Dangerous Times

We are living in a dangerous world. The world by itself is not dangerous. It becomes dangerous by some people living in it. Those who can push a button that annihilates existence as we know it, and those who have the power to destroy the environment for profit, are the same, a few, and in power.

When the United States government gained access to nuclear power, tested it in Hiroshima and Nagasake and as a result, killed and injured near half of the population of those cities. Of course, the casualties of nuclear bombs continue through the generations to this day. On the other hand, environmental depredation of the current years are wake up calls to those who seek profits for a few corporations, over humanity at large.

Many nations have access to this devastating power now. “Union of Concerned Scientists” have posted nine nations on their website, with nuclear power, with a note that they have been increasingly expanding their nuclear arsenals. For decades, the world was divided into the East-camp and the West-camp nations, meaning those supporting the United States and those supporting the Soviet Union. There were also a few nations who did not align themselves with either, and traded with both superpowers. The same distinction exist now, except that some of the countries which were affiliated to Soviet Union are under influence of the United States now. On the other hand, China has become a super power, with close trade relation with the United States, while its political structure is totally opposite. According to the same website, there are 9,000 nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenal, more than 90% of which belongs to the US. It states: “In the United States, the president can order the launch of nuclear weapons without consulting anyone. And US policy allows it to use nuclear weapons first in a non-nuclear conflict with Russia, China, or North Korea—likely starting a nuclear war.” If an American president, has such authority, or a leader of another nation with nuclear stockpiles and with the same power, it only takes one person of “Dr. Strangelove” character to destroy the world.

Another dilemma we have is the devastation of the environment. In addition to the stockpile of weaponry which is also bad for the environment, ignoring dangerous signs of global warming is another threat that not only endangers humans, but all the species. For centuries, western nations, again with reliance on their superior military power, have been subjugating other nations, rich in minerals. In addition, forcing labor of such dominated countries to be abused, western nations have prevented those dominated states from acquiring innovations and improvement of their technologies, by advancing their own technology, in order to produce new products out of the subjugated nation’s raw materials, and sell those products back to them with tremendous profit margins. In a capitalist economy, private companies are promoted and supported by the governments, while the nature of such economy is increasing production in order to boost their profits. Mass-consumption is the name of the game. As a result, factories pollute the air, while excess products turn into trash and create a second wave of pollution, as a result of consumerism.

History tells us that no great power ever declined peacefully. Wars have produced millions and millions of people dead and injured each time a great power was declining. No empire has ever submitted peacefully. Two empires of the twentieth century, Great Britain and Soviet Union, lost their powers on the heap of bloodshed. Great Britain lost its power after two bloody world-wars. Soviet Union collapsed and wars between colonies continued for years. The war in Ukraine is a continuation of the demise of Soviet Union, and new allegiance to an antagonistic empire, the United States. China becoming a world economic power is the greatest threat to the dwindling empire, who has in its arsenal the most advanced conventional weaponry system by far, in addition to nuclear arsenal, many times over other nations. The political system in the United States has produced leaders with the same war mongering mentalities. The difference between the two very powerful political parties is so little, that the outcome is always almost the same. Therefore, there is no chance for this problem to be solved politically. The last hope for someone more moderate was Bernie Sanders. However, after his vote on Ukraine, it seems that he has decided to follow other politicians, in order to stay in the game.

Each summer gets warmer than the one before. With all the pollution, waste material, and increasing population of the world, no hope is in site, unless there is a revolutionary and global attempt to, not only end, but reverse the turn of events. Summers are increasingly getting warmer each year, while winters do not produce cold weather as in the past. Ice sheets of the north pole are melting, resulting in a forecast that sustaining the same environment older generations had experienced in the past, is no longer feasible. People of the world need to peacefully rise up against their governments’ policies, in order to convince their representatives that protecting several industries against the mass population will result only in failure of the earth to support life as we know it, and in a few more generations. In the meantime, life on earth will still be much harder for the majority of people.