See It Coming. Again!

“War itself is, of course, a form of madness. It’s hardly a civilized pursuit. It’s amazing how we spend so much time inventing devices to kill each other and so little time working on how to achieve peace.”   – Walter Cronkite

Yes, Mr. Cronkite, we do seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in pursuits that lead to the desired upper hand on a battle field or in the skies, or whatever front needs attention. Our priorities are severely skewed, a reflection of our mistrust and fears and blind ambition, and love of money.

It’s entirely maddening, isn’t it?

The list of descriptors is long, when it comes to giving voice to our anger over such misguided pursuits and principles. We see a better world seemingly within our grasp. We talk about it a lot, but we can’t reach it.

We are haunted by the past, hardly learning from it, it seems, unable to turn a corner and emerge from the long shadow of the vile, unspeakably evil misdeeds of people, mostly men, who behave as if their views of politics and world order should be embraced by all, spread around the world, whether or not the rest of the world shares their zeal and vision.

The supply of these types– deluded and damaged, paranoid, angry, lured by the siren song of power and riches, and suffering from a debilitating deficit of affect– seems to be endless. There is no evolution of thought and action. More time needs to pass, apparently, before future generations– if we still exist as a species– may see a softening, an emerging wisdom that looks like patience and compassion and a deference for difference, for living and letting live. For having had enough of the violence and death and heartbreak and assault on the more prevalent desire to live in peace.

Co-existence may be a cliched bumper sticker, but it deserves a more prominent place in our thinking and acting. We are not all the same. Human beings are not all the same! We’re largely averse to being herded, though it may not always look that way. Why is that so difficult for some world “leaders” to understand? Certain leaders aren’t leading. They’re merely reaping the benefits of their position, motivated by power and the need to hold onto it, immune to feeling anything approaching genuine love for the people they govern. They live in a world where everything is transactional, and reduced to wins and losses.

China promises to “reunify” Taiwan, Ukraine is fighting an increasingly mobilized Goliath, Israel is behaving like a cornered rat, though justifiably so, and the Middle East in general appears to be heading toward some sort of violent reckoning that will draw the rest of the world into yet one more conflict turned world-wide conflagration.

This seems to be what we do best– set our sights low and just give up on light. It seems we prefer perpetual darkness.