WHEN OUR LUCK RUNS OUT
No, this is not an article about casinos or a gambling
addiction. It is once more about us and
to be more specific, about the Western Hemisphere with America leading the
pack. Two decades ago I wrote a
nonfiction novel titled: Behaving Badly.
In it I introduced what I call the DEC Equation; the impact of
dominance, exploitation and control.
When put in perspective with my novel: Energy and Origin, it makes more
sense than ever. Humanity as a species
has grown into an opportunistic, greedy monster. We’re always looking for an edge, a leg up,
to gain an advantage over others.
Leading the pack gives
you an advantage.
Timing, opportunity and circumstance, all play a role in how
well a tribe will fare. Rather than
referring to people as nations, I like the moniker tribe. Why did the Western Hemisphere emerge as
dominant? How did they become dominant
and superior and when? The urge to
explore and conquer is stronger in the Caucasian race than in any other. There is one thing European nations did
better than any other; accessing and developing new markets through superior
shipping. The ports of the New World and
Europe became the new epicenters of untold wealth. When you purchase/obtain wealth at little or
no cost, when your muskets speak louder than words and resistance is virtually
non-existent, the world becomes your oyster.
Taking control of the most lucrative parts of the world in the form of
colonies was the next logical step. The
ports of the world were firmly controlled by European colonizers and access to
cheap wealth and resources paved the way for European economies and markets to
develop faster than anywhere else in the world. (He) who leads, controls the pack.
The field is still dominated and controlled by males and the exploiting
is predominantly male oriented as well.
(Hence the ‘He’) I am always
conscious and respectful of my female readers and they know I’m in their
corner.
Racing ahead.
With!
A colonial advantage, a technological advantage, superior
armies and ships and a geo-political advantage by controlling trade and
shipping routes. Land based trading in
the world came to a virtual halt and as a result former empires crumbled and
struggled. Once you have an advantage,
once you lead the pack, everyone else has to race to catch up. The Western Hemisphere also ruled with few
scruples and with an iron fist. We
basically invented colonialism, brutal oppression and slavery.
You can’t stop
momentum.
I have to go back to a line I have used in other articles: A
superior intake and use of energy predicates how well a species will do
compared to others. Energy is not
limited to food, fuel and drink. It is
also about access to resources, their uses and applications and superior skill
levels and education of the tribe. It is
about superiority in all aspects and on all levels, and that includes armaments
and a willingness to use force. Four
nations are currently engaged in a struggle for supremacy and survival: India,
China, Russia and the United States. We
have created a consumer beast that is now struggling for energy and for access
to energy. Democracy, diplomacy,
international treaties, the rule of law, it all evaporates when we’re faced
with shortages and running out. We’re
running out of luck.
Democracies only flourish when we have the luxury to be
mindful and respectful, when we can afford to be naïve. The speed with which democracies are failing
all around the world should be a wakeup call.
Nobody is opposing the United States in the power grabs they’re
currently engaged in. Nobody is stopping
China, India, the US and Russia. Nobody
is ready, or wants to be ready, to fight another useless war and yet the four
major actors currently calling the shots seem to be clamoring for a nasty
confrontation. Plagued by horrendous
debts, huge populations, running out of options and solutions and with mounting
pressures to keep up the façade of prosperity, they are once more resorting to
tactics that end up destroying what they are trying to save. Grabbing what belongs to others may provide
some satisfaction in the short term, but is a long term disaster. History is living proof that occupation and
the outright theft of resources will eventually destroy the occupiers. No new lands.
No new resources. And yet nations
are trying to run their economic trains at full speed.
What we’re facing today
is the unfolding of the DEC Equation in its most detrimental form. This time around it is not motivated by
politics or religion, but it is about economic power and influence. Fueled by greed, ignorance and
stupidity. Humanity: at our worst, we do
the worst.
Look at the NATO member nations and how they’re wringing
their hands in frustration as Ukraine, the poor monkey in the middle, is used
as a political punching ball between the US and Russia. They are praying and hoping that these two
belligerents put an end to this charade, but they won’t. It is about territorial expansion, about
resources, about pleasing the home base.
It is about strength and flexing muscles. Every sane person knows what’s at stake, but
once you put amoral psychopaths in charge all bets are off. Trump will hand over Ukraine to Putin, if
Putin and others allow the US to expand their sphere of influence across the
Americas. Canada is delusional if it
thinks that its borders, sovereignty and resources will be respected and its
independence guaranteed. Hitler wanted
Austria, and guess what, he did!
Watch out when the game
of Risk is played for real by some dubious and nasty characters!
The four superpowers haven’t spent trillions of dollars on
sophisticated arms development for a show and tell moment at their kindergarten
get-togethers. If you’re not willing to
use all that hardware, why build it?
Behind this gruesome foursome are a cadre of politicians and business
people that all share the same dubious visions of how to best preserve all that
wealth and power. Countries like Canada
are nothing but innocent bystanders. I
am a Canadian and I am under no illusion that anyone will come to our rescue if
the US annexes Canada. There will be a
predictable outcry, the usual indignation and protests, and then it will fizzle
out. On our native soil we will be
stunned into submission, but we will stand alone. There will no cavalry waiting in the
wings. We are headed for a confrontation
that is not driven by political ideology, but by access to energy: land, water,
resources and markets. Globally we are
drowning in a sea of red ink. We, the
people, we are bankrupt and we’re nothing more than collateral damage. The dubious fact that we won’t go away, in
numbers that is, will stymie the oppressors to no end.
