“I hope it was worth it”

Are Self-Inflicted Disasters Inevitable?

Jeg har været temmelig forfærdet de senere år over, at verden mere og mere har nærmet sig atomkrig via USA’s stedfortræderkrig mod Rusland, uden at vi kollektivt har diskuteret faren, ja uden at de fleste synes overhovedet at have forstået hvori den bestod. Politikere, medier, kommentatorer, ja statsministeren og Anders Fogh Rasmussen: “Ukraine skal selvfølgelig med i Nato.” Ville de ikke eller kunne de ikke forstå, at det svarer til at Rusland eller Kina anlægger baser i Mexico?

Er de bare bange for at tale om virkeligheden, eller er – som John Leake skriver, “alle de vise mennesker vi har kendt nu døde?” Er USA nu så korrupt og irrationel, at vi er dømt til atomkrig og selvudslettelse enten denne eller næste gang? Jeg fik disse få linjer i min mail, der er trøstende fordi de viser, at der dog er andre, der har tænkt som jeg om “Ukrainekrigen og Pandemien.” Der er andre mennesker i den verden, jeg lever i.

Humanity’s current technological ability has greatly outstripped its wisdom. When I was in my early twenties, one of my favorite films was Point Break—the story of young and idealistic FBI Special Agent who penetrates a group of adrenaline junkie surfers who make a living by robbing banks.

After one of the wild boys gets gut shot by a cop, he complains of feeling terribly cold. Special Agent Johnny Utah’s frank response to his complaint strikes me as a truly great line.

You’re cold because all of the blood is running out of your body. You’re going to be dead soon. I hope it was worth it.

With the war in Ukraine entering what appears to be an endgame, I have often thought about this scene. Unless President Trump ceases the U.S. proxy war against Russia and stops delivering weapons to Ukraine, it wouldn’t surprise me if the endgame escalates to a nuclear exchange. The end of wars tends to be the most desperately bloody phase. If it comes to a nuclear exchange, I doubt a single American will conclude that it was worth it.

George Santayana famously remarked that “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” The reason for this basic truth is because the only people who truly understand war are the intimate eyewitnesses of it, and they eventually die, leaving subsequent generations to learn the hard lessons on their own.

A similar state of affairs is at play with COVID-19 vaccine harms. Most people are apparently incapable of grasping what has been done to humanity until they themselves suffer injury, and even then many still struggle to see it.

It seems to me that humanity is currently suffering a catastrophic discrepancy between its abundant technological capability and its gross lack of wisdom. I have met a few wise men and women in my life, but almost all of them are now gone.

The independent film director, Justin Malone, recently asked me and Alex Newman and other thought leaders to share our reflections about the conservative intellectual, G. Edward Griffen, who tried to warn America decades ago that our Republic was being sabotaged by barbarians within our own gates.

In his day he was regarded as a glum curmudgeon, but anyone who seriously examines the state of affairs in the U.S. today must concede that his warning was prescient.

Please watch the following short film and share it with your friends.

Are Self-Inflicted Disasters Inevitable?

“I hope it was worth it”