Short Disparate Thoughts Collated

Risking War 

At this point of the game, or war in this instance, the elemental question to ask is: How does the world deal with a troubled man drunk with grand designs, without fully satisfying his blood lust? As a kid, I recall that when a mad-dog roams, we simply scamper for safety anywhere and wait for somebody to end the dog's miseries. At this point nobody is daring enough, or maybe, reckless enough to risk a nuclear holocaust. God help us. Can we say that it is common in wars that the more deadly damages are not done by military superiors on the ground? That they are made by politicians and pundits in the background, who make clueless, reckless, and what have you decisions/opinions in utter abandon? Unable or unwilling to realize the dire consequences of their inane actions? And why not? They are very rarely killed in battle. There is very little attrition in their numbers. 

Lost Hope at the Height of the Pandemic In every real and virtual way, the Corona Virus has taken over the world. It has become all too powerful and omnipotent. It is there wherever we turn, in every which way our ken is directed. It has preoccupied our waking hours and beyond. Even our reveries may already be dealing with its deadly results. It has become the “crown of thorns” of the world. And what is more, it is indiscriminate. It destroys not only the good things humanity has made possible, but even the evils men do are not spared from it. Like Noah’s time, everything in the world is being levelled. It might as well be the end of creation. Hard to imagine that this nemesis so small and insignificant could possess such unimaginable destructive powers. But we recall God did create the entire universe out of nothing. To dust and nothing is our conceivable end. Best to accept and welcome it. On this our salvation hinges and is to be found.

Should we be alarmed?  Other than the fear of contracting the virus.

Climate change extremists ought to be celebrating because the result of coronavirus is pushing the world toward their version of nirvana.

Global travel or movement of population and goods  has already been greatly curtailed.  Economic activities in many countries have been greatly reduced, and thus their deleterious effects on the environment have been immediately curtailed.

As reported, emissions in China greatly dissipated because of shutdowns. Countless peoples are just staying home idle and not productively engaged.

 

In other words, worldwide production has been deflated to levels to slowly becoming comparable to earlier and cruder times.  Aggravated no less by the utter dependence of the rest of the world with China, who is now responsible and accountable for many manufacturing output, ranging from the most basic to those highly technological. And this will continue as the virus spreads and infects more.

Let us see, how long the world can continue to exist the way it has been existing if this trend prolongs.

In faraway Cagayan de Oro, there are several well-patronized discount stores selling mostly Chinese goods.   Well patronized because of very affordable prices, and with products ranging from light bulbs to all sort of tools for carpentry, automotive repairs, gardening, etc.

My favorite is one named Novo, which is very accessible right in the heart of the poblacion.  Plus, I hold a discount card purchased with initial discounts made on purchases.

 

At the cashier’s counter yesterday Sunday, I mindlessly remarked about the spreading virus not thinking that all their products came from China.   The cashier nonchalantly intoned that yes they too were mindful and careful.  And that their store has already stopped import shipments.

So pretty soon, can we expect their shelves to be empty?

And more.  In distant Alae, the wife purchased pears in one fruit stand by the highway.   This definitely is no local fruit.  Where do you think it came from?

 

Trump Derangement Syndrome One More Time Excerpted from the Nation, an avidly liberal newsmagazine: 

 ‘Do you consider Donald Trump to be an aspiring authoritarian? There are certainly demagogic aspects of his behavior: disregard for institutional limits of his own authority, disregard for democratic norms and human rights, bullying and threatening political opponents, scapegoating of the vulnerable, mischaracterizing opposition to his plans as treachery, and a seeming indifference to understanding the US Constitution. But it’s also important to recognize the broader authoritarian currents in the American polity that put him in power.’ 

 Funny, but I thought the author above was describing largely the administration of Barack Obama, rather than the fledging administration of Trump which has barely warmed its seat. I believe this just goes to show that it is easy to make a case against anybody, by simply throwing around statements and claims that appear to bolster a given hypothesis or premise. All this to support the current reality of protests. When in fact the reason for the protests can simply be attributed to this. 

 During the time of Obama, the opposition accepted its defeat readily, and planned and waited for its turn during the succeeding election cycles. This time around, the losers simply cannot accept its utter defeat, and thus will do everything even before the inauguration to delegitimize or destabilize the new administration. Shades of things happening locally, too. 

 These organized protests have nothing much to do with what the current administration is doing. As a matter of fact, Trump is simply trying to fulfill his campaign promises. So why no protests during the campaigns when all his plans had already been made public? Why no claims of him being authoritarian then? 

 Aquinas to the Rescue In these dreadful times around the globe in both free and not so free countries, we are reminded of simple truths about the FREEDOM of our Creator and his creatures, particularly man. Here to remind us are words from the preeminent voice of Christian philosophy, Thomas Aquinas. Thomist philosophy pervades the teachings of the Catholic Church.

  “There is an inherent absurdity in the notion that omnipotence by sharing its goodness through creation lost something of its power and all of its freedom. We have managed to swallow this indigestible morsel on the human level in our own times. 

 It has been seriously argued that the State which is man’s creation for political life automatically supersedes its creator. The radically revolutionary argue that the state devours a man; THE MERELY LIBERAL, THAT IT ABSORBS HIM. 

 In either case, he is small change compared to the state. To accept this same humiliation on a cosmic scale is to replace the fact of creation and divinity’s perfection with a Frankenstein myth of total universality. God’s creation towers over His creation and ultimately destroys Him. 

The enlarged proportion of the tale do not diminish its childishness. Common sense would put aside this pettishness and look squarely at the obvious question: what can God do in the world?