As a species we have
simply taken too much, destroyed too much and the jig is up.
Energy created life.
Life is energy. Our instinctive
needs to survive are as strong as that of the natural world we left behind and
it is the strong that lead, that get to eat first and they will continue to
exercise dominion and control over all perceived as weaker. Putin, Trump, Ki and Modi, are nothing more
than a predictable symptomatic phenomenon that frequently pops up throughout
history when once more our lofty ideals are running amok with a nasty dose of
reality. Despite faith, despite
millennia of education and learning, we’re content to remain as surface skimmers
when it comes to ethics and morality.
Always on the lookout
for an escape.
AI will not come to the rescue when it comes to feeding the
masses and providing them with comfort and security. Robots can build things, but they don’t
purchase anything. Rockets may go up but
are not coming back with anything useful.
We’re wasting at a record pace and the casualties are piling up. Species extinction, the destruction of vital
ecosystems, environmental damage and degradation and billions of people living
at poverty levels or way below. Do you
fix it with bombs? Does Gaza look like a
solution? Will nations around the world
ever be free from interference and exploitation? We’re like a circus exhibit, jumping through
hoops, but there is no paying audience.
And the clowns are running amok.
It doesn’t take a lot of guns to muzzle the masses into
compliance. Give guns to basic losers,
put them into a nice uniform, pay them well and allow them to dispense justice
as they seem fit. Sanctioned from above,
it doesn’t get any better. Under the
banner of restoring law and order, ruling with an iron fist, with intimidation
and persecution, elections will become a thing of the past. Guilty until proven guilty is entrenched in
democratic institutions and it becomes an utterly meaningless concept when
autocrats seize power and replace it with their own kind of justice. People like Putin, Ki, Trump and Modi are
living proof of how easy it is to undermine the foundations of a nation and
corrupt it. If the leadership of a
nation is rotten to the core, the contagion will spread to the entire tribe.
Our species is propelled onward based on strength, not
weakness. The US is currently using its
power and strength in numbers and arms to bolster itself in all the areas where
it has steadily lost power and influence.
Desperation moves from a nation that is financially bankrupt. Morally and ethically they have lost their
standing and credibility, at home and abroad.
Might doesn’t make right. Nations
willing to use force against others will shed their humanity bit by bit and
their inhumanity will be on full display for all to see. Will there be an aftermath? Will we be allowed to put it in a historical
perspective? Another painful lesson
learned?
Ancient Rome went through a series of painful death throes
before it finally collapsed. Other
tribes emerged, but none were ever as powerful.
It took more than a thousand years for other empires to take center
stage, but none were lasting and the British Empire was the last one to throw
in the towel on the European continent.
As a species we have flying by the seat of our pants ever
since we left the safety of the jungle behind in exchange for a life as
uprights. The urge to be and act
superior has come at a horrible price.
Our efforts have solely been centered on domination, exploitation and
control, driven onwards relentlessly by the forces of energy and momentum. The desire to overcome our primitive origins
and instincts constantly thwarted by not being able to meet all our needs and
demands, by our fragile existence, fragile minds and bodies. Evolution has not been kind to us by saddling
us with a superior intelligence that has put us constantly at odds with the
natural design that is inherent in all living species. It has left us with the illusion that we’re
special over all others and that includes the dominion over others as something
justifiable. Not that we haven’t tried
to battle our imperfections and inconsistencies. Some of our accomplishments and aspirations
have been inspiring. But, we’re
constantly knocked down by the vagaries of life and the painful reality of day
to day living and struggling. An
imperfect design longing for perfection and to be able to rise above life’s
realities, above our fragile minds and bodies. What we have done is the opposite and we’re
only worsening what we’re desperately are trying to avoid. We have never been happy with what we have
been given. Our superior intelligence
has led us away from the natural world onto a path filled with pitfalls and
regrets. As we’re progressing down that
path of artifice, of wasteful practices and activities and exploitation, we’re
increasingly confronted by our inadequacies and with it comes an awareness that
is painful and humbling. We don’t know
how to turn ourselves off.
Will we ever learn?
History is living proof that we do repeat our mistakes and that we don’t
learn from them. Gaza for instance is a
testament of political intractability. Question
the purpose. Question the gains. Use it as an overlay for the rest of the
world. I don’t have any answers and I do
hope that as a writer, a student of philosophy, history and the humanities that
I get to write some of the chapters.
That we will survive the turmoil.
Somehow.
As usual feel free to share or comment. Purchase my books while there’s still an
opportunity.
A WORD OF CAUTION
If you embrace the
irrational it excuses everything you say and do. And if there are no consequences there is no
punishment. Incorporate everything that
is wrong, amoral and unethical, and it justifies hate, discrimination,
intolerance and violence. Even
murder. When a society no longer demands
moral and ethical behavior from its citizens it will destroy itself from
within. It will turn into a rot that
contaminates everything.
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