Quote for the Day

"Of the great who assembled in Paris to settle the affairs of mankind, how many we're there who we able to see much of the Europe about the,, rather than their commitments about Europe". - Walter Lippmann, quoted in The Age of the Unhinkable, p 116, Joshua Cooper Ramo.

Coming across these words on the way home from holiday, they strike a chord with the various crises of the news. I wonder how seriously we are really taking all this. In the UK, where adage incomes have doubled in the period since the Queen's Silver Jubilee, we are not willing to raise taxes to safeguard justice, care for the elderly, the Armed Forces, and much besides. We are addicted to selfishness and greed.

Across the seas, the crises of Europe historically reminiscent of the period before the First World War and between the Wars. Massive interference by treaties and economic shock waves.

Ramo points up how complex our world now is. No-one can make safe predictions. It reminds me of the Airbus I am flying in. I read somewhere that the aerodynamics are so complicated that they are impossible to fly except by computer.

Except that there is no computer that can "fly"none world. Indeed, they are part of the problem.

Maybe it is fear that prevents us from seeing the seriousness of the situation.