Prophecy

One year ago on mcfro.blogspot.com I raved about what a fantastic documentary Michael Moore made after I had watched Fahrenheit 9/11. Scary stuff. Four years after the September 11th attacks, the world still appears to be a very unsafe place.

The big thing in the news these days are the riots in Paris. When I hear the news updates, I can't help but reflect back to my high school days, when we were studying the French Revolution in Grade 11. The French have always been "ahead of our time", at least when it comes to Canadian Culture, and I wonder if the effects of these riots are a sign of discontentment among civilians of other nations. Now, the bloodbath that has resulted is insignificant to that of the French Revolution of the late 1700's, but demanding societal change in this day and age comes a lot easier, and is more diplomatic.

In fact, I don't think any blood should be shed, in order to change a corrupt system. It's so barbaric. You would think that the human race has grown beyond putting the heads of their elite into guillotines. Still, the 20th century has witnessed unspeakable atrocities, such as the extermination of the Jews in Death Camps. We witnessed the splitting of atoms over two Japanese cities, instantly killing hundreds of thousands of civilians; many more experiencing slow painful deaths due to radioactive fallout.

Even today, we are bombarded with images of civil insurgency in Iraq, while the world's largest military tries to establish a democracy in a country where people can barely afford to eat, let alone afford an education. Millions of Americans have been calling the 2002 invasion of Iraq an unjust war; millions more express their disapproval of George W. Bushs' leadership across the world. Even during the summit of the Americas this week in Argentina, thousands of protestors swarmed the streets chanting incessantly: "Bush Go Home!" If that message can't be heard by a world leader, either he has cotton in his ears, or he is arrogant beyond words that could be printed here.

I can't help but wonder what it's going to take for the political world to realize that we are doing the Devil's dance; that we are on a direct path towards extermination. In the 50's and 60's, it was the potential of a nuclear holocaust which would spell the end of our civilization. In the 1980's we were warned of global deforestation, the depletion of the Ozone Layer, and the Greenhouse effect, which would eventually render our planet inhabitable. Even during that time, we were warned about super-bugs, that were being engineered in military establishments throughout the world, which would, if unleashed, create a pandemic that would dwarf any flu outbreak the world has ever seen. Look no further than Stephen King's The Stand to see that even in the 1970's, that threat was very real.

But the world leaders still play with our lives and fears, using them as mere chips in the Poker match of all time. They consider our lives worthless, and theirs beyond monetary value. Not only are they using our lives as ante material, but also include the resources of the world, it's potential to sustain life in the future, and let's not forget the lives of our offspring, and the lives of our offsprings' offspring.

Unfortunately, the affairs of the world aren't as simple as case studies, and all variables affect the others. Solutions to one problem create others, or at the very least, upset the balance of other variables. But, I consider the balance of world power to be a major factor in world affairs today. In fact, I think the balance of power affects the consumption of natural resources, wealth, and will affect the ailing state of the environment.

At the root of this problem lies the arms race. I seem to recall, some fifteen years ago, when the Berlin Wall fell, the world was in celebration, stating the Cold War had ended, and the world had entered a New World Order. Politicians like George Bush Sr. had even publicly stated as much, insinuating that a new era of peace was nigh. We would never have to fear a nuclear war would wipe us off this planet.

Funny how quickly things change. Fifteen years, on a geological scale, is the blink of an eye.

Today, I am more afraid of Armageddon than I ever have been.

One nation in the world spends more on Defence than all other nations combined. Other nations are pursuing the acquisition of Nuclear technology because they fear that if they do not, they will become targets for invasion by neighboring countries. Thus the cycle grows, as developing countries continue to research nuclear technologies, while peacekeeping nations cry for detente. The cries fall on deaf ears.

The accession of nuclear technology is a Pandora's Box. Once opened, as it was somewhere around 1944, the world is incapable of reverting back to its' prior self. In one view, the Atomic bomb spelled the end of the two bloodiest wars history has ever seen; in the other, it is easy to see that the acquisition of nuclear technology will spell the end of life on this planet -- which could happen so quickly that most of us would not know the end was nigh.

There is more than Pandora's box to worry about. What if the United States dismantled their nuclear arsenal? What would happen to the balance of power? What if all nuclear weapons on Earth were outlawed and dismantled (I believe the Geneva conventions outlaw the research, development, and manufacture of nuclear weapons, though that hasn't helped much); what would that do to the balance of power. Furthermore, if all nuclear weapons on Earth were dismantled, what steps could be taken (if any) to prevent the development of future weapons of mass destruction? This is exactly why the Nuclear Age has been coined Pandora's Box.

After I have piled all this information upon you, here is one final thought to chew on. In my web travels, I read how Alan Greenspan recently addressed Congress with respect to spending during the Bush Jr. Administration. As most of you know, Greenspan is Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and aside from the President, is likely the second most powerful person in the world, as he single-handedly can affect the US Economy. Greenspan is retiring from his position shortly, which will almost certainly introduce an element of uncertainty in the US economy.

Greenspan recently warned Congress to get their spending under control. The 2005 deficit, according to Wikkipedia, is estimated at $319 billion. This is a number I can barely comprehend. It's also a number so large that I have a hard time believing that the worlds' richest nation may not be able to recover from.

I find it utterly amazing. How one man, one administration, can take the world's most prosperous nation, and lay it waste within five years. Considering his budgetary spending, George W. Bush, with three years left in office, will, upon his retirement from his presidency, will leave the United States in such debt that I believe that there will not be a United States of America left; it will be bled dry.

Maybe this is an exciting time to live in the world. Maybe we will see a New World Order, but not the type of world George Bush Sr. spoke about. Maybe we will see a smaller world, where the balance of power is split by an increasing number of nations. Maybe we will see the demise of the most prosperous nation of history. Maybe we will witness Armageddon as prophecized in the ancient texts.

Remember that the greatest civilizations of history met their demise in the lap of luxury.