No Change, No Survival

If one blogs long enough, one eventually runs into the problem of continually repeating oneself. And that is what I feel like I am doing now. The world, by that I mean the people of the world, is pursuing self-destruction in two ways. One way is the new nuclear arms race between the U.S. and the Russia and the desire of others to obtain WMDs. The second way is that our way of life is so damaging the environment that we are condemning even our immediate descendants to more difficult lives if not the inability to survive. And it looks like too many of the world's leaders are not willing to do enough to arrest that destruction until it is too late--which might happen soon.

If you listen to the Noam Chomsky lecture included in this post (click here for the lecture and proceed to the 10:12 mark of the video), one of the solutions to these problems is to obey the law. Here he is referring to the U.N. Charter which was ratified by our government and thus, because of The Constitution, is the law of the land. And that Charter prohibits the use of force or even the threat of force to resolve conflicts.

In addition Chomsky also notes that the proliferation of nuclear weapons could advance if the U.S. does not follow U.N. resolutions that it sponsored. 

As for the environment, Chomsky notes that many other nations have taken significant efforts to stop the destruction of the environment. He gave an example of how Saudi Arabia is trying to reduce its impact on the environment while the U.S. almost stands alone by not taking significant steps address climate change. And we need to do that because of all of the observable signs that point to how man-caused climate change is closer to us than just appearing on the horizon.

In the end, there is one reason why the Americans are allowing their nation to participate in activities that both make the use of nuclear weapons more likely and destroying the environment. That reason is the reluctance to change. We don't want to change from feeding the military industrial complex with more and more contracts. We don't want to change from America's imperial role in controlling the parts of the world that it can. And we don't want to change from a way of life that is destroying the environment.

Especially regarding the last reluctance to change, we have, for a long time, lived in what Martin Luther King Jr. called a "thing-oriented" society (click here for the reference). In such a society, gadgets, profit motives, and property rights are counted as being more important than people. And King went on to say that for as long as we are such a society, we will suffer from racism, materialism, and militarism. And here is the point, we have really never converted to a person-oriented society in order to eradicate racism, materialism, and militarism. 

So if we haven't changed in order to eliminate those three problems, do we see any hope that we will change in order to avoid self-destruction? And if we continue stay the course, who will we blame when we come closer and closer to our self-destruction?

If we are not going to change, then what is the point of life? Is it to live for our own pleasures until the end while denying the harm such living does to others? Our reluctance to change seems to be at odds with how we prefer to see ourselves. For we prefer to see ourselves as the 'land of the free and the home of the brave.' And despite that self-image and the fact that freedom implies the ability to change, we are very reluctant to change. And now that our survival depends on changing, our willingness to change will determine our fate.



 

ONIM For November 6, 2017

10 Best Fact Checking Sites Found Here.

If you are not sure about the validity of a news story linked to below, you can use  mediabiasfactcheck.com to check out the credibility of the source of most of the stories linked to here.


Christian News

• Trump's Narrow Circle Of Faith Advisers Tells Him Only What He Wants To Hear -- Religion News Service
• 3 Ways To Remember The Reformation -- Anxious Bench
• 95 More For The Modern Church's Door: Sparking A Reformation In The Entertainment Church -- Ponder Anew
• The Reformation: 5 Ways It Changed Our World -- Evangelical Pulpit
• In His 'Ninety-Five Theses,' Luther Called On Believers To Repent. What Does That Mean? -- Religion News Service
• A Journey From RANN To "The Witness: A Black Christian Collective" -- The Witness: A Black Christian Collective
• Same Rebel, New Level: Levrae's Departure From Evangelicalism -- The Witness: A Black Christian Collective
• Why Liberty University Kicked An Anti-Trump Christian Author Off Campus-- Atlantic
• Pat Robertson Urges Trump To Pardon Everyone, Then Stop Mueller Probe -- Huffington Post
• Responding To CT's Editorial Against The Nashville Statement -- A Coalition For Biblical Sexuality
• Nashville Statement -- A Coalition For Biblical Sexuality
• Pope Francis Requests Roman Catholic Priests Be Given The Right To Marry -- Yahoo News

