Is the world at war? Is the sky falling? Or am I just a
crackpot “doomer”? The news has me so anxious lately I just need to vent....
I am a bit of a news and politics
junkie and I don’t just read mainstream media, I often read the blogs and news
of supposedly less credible news agencies, so there is a possibility I am just
becoming a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
While the modern media gives us many more voices I am increasingly
finding it hard to know who and what to believe is truly going on in Canada, let
alone the rest of the world. That being said I am finding it hard to not
believe that the world is at war and on the precipice of a catastrophic
economic collapse.
The South China Sea is becoming increasingly militarized as
China looks to secure more islands, even if it needs to build them, supposedly
to gain control of the oil and gas deposits there. The US is also increasing
its presence in the region to support other countries in the region like the
Philippines and Malaysia. Of course this “support” is not altruistic; oil and
gas are involved after all.
The Middle East which never seems to take a breath between
conflicts is as bad or worse than it’s ever been. Israel continues to expand
its settlements. The inmates are running the asylums of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan which of course is
more the fault of the super powers then the jihadists that have sprouted up
everywhere in the vacuum Russia and the US leave behind each “intervention”.
As for the “super powers”, did the Cold War ever actually end? The US and Russia
are in a proxy war at the very least in Syria as each country supports a
different group of despots. I read a report recently that several Russian jets
and a helicopter “buzzed” an American warship numerous times in the Baltic Sea.
Which then has me wondering why an American warship was in the Baltic Sea?
The European Union is dealing with a migrant crisis that is
unprecedented. I find it interesting that it is Greece
and Italy that seem to be dealing with the brunt of this situation. Greece
looks like it has become a refugee camp as everyone else in Europe apparently has the
option of closing their borders. Talk about being kicked when you are down. The
tourist industry was about all Greece had left. I doubt anyone wants to holiday
in Greece right about now.
Of course it isn’t just Greece experiencing economic
collapse, world economies are all trending down. Venezuela and Brazil have
joined Greece, and Italy, according to the news, is almost there. How long
before the rest of the western world joins them? Who really knows what is
happening in China?
All this political and
economic uncertainty is happening in a world trying to deal with increasing environmental crises, not the least of which is global warming. Billy Joel may have been right when he said, “We didn’t
start the fire, it’s been burning since the world was turning”, however I for
one want the world to stop! Some one for the love god hit pause! What is it
about human nature that causes us to be so selfish that we won’t make a single
solitary change until it is our house burning down or the gun is pointed at our
family?
