I Don't Get Out Much... Maybe A Good Thing.

 In the age of COVID, it's probably a very good thing that I do not travel much.

The news over this past week has been fairly... depressing.

On the first hand, we have the mess that was Afghanistan.  I continue to be ... disappointed in the extreme when the people who think they are the ones who should be in charge overlook the painfully obvious.

I am not an historian.  My father was a good one, interested by all history, and something of an expert on local history.  So with his example before me, I try to be something of an omnivore when it comes to history.  I am no expert on anything.  I am well-read in some history, while in other areas, I suppose the nicest way to put it is "dabble".  I read, I think, I move on.

And when we return to the subject of Afghanistan, I think that we really need to take a moment and look at Italy and Germany.  Italy, until the 1800s, was a collection of what were known as "city-states" - that is, much like the United States, the entire conglomeration that we know consider "Italy" was really a group of cities, ruled by ... well, princes, whatevers, whomevers, and ... yeah, stuff like that.  People who felt they knew best for their fellow citizens.  

Now, if you think I'm poo-pooing that idea, I'm not, really.  I do think that those that consider themselves rulers do need to be close to the people whom they think they rule.  The bottom line is that any system of government relies on a couple of pieces.  The first is the confidence in the system and the person at the top, that they will do the best that can be done on behalf of the people who are considered "ruled".  The second is that the person at the top is decent and reasonable when it comes to how they find themselves compensated.  Before we get too deeply into that, the third is that the system must either be set up fairly for all involved, so that the rules apply equally from the top to the bottom, or that the few at the top have such overwhelming power and have convinced those below them that to attempt to change the leadership will fail at such exceptionally steep costs that it is not worth it - that is, the king who is currently robbing you blind may be cheaper than the alternative who may take your life, the lives of your family and their friends, and reward only a small group.

So yeah, I see when you look at Afghanistan a country that never had a united identity.  That is, the land, from city to mountain, has been historically ruled by city-state chieftains - that is, in this particular vernacular, these are tribal chiefs.  The true loyalty of any Afghani citizen is to their tribe first, and if the country is run or favorable to their tribe at the cost of others, well, then, it's good for them.

Which is why the Taliban had no problem overwhelming the government we propped up.  And I was not and am not surprised.  And I will go all the way to the end of the narrow branch and suggest that if the Afghani citizens who now find themselves under the Taliban choose to let elements into their country to use their lands to prepare and launch another terrorist attack at the United States, I do not expect that Afghanistan will continue to exist.  The land may be varied and beautiful, but should another terrorist snake rear it's ugly head and bite out again, I expect Kabul and other major population centers will find themselves a radioactive ruin.  

I did expect it after the Taliban permitted Al Quaida to do it the first time, so if it does happen the next time around, I won't be surprised or anguished at the loss of life.  We invested too damned much money and too many lives helping them throw out their Soviet Overlords, then let the religious Nazis take over and point at us.  Had we done nothing, most of them would have died.  The fact that we found ways to insure they had military weapons that took very circuitous routes to get into their hands to defeat the Soviets was widely ignored by the folks who took over - which is both ironic and all too damned obvious.  

And as it will likely occur again, I'm going to say that maybe it isn't a bad thing to show to folks who cannot figure out somehow how to get along together that if they can't play nicely and join the rest of the adults on the planet in resolving some of our more pressing problems, well, let's just be honest and say if you can't help to be part of the solution, if you become a big enough problem, there are methods available to eliminate the problem.

And why, you ask, did I mention Germany?  Well, if you look at history, the Germans and Italians were an awful lot alike.  Germany was a nation-state that was riddled with hodge-podge princes running their corner of the dark woods, and eventually, they realized if they got together, they might be able to stand up to that bully French fellow who kicked pretty much everyone's ass around the continent.  And then they kind of got off on the "well, if you are mean to my friend, then I'm going to be mean to you and your friends.  And if you don't like that, we have other tools."

So as for getting out, I've been in awe of the news out of Texas.  I do remember the day that the Rowe V Wade ruling came down, and in school, the annual anniversary of that ruling found us making black wreaths to commemorate all of the babies who were going to die.  Nothing that any of our teachers ever bothered to bring up were things like teenaged pregnancies from crime - I mean, I spent sixteen years in Catholic education, and for about 3 hours in Junior High, at the local public school where we got two hours every morning for classes our school couldn't teach us with much success, we were able to learn that immaculate conception was not the rule of the land, nor did it happen all that often.  Once, if that story is reliable.  And yes, I believe it is, though I no longer believe in the system that stuffed me through a meat grinder and tried to warp my mind into one of the Believers.  I believe in God.  I do not believe that a group of crotchety old men has always had our best interests in their hearts and on their to-do lists.  

From the crimes that the Catholic Church has been accused of over the years, when combined with the crimes that I am personally aware of, people whom I know who suffered abuse by those who were supposed to be their moral teachers and examples, I have no faith in most of their leadership.  I believe that some may be good, decent people, but I don't think, starting with John Paul II, and Benedict, his follower, that the Church was well-led or well-served.  Karol Wojtyla may have been a resistance fighter and war hero, but when it came to caring for the least of those who followed him, the children suffered as he deliberately directed his underlings to turn a blind eye to their behavior.  

And if that means I shall rot in hell for all eternity, so be it.  Those who commit crimes against children are monsters who deserve a fate worse than death, but as we are considered a civilized people, that is the worst that we can deliver.

Why do I suggest this would be appropriate?  I have had, over the years, the chance to hear from victims of genuine abuse and true evil.  I've heard them tell of nightmares.  Of fears of certain colors, certain sounds, certain voices.  Some of those I knew told me that certain words would bring back horrific memories.  And when you're talking to a twenty-year-old person who is not able to cohesively pull together the events that happened when they were two, but learned of them from court records years later, and those records brought back horrible nightmares, well, there's not a damned reason that person should have had to endure that if it was done by someone who was known to be a danger to children.  

So rolling back into the whole Texas thing, it does open some interesting possibilities.  I do think the disturbed genius who decided that someone who was not involved with the conception of the foetus has legal standing to sue if the foetus, not viable anyway, could end up rewarding them ten grand, I wonder what might happen if a similar law was passed that would permit victims of gun violence to let their neighbors sue firearm and ammunition manufacturers for the terror that comes from living next to a person who has already been shot once.  I mean, if you can transfer liabilities like that, I'm certain that gun manufacturers and other product manufacturers could be held responsible.  

So my hat is off to those idiots in Texas who have codified in state law a principle which will eventually reach the Supreme Court, and most likely be struck down, because if it is not, well, it's a pretty short line from that to the end of the free market - because, you know, every legal warning on a product could be used to create a similar law.  I mean, if you warned someone that an allergic reaction to a medication should mean that they do not continue to take the medication, that's a duh - but it's also a lawsuit bonanza for the anxiety prone who are now triggered each time that a disclaimer is inserted into advertisement on any media that warns about a reaction to any medication.

I am continually amazed by the fervency and stupidity of true believers.  Failure to think through the consequences of one's action has been a pretty long legacy for humanity.  I mean, had Noah grabbed two unicorns instead of two mosquitoes, just think how great the world would be today.  

Sure, I jest.  Because if I take it all seriously, I'd go flat out loopy insane.  Full-on Bozo-the-clown makeup and all the rest.  I'd just be nuts.  After all, this is life - the grand jest.  And no one gets out alive.