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Back to the Forum Archives In some previous ‘do good' essays, I discussed the current state of the world as I see it. I pointed out in discussing those threats that I ignored the threat from North Korea. Some people will insist that North Korea is also a threat. They are developing nuclear weapons and their leader does strut and posture much like Hussein did. For sure he seems to be a threat, but I think that is an evil that will take care of itself. I believe the pompous midget will stay in line because he needs the support of China and the USA. North Korea is not, and never has been self sufficient. They depend on aid from the West for food and the implied threat of Chinese military strength to bolster their bluff. Without that aid and support North Korea would degenerate into civil war in a few weeks. The army would have to act to save the country. Even with our aid, North Korea will eventually be isolated when China becomes a democracy or reverts to barbarism. It is obvious they will soon do one or the other. All of the elements are present. The intellects of china have had a taste of freedom. They were brutally suppressed, but they won't stop. They see the products of democracy insidiously invading their domain. They will reach out for them. The present regime cannot stand against that because the army will desert them. The intellects will come temporarily to power and create a new government. Confucianism will be set aside. It has had it day. What ethic will replace it, we can only guess. Whatever it is, I fully expect China to be the seat of the next great world civilization. I am doing everything I can to keep America in that chair, but I am clearly failing. I sincerely believe Western civilization is domed. We have lost our spirituality, our ethics, and our will. I hate the thought of it, but we on the path to self destruction. If in destroying ourselves we do not bring the whole world down, the next great civilization will rise in China. In the meantime I will still hope we can recover, but there are many threats to overcome. Concerning one other threat, I have said America must have a standing army until the threat of international terrorism is dealt with. Now, I am aware having a standing army always ready is not without its own risks. The greatest danger will be the temptation it puts in the way of immoral presidents to exploit the situation. With armed soldiers at the ready it is very easy to embark on ill founded foreign adventures. We have seen our current president do that, even without the necessary resources. How much more quickly would he do it if he had a large army. Perhaps we would be in Syria and Iran by now. This is a risk that will always be present. We can mitigate it by trying to have ethical people in government. This is where the Groundswell movement must come in. I have describe this group as a political necessity in my philosophy series in essays 76 through 81. It's a matter of getting away form the Tweedledum and Tweedledee two party charade. It's a matter of forming an organization of ethical people and getting back to our basic values. So long as we stay as we are, so long as people continue to vote their special interests rather that the good of the country we will have rabble in government. Some of those rabble are sure to be insane. That will always expose us to the threat of disaster. Any one of these fools could take us into another unwarranted war. I think almost all of our previous wars were unwarranted. I am not convinced that any military action we have taken since WWII was justified until the action against Afghanistan. We finally had a real, rather than political, enemy and George promptly bungled it. He went off half cocked, before we were prepared. Now, Afghanistan is more messed up that it was before we attacked. And, we are bogged down in Iraq without adequate resources. Our kids are dying because of that. Now I must get to one personal note. I said previously that
I would show up again if I was called. Let me qualify that. My
pledge presumes a rational president with a rational purpose.
I would necessarily refuse to serve in a military that was commanded
by a madman. I would rather die or go to prison than serve one
day under George Bush. I don't expect an ethical president in
the near future. I simply hope for one who is not insane. If
we get that, my promise still stands. I will show up if needed.
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