the nation feels safe, strong and protected.  Nature favors the strongest and those who lead call the shots.  It can all unravel by a host of different factors: unemployment, falling incomes, huge debt levels, an influx of migrants or refugees, housing shortages, declining resources and above all, a growing realization of scarcity; things are not improving and whatever we attempt as a fix isn’t working.  It is never one single thing that tilts the scales and once the scales are tipping in the wrong direction it becomes like an avalanche and that includes human emotions and how we control them.  Or, as in this case, how out of control it can get!

Frustrating in any discussion is our tendency to go off the rails and within no time flat we’re all over the place and it becomes an emotion driven discourse that strays from the original question posed: why is there such a huge increase in global conflicts?  Historically it is the impact of energy insecurity in all its multiple facets and forms that fuels all global conflicts: a growing disparity within a nation, inequality, shortages, depletion; whatever is perceived as a threat or touches a public nerve.  We don’t live in societies that are equalitarian and equitable.  Uniform.  The same.  In some cases the differences are glaring, even obscene.  This is reality and the true human face behind energy and momentum and how it impacts.  It is in our nature to be greedy and selfish because we are the products of energy and momentum.  We love to exclude others, especially those who have less and we behave especially badly towards those who vie what we have or control.

The natural world around us doesn’t behave any better.  It follows the same evolutionary pathways and instinctive urges.  The big difference lies in the fact that the natural world doesn’t change its environment as dramatically as humans have.  The natural world has a permanence that is enviable because it is enduring.  It only takes what it needs.  When humans left the boundaries of the natural world behind we increasingly engaged in activities and practices that by and large are at the expense of the natural world.  In the past decades our physical impact has picked up with the proverbial speed of a bullet train and the amounts of energy we use and squander has reached stupendous proportions.

Can we change?

To counteract the impact of energy and momentum that fuels the basic needs of all lifeforms, and especially humans, would require an enormous intellectual shift, one powerful enough to counteract instinctive and impulsive behaviors and all the emotional drama that accompanies it.  In other words, to react with reason and in a proactive and constructive manner.  Such a massive evolutionary mind-shift would go right against the grain of how energy and momentum behave.  In other words, don’t hold your breath, because I doubt that this will ever happen.  I am not a pessimist but I don’t think a wholesale change in behavior, human activities and attitudes will ever take place.  Instead it will be the opposite.  “All higher intelligence is inherently self-destructive and therefore any attempt to change its course will be futile.”  Look at all the attempts people have made throughout human history to change how we live, think, act and react.  We’re getting worse, not better!

In my novel ‘We, the Masses’ I explain that most of us are conditioned to comply and to conform.  That is how most societies and nations function.  From the time we’re born we are conditioned to be behave like good little boys and girls.  We are expected to follow rules and orders and as a result most of what the top four percent are up to is an incomprehensible subject to the bulk of the population.  In my novel ‘Behaving Badly’ based on the DEC Equation; the impact of dominance, exploitation and control, I explain how power and control are the domain of a rather exclusive and select group of rulers and the ultra-wealthy.  All of them are motivated, not by competition and profits alone, but by maintaining and securing superiority.  In the subsequent process of governance the minds and hearts of the people are constantly massaged by giving them the illusion that everything is done to protect their interests and welfare.  Everything is morally and ethically justified and people are encouraged to faithfully adhere to whatever is proposed, to whatever is justified, and that includes taking up arms and supporting conflict.  A balanced approach is only used when it doesn’t jeopardize their influence and position.  Look at the constant political jockeying on the world stage; flip-flopping on issues, new alliances forged or falling apart, taking sides, tariffs, duties, blockades and sanctions.  Everything they engage in is interpreted as justified and the media reporting follows suit.  There is no such thing as unbiased reporting because we have an ingrained need to be coddled and protected from uncomfortable truths.  Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the new truth.  The average citizen has been raised to accept authority unconditionally and from the day we’re born we’re inoculated with national subservience.  We’re so much easier to control when we follow without question.

Peace is merely an interlude in between wars.

Pending scarcity and uncertainty only sharpens the knives of conflict in an inevitable confrontation that is looming.  The human world has always reacted this way.  In times of peace and prosperity positive energy and momentum foster a climate of diplomacy and forges closer ties with other nations and cultures.  It is always a fragile equilibrium because there are too many nations that are not doing well, or that feel left out, ignored or taken advantage off.  Within this environment the conflict model is kept alive and well, constantly simmering and ready to reach yet another boiling point. 

A slightly higher level of intelligence has given humanity a greater degree of awareness, curiosity and imagination (not without consequences).  It has allowed us to move away from the boundaries and restrictions of the natural world, yet we’re still driven by the same primordial forces of energy and momentum that drive everything in the universe.  We’re not exempt from the same basic needs that all lifeforms require to sustain themselves.  The needs of the beast are not mitigated by a higher level of intelligence, if anything, it has made humans even more dependent on energy as our requirements outstrip that of any other lifeform on Earth.  And in the past one hundred years that energy dependency has only increased, not only by our numbers, but accelerated by technological innovations and advances that require huge amounts of energy.  The pressures we place upon ourselves and the planet are accelerating at an increased pace.  As a result the human trajectory is not benevolent or benign and therefore we’re headed for increased conflicts.

I hope I have demonstrated that our evolutionary design and development follow the same predictable pathways and needs as all other lifeforms.  Our higher degree of intelligence has led us astray in stupendous proportions and as a result we are a poor fit within the natural scheme of things.  I also hope that you realize that we follow a logical trajectory as all life is propelled by the unstoppable forces of energy and momentum.

Why did I include the images of men and women in battle, and not the impact suffered on the ground by tens of thousands of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire?

War is not a faceless crime.  Turning our children into killing machines brings out the worst in our humanity.  War is not anonymous.  It is people killing people.  Nobody is innocent and we all bear the scars.  War makes a mockery of our humanity.  Whether killing remotely or in person to person combat, it is still murder.

Our world is once more engaged in an arms race and headed towards global conflict and disaster.  The result of energy scarcity, pending energy scarcity, a growing sense of insecurity and outright shortages in too many parts of the world.  Despite that much vaunted human intelligence of ours and being fully aware of the fact that we’re playing with fire, we are headed for a predictable date with destiny.  When negative energy bundles the subsequent inevitable release has nothing to do with common sense and reason because that is not how energy and momentum behave.

We lie our faces off.  Always have.  Always will.

Human group behavior is filled with lies and deceit.  It explains why we happily follow the leader and why we accept the inevitability of war and conflict.  Humans are constantly sideswiped by emotion and limitless imagination.  Our impact is not about balance, about living in harmony with nature and fitting in, but it is about subjugation, conquest and superiority.  We use our artifice to transform and exploit and above all, to subdue those perceived as weaker.

He who controls the spigot gets to drink first.

The energy that all lifeforms require is basically everything that powers and sustains.  This aside from the forces of energy and momentum that control everything in and around us.  The tangible and intangible.  Although we pride ourselves in British fashion to go through life exhibiting good manners, “After you, please.  Why don’t you go first and I’ll go last.”  No, none of that takes place in the real world.  Amongst ourselves we struggle for dominance and supremacy.  One of the biggest obstacles we face is the simple fact that none of us progress intellectually in the same manner; some of us excel and most of us disappoint.  Without going into specific examples, current political flaps, spats and personalities.  I hope to have reduced the essence of pending conflicts to its basic essence: energy insecurity, energy shortages or pending shortages.  On top of that is the impact that an ever expanding human population places on a planet that it is unable to provide and sustain what the human population needs and demands.

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