Here we are in 2022, rich men flying to outer space and messages bouncing off satellites, yet another strongman, one single despot, ONE man (aided and abetted by those he enriches), can cause thousands of people to suffer. Can wreck havoc on an entire country.

 

While the rest of us bemoan events and wring our hands and count our missiles, Ukrainians suffer and die. As the whole world watches, Putin wastes thousands of Russian and Ukrainian lives in battles that never should’ve happened. That didn’t need to happen.

 

How is this still possible? Why are human beings still allowing obviously warped despots to gain control over their lives?

 

Are we really that desperate for someone to tell us what to do? Do we secretly crave a cozy relationship with Big Brother? Is democracy just too much of a burden for the average human being?

 

Here in the USA, other than Lynn Cheney, there is not a single Republican senator or representative brave enough to tell Trump to sit down and shut up, even though they KNOW he’s not only a crook but wrong, dangerously wrong. Like, no more fair elections, wrong. Like, end of democracy, wrong. How absolutely twisted is this reality?

 

In “The Second Coming,” Yeats said The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

 

Sobering. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

 

And the world is smaller now than it was in Yeats’ time. Smaller and faster and far more deadly.

 

If we can’t learn how to keep the worst among us from gaining control, the human race really is in trouble.