Turn nature against us; empower ignorance and hate; deny reason and science; devastation to people and planet. Reason faces a steep uphill battle.
HUMANITY AT WAR WITH ITSELF
The lines are drawn as society faces a super storm of disasters
Cataclysms have devastated societies throughout history; plagues, political upheavals, invasions, natural disasters; each causing major disruptions to past civilizations; some leaving only ruins of former grandeur.
Science and reason undermined in America
The Legitimization of Ignorance, written in 2009, stated, “America is at war with itself” referring to the conflicts and consequent turmoil created by the war in Southeast Asia and pursuit of equal rights in the 1960’s. The article recounted how those taking advantage of the chaos were able to manipulate the national discussion through ensuing years. Emphasis on intellect and science undermined with falsehoods elevated to opinion and culture wars intensified.
Global problems
America is far from the only nation dealing with its demons as problems and upheavals surge worldwide. Complications created by our technologically advanced society; capable of causing severe consequences to life and planet; have come to the fore, merging into a series of catastrophes. Wide-reaching turmoil prevails as lust for power and wealth that has forever plagued humanity has caught up with society, producing a perfect storm of turbulent conditions.
Climate change creates chaos
Since the advent of agriculture, humans have been attacking nature. With the Industrial Revolution and its rapid acceleration and global expansion, attacks have become much more brutal. Now, nature is fighting back with a vengeance while humanity continues to fight among themselves.
This human created climate change ravages our planet. If immediate measures are not taken, large areas will be uninhabitable and food production severely compromised. Yet despite long time awareness, progress in bringing it under control has met with strong resistance from financial interests and consumer dependence, stifling viable solutions.
Governments have lost reason, allowing decimation of environments for immediate gain while extreme weather intensifies and quality of air and water demeaned. And more and more species are driven to extinction.
Add a pandemic
A global pandemic has killed millions. Despite death surrounding them, many reject obvious precautions as the virus continues creating variations, running amok through populations.
Proven science is repudiated in much of America as over a million have died of the devastating illness, politically inspired denial allowing it to wreak havoc.
Accompanied by widespread mental illness
With natural disasters and physical illness dominating our world, mental health problems have risen substantially. From the streets to the highest levels of government around the globe, reason has been supplanted by anger, hate and terror. Violence is rampant. In America, while shootings dominate the news daily, solutions face walls of opposition.
Rising despotic movements
Fascism is on the rise, undermining needs of people and planet. Several nations have turned to extremist right wing governments that would deny rights to their citizens and resist realistic solutions to problems. In many others, similar movements lurk, creating divisiveness while awaiting the opportunity to take advantage of the hate they foment.
In America, a major political party has adopted the despotic model. Vigilantism is promoted by local governments as basic rights are cast aside in the name of biased cultural values and voting restricted in the name of democracy.
Donald Trump provided credibility to the demons within American society, undermining everything positive for people, planet and basic civility. When reelection failed he attempted a coup; unprecedented in this country. Yet he retains minions of followers.
The current Supreme Court has defied reason and the will of the majority; denying rights of women, allowing more guns on the street in a climate of consistent mass shootings and allowing greater permissiveness to poison our planet.
Stifling long time rights, placing more lives at risk through gun violence and denial of climate controls, integrity appears to be an alien concept to this court that marches to a fascist beat as it commits atrocities against the earth and life on it.
And another egotistical tyrant
And we now face an egotistical maniac with nuclear weapons…another tyrannical monster on the world stage. Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has further disrupted tumultuous conditions throughout the world. His terrorist tactics and genocidal actions; atrocities, still all too common in many underdeveloped nations; not seen in Europe since World War II; cities destroyed; innocents murdered.
With total disregard for anything but his super inflated ego, Putin has also undermined world economies and efforts to curb climate change.
With an unstable leader in Russia and Ukraine fighting heroically to save their homeland, there is no apparent end in sight.
Global economic disruption
A global economy already crippled by supply chain disruptions of the pandemic has been further degraded. Rapidly rising inflation and far-reaching shortages ravage national economies while starvation overcomes a large portion of the world’s population.
In the midst of this series of disasters, there is an increase in corporate price gouging rising to the abundant opportunities, multiplying already devastating hardships throughout the world.
Online for good and evil
The internet has overwhelmed us as the most instructive and destructive source of information on the planet. A vast accumulation of knowledge; also a platform for conspiracies and lies, binding the most negative elements of thought for the cause of creating global chaos.
Are we up to the challenge?
Each of these calamities is shattering on its own. Each affects the lives of everyone on our planet. Each has a negative effect on world economies. Together; potential devastation of societies.
Science was able to rush in to battle the pandemic and create vaccines in record time. When Putin entered Ukraine, nations joined together to help against the terrorist invasion. Yet there are those who vehemently resist science and reason. We face the greatest combination of crises in the history of our global civilization. Together, using reason, we solve problems; divided we create chaos, thrusting us into the abyss of darkness and despair.
The lines are drawn!
Lines have been clearly drawn. Throughout the world today medieval thought dictates with uncompromising resistance to positive solutions. One side espouses divisiveness, hate and violence; the other, inclusiveness and scientific solutions. One position would have us return to an ugly past; the other attempting to face an uncertain future.
When ignorance dominates intellect, we are doomed! When money is the ultimate power, we are doomed!
Reason too often takes a back seat today in the global arena. Which path will we take; a system, though severely flawed, that attempts to recognize its mistakes and move forward or one that advocates a primitive world of brutal barbarism?
With the myriad of challenges facing humanity, the greatest enemies are the forces of ignorance and greed that erect roadblocks obstructing scientific solutions.
Power of force; power of money; power of deceptive manipulation; all have been dominant. Will power of reason ever rise to the top?
The future of our global society; the future of life on earth; is at stake.
We can see the far reaches of the universe but we do not have the ability to conquer the evils within the human psyche.
Humanity is at war with itself.
7/2022