FROM MY CORNER

The leader of a tiny country is still living in a mental time frame of about 200 years ago. He is frightened that the planet’s largest military nation, with some 1500 nuclear warheads, may pounce on his land militarily– as it has on others elsewhere.

He thinks of Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The only defense he believes will protect him is to develop his own nuclear capability. He directs his scientists to do so. Surprisingly quickly, they accomplish this unsavory task.

The tiny country’s leader, with the psychological maturity of a sixteen year old high school boy, wildly threatens the big country. The big country’s leader, with the psychological maturity of a sixteen year old high school bully, says he will retaliate.

The world’s media, with the intellectual reserve of a poised cobra, blow this drama up into a three-ring circus. Thereby, they attract large audiences, which draw millions of dollars of advertising dollars to them.

The listeners and viewers of the news about the two sixteen year old boys get excited. The big country bully does not consider meeting with the small country boy to talk. Rather, at a gathering of many nations, he escalates the verbal exchange.

He tells the little country sixteen year old boy that he, as a big country sixteen year old bully, is now ready to destroy his country. The media plays this up with grandiose huzzahs. More advertising dollars feed the frenzy.

The world’s military weapons manufacturers receive more money from their country’s financiers. This jumps up the stock price of the military manufacturers to new levels.

Investors are ravishingly pleased. The two leaders are monumentally thrilled by the impending showdown. TV news ratings go crazy happy. Advertisers stuff the new profits in the bank. The well-trained viewing consumers keep buying.

The money flow creates a merry go round atmosphere. Everybody is amused, excited, scared, happy, confused, and all generally pent up with uncontrollably emotional enthrallment.

As an aside, massive weather storms destroy millions of people’s lives, requiring millions of dollars to rebuild. Continuing wars spawn millions of refugees. The actual amount of money needed to solve these problems continues to pour into the nuclear game.

Eight billion people on the tiny planet housing all this hoopla are helpless to replace the sixteen year old boys with grown men. Political pundits, college professors and others jump on TV to express their opinions. Nothing seems to make sense anymore. Because it doesn’t make sense. It is clearly senseless.

Neither sixteen year old boy has the maturity to stop throwing mental rocks at the other, and instead wave a white feather. Neither has the ability to grow up. The collective world hangs on their every word, brain paralyzed, mouth agape.

Here we are.

Civili.zation in the 21^st Century