World News

• Maryland Investigating Kushner Companies Over Apartments -- CNN
• Investigators Probe Kushner Company Over Allegations Of Vermin-Infested Properties And Aggressive Debt Collection -- Newsweek
• How Economic Theories Serve Big Business -- Evonomics
• WSJ Editorial Board Calls For Mueller's Resignation And Accuses Clinton Campaign And DNC Of Collusion -- Business Insider
• Decline And Fall: How American Society Unravelled -- Guardian
• Disrespecting China's National Anthem Could Result In Three Years In Prison -- Fox News
• When Prosecutors Decide Who Keeps Their Public Defender, Injustice Is Certain -- ACLU
• Who Is New York Terror Suspect Sayfullo Saipov? -- CNN
• New York Terror Suspect 'Wanted To Kill As Many People As He could': Complaint -- ABC News
• Nikki Haley Tells United Nations: You're Not The Boss Of U.S.  -- Miami Herald
• Trump Court Pick Rated 'Not Qualified' Sits Through Humiliating Senate Hearing -- Huffington Post
• 'Nonchalant' Suspect Arrested After Colorado Walmart Triple-Slaying -- Reuters 
• Bump Stock Maker Resumes Sales One Month After Las Vegas Mass Shooting -- Huffington Post
• Hillary Clinton Defends Funding Anti-Trump Dossier In Late-Night Interview -- ABC News
• House Democrats Sue For Records On Trump International Hotel Lease -- Yahoo News
• Poll: Majority Of Democrats Now Have Favorable Opinion Of George W. Bush -- Business Insider
• Pilger Interviews Ex-CIA Chief Duane McClarridge -- Vimeo
• Public School In Minnesota Requires English Course Aimed At Eradicating White Privilege -- Fox News
• Religious Extremism By Any Other Name -- Investors Business Daily 
• Portrait Of Las Vegas Gunman: A Narcissist On A Losing Streak -- Yahoo News
• The Radicalization Of Joan Didion -- New Yorker
• Shoppers Pulled Guns In Response To Thorton Wallmart Shooting, But Police Say That Slowed Investigation -- Denver Post
• What Killed The Democratic Party? -- Nation
• The Supreme Court Has An Ethics Problem -- Politico Magazine
• How Russian Hackers Pried Into Clinton Campaign Emails -- McClatchy 
• Robert Mueller's Brilliant Strategy For Outmaneuvering Trump Pardons -- Slate
• The Ozone Hole Over Antarctica Just Did Something It Hasn't Done In Decades -- WMAR News
• House GOP Simultaneously Pushes For New Abortion Band And End To Adoption Tax Credit -- Intercept
• American Charged With Subversion In Zimbabwe Goes To Court -- ABC News
• Saudi Arrests Of Princes Consolidates Another's Power Grab -- AP News

Israel-Palestine News

• Palestinian Presidency Rejects Haaretz Report -- Aljazeera
• Israelis Attack Britons On Balfour Apology Mission -- Press TV
• After 98 Days In Prison, IDF Releases Conscientious Objector -- 972 Magazine
• Palestinian Girl, 11, To UK PM: Balfour Celebration 'A New Obstacle To Peace' -- Middle East Monitor
• Israel To African Refugees: You're Not Welcome Here -- USA Today
• After Airstrikes, Israeli Minister Warns Against Arms Shipments To Hezbollah -- Reuters
• Why Is The West Financing Palestinian Terrorism? -- Newsweek
• Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Denies Palestinians Live Under Occupation: 'This Is Judea And Samaria' -- Independent 

Racism News

• Russians Targeted U.S. Racial Divisions Long Before 2016 And Black Lives Matter -- NPR
• Family Tells Hearings That A 'White-Passing' Appearance Alters Police Reactions -- CTV News
• I'm A Black Man Who Moved To The Deep South. Here's What It's Teaching Me About Race -- Vox
• Black Lives Matter Founder Urges Australians To Fight Racism -- Fox News
• NYC Activists Protest Chinatown Gallery Exhibit For Being 'Racism Disguised As Art' -- Waging Nonviolence
• John Kelly Says Lack Of 'Compromise' Started Civil War, Defends Statues -- Huffington Post
• Ta-Nehisi Coates Tears Into John Kelly's 'Creationist Theorizing' On Civil War -- Huffington Post

Donald Trump News

• Trump Fumes As Mueller Probe Enters New Phase With Charges -- AP News
• A Brief History Of Manafort's Relationship With Trump -- Yahoo News
• Trump Is Use To Getting Away With Everything--Those Days May Now Be Over -- Independent
• Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement Of Trump's Transgender Military Ban -- Huffington Post
• Trump And His Allies Are Laying The Groundwork For A Saturday Night Massacre -- Washington Post
• Trump Reportedly Blames Jared Kushner For The Mueller Probe -- Week
• Intercepted Podcast: Criminal Indictments At Home, Secret Wars Abroad -- Intercept
• Trump Says He's 'Very Frustrated' He Can't Order DOJ, FBI To Go After Hillary -- Huffington Post
• These Psychiatrists Say Trump Poses An Imminent Threat To Humanity -- Nation
• 'I'm The Only One That Matters,' Trump Says Of State Department Job Vacancies -- NPR
• George Papadopoulos: Aide Who Lied To FBI Repeatedly Represented Trump Campaign, Records Reveal -- Independent
• Donald Trump Refuses To Rule Out Sacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions If He Will Not Investigate His Political Opponents -- Independent

