Good morning ladies and gents, boys and girls and all the NSA and Homeland Security agents monitoring our every thought, word and deed. What’s up?
Well I’m up and awake and glad to be here at the start of another beautiful day. I hope the same is true with you.
I hope you have some inkling of how special it is to be alive, functioning and perceiving in our ongoing adventure of life in the here and now.
So what should we rant, rave and fuss about today? What can we fight, argue and get our blood pressures elevated over? There are so many crisis, situations and troubling world events to choose from. Where should we start?
Well I know what. Why don’t we give all that a break for now? Why not sit around, drink a cup of coffee and share some pleasantries?
I know you were probably bracing for a confrontation. But I don’t have my boxing gloves handy at the moment.
Peace and goodwill are certainly unexpected events and conditions in our turbulent world today. But if Trump, Putin, Zi and Kim can set aside their nuclear antihalation threats and sit together to discuss peace; well I think anything is possible.
Goodness gracious, there could be some hope for humanity after all!
Don’t you think that the never ending battle between Democrats and Republicans is getting old and outdated? Aren’t there more than enough problems between men and women? If such a large percentage of our attention, efforts and energy goes into opposing each other, isn’t that an awful waste?
I’m sure you could conceive of many great accomplishments being achievable were not these efforts and energy so carelessly squandered.
There has been an untold amount of waste of human potential, toil and treasure. They are long washed under the bridge and down the river. All those trillions of dollars have been blown over these many years.
A never ending buildup of military armaments and warmongering capabilities is what finally wore down and destroyed the former Soviet Union.
Sadly the US is following along the same path and it too is nearing it’s end.
The Soviet’s occupation of Afghanistan is what broke it’s back and budget. The longest war the US has fought was against the Taliban in that same country. After all this time and wasted lives and treasure the Taliban is still in power and will continue to rule after the US has quietly withdrawn.
It’s so ironic that what is purported to be our safeguard, protection and defense, (our great military power), may well turn out to be the cause of our downfall and plunge into default of our mountain of unpayable debt.
We hear it over and over again from the media “The world is at the brink of war”. And maybe there’s some truth to it. Be it the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula or the Middle East, there are always many good reasons given why we must be military strong and ready.
Cooler heads usually prevail. Opposing sides back down. Outright conflict is avoided this time and the world as we know it continues for now.
But does the US really need troops and military bases in some hundred and fifty foreign countries? Is it really maintaining peace and stability worldwide? Or is it, as others claim, pushing the envelope, projecting it’s power and influence globally as self proclaimed policeman of the world?
Is it spending your tax dollars wisely as you would want it to?
My thought is regardless of how crazy, reckless and self-destructive a man is, there is still some small spark of reason and survival left up till the bitter end.
We can only hope that this same bright spark exists and succeeds in lighting the bulb that may linger dormant in Mr. Trump’s head and those of his generals.
Hopefully they also exist in the heads of movers and shakers of the military industrial complex, politicians and what we know of as the “deep state”.
Oh sorry dear reader. I was not intending to get into this end of the world doom and gloom.
Anyhow, the bright sun is shining here today. There is the usual quiet stillness of the Nevada Desert. And I think it will be a good day.
Dan O’Connor can be reached at danhughoconnor@gmail.com
