If only the machines of war would exhaust and collapse. Of all the things we’re good at, it seems that war is the thing we’re most committed to perfecting as a species. After all, entire civilisations are built upon the sundered ruins of the vanquished and the displaced. There’s no point in hiding it. Despite our lofty achievements, it’s the tireless machinery of war that seems to power the forward momentum of human civilisation. Or so it seems…

I despair…

Wars are easy to start but never easy to finish. It’s harder yet to manage the consequences. Nations and civilisations may be destroyed and created under fire, but we continue to be slaughtered under the watch of smug billionaires, delusional leaders, and corrupt statespeople who funnel money into filthy pockets while cheering on the carnage.

The beliefs that drive war are as illusory as the power structures that support it, yet we fall for the charismatic snake-oil salesperson who offers simple answers to complex questions – as though simplicity taps into our need for control in a world we know, deep down, we can’t control – in a universe that terrifies our mortal core.

Just imagine – a person so rich they need not worry about their next meal for the equivalent of thousands of lifetimes. They are so divorced from the common current of daily humanity they lack the meaning that adversity generates. With insides like a dark abyss, they suffer extreme boredom. To alleviate the boredom, they indulge in games of power, status, accumulation, and cruelty. They are weak-minded, emotionally stunted, and psychologically defective. They are wrecked ships run aground on the island of hollow souls.

These are the people who should never be allowed near power, but are the ones who seek it most strongly. And, as the ancient Romans always understood, the leaders backed by the soldiers always have the power.