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Did The U.S. Military Just Send One Of Its Deadliest Warplanes To North Korea As A Message? -- Newsweek
• First Guilty Plea, Indictment Of Trump Aides In Russia Probe -- AP News
• The 12-Count Manafort And Gates Indictment, Annotated -- Washington Post
• Head Of Puerto Rico's Electrical Workers' Union Demands Corruption Probe Of Whitefish Energy Contract -- Democracy Now
• FBI Investigating Puerto Rico Power Contract: WSJ -- Reuters
• If You're Boycotting Israel In This Texas Town, Then No Hurricane Relief For You -- ACLU
• North Korea Nuclear Test Site Collapse Killed 200 People: Report -- Newsweek
• JFK Files: J. Edgar Hoover Said Public Must Believe Lee Harvey Oswald Acted Alone -- NBC News
• Climate Change Is Already A Health Crisis, Top Medical Journal Says -- Huffington Post
• How The Deadly New York City Truck Attack Unfolded -- ABC News
• How Weatherman Confused Violence With Militancy And Triggered The Downfall Of SDS -- Waging Nonviolence
• Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover Of The DNC -- Politico Magazine
• Uzbekistan Cooperated With CIA Rendition & Torture Post-9/11, As Gov't Boiled Dissidents Alive -- Democracy Now
• Asked If DNC Was Rigged In Clinton's Favor, Warren says 'Yes' -- CNN
• 4 NJ Police Officers Face Charges For Beating An Innocent Man On Fire -- ABC News
• Nestlé Pays $200 A Year To Bottle Water Near Flint--Where Water Is Undrinkable -- Guardian
• The Ugly History Of The Pledge Of Allegiance--And Why It Matters? -- Washington Post
• US Special Operations Forces Are In More Countries Than You Can Imagine -- Nation
• Hurricane Maria: More Than 900 People In Puerto Rico Have Died After The Tropical Storm -- Independent
• Yes, America. People Of Color Are Sitting Together In The Cafeteria. Here's Why -- Chicago Tribune
• GOP--I Wish You Were Really Pro-Life -- John Pavlovitz
• U.S. Must Invade North Korea To Wipe Out Kim Jung Un's Nuclear Weapons, Military Leaders Say -- Newsweek
• 26 Killed At South Texas Church, FleeingGunman Found Dead In Crash -- CBS News

Is The Ghost Of Christmas Future Pointing To North Korea?

If technology makes the proliferation of WMDs inevitable, then how the world handles the current crisis with North Korea will tell us a lot about our future. 

That North Korea shows that technology makes the proliferation of WMDs inevitable is as real as it is ominous. A rogue leader has obtained WMDs shows that it is possible for other rogue leaders to do the same. Here we should note that rogue leaders who have at their disposal WMDs do not have to be leaders of states. They can be leaders of non-state actors. And here, we should note that it is not necessary for all rogue leaders to gain access to WMDs to prove that the proliferation of WMDs is inevitable.

Next, there are multiple reasons why a leader like Kim Jong-un would want to own WMDs. And all we have to do is look at why the major powers have WMDs to be able to see these reasons. One reason is that having the ability to use WMDs can act as a deterrent to any outside attack. And it isn't a matter of whether Jong-un has an equal number of WMDs as his enemies. His possession of WMDs makes the price of intervening in some aggressive action of his extremely high.

Another reason why a leader like Kim Jong-un would want possession of WMDs is that either as a deterrent or a first strike weapon, possession of WMDs makes leaders like Kim Jong-un more powerful and enables them to take more aggressive actions against others, especially one's neighbors. Thus, the red line North Korea  would have to cross before other nations would intervene becomes redrawn and thus allowing  North Korea to get away with more. And history teaches us that when a nation successfully shows aggression against others, it can cause nationalism and support for the leader of that nation to soar. Thus, increasing public support for a leader's power over his/her own nation becomes another reason motivation for rogue leaders to possess WMDs.

But Kim Jong-un's possession also comes with a liability. That liability is that his possession of WMDs comes within a context of a state. That limits how much aggression Kim Jong-un can exert before he does cross a red line and has to pay devastating consequences. So what would happen if a non-state rogue leader gains possession of WMDs? Because non-state rogue actors can be dispersed in several locations and hide within friendly states, the WMDs possessed by nations like our own become less of a threat to these non-state rogue leaders.

Despite all of our nation's talk and posturing, our foreign policies easily show that our nation does not follow the rule of law. Instead, it follows the rule of force provided that there is no significant deterrent to our use of force. And in relying on the rule of force, we have provided a perfect model of behavior for rogue leaders like Kim Jong-un. By relying on the rule of force, we have made the world into a king-of-the-hill battle that naturally gives others reason to strive to be the next king.

So how we respond to North Korea's current development of additional WMDs points us to our future. For even if we were able to forever eliminate the threat North Korea poses with its weapons, there are sure to be other rogue leaders who also gain access to WMDs. Here we should note that nuclear weapons are not the only kind of WMD we should worry about. And we should note that technology enables the obtaining of WMDs because technology is very user friendly. What is our technology today can easily become the world's technology tomorrow. All of this should tell us that if we continue to rely on the rule of force because we are presently able to, there will be a reckoning some day in the future. At least, that is what the ghost of Christmas future is pointing our attention to.