ENDY JAY
As we move in time, it becomes clearer to anyone in his right mind that this present world is out of control, manifestly and consistently running adrift, with human rulers, as it were, at the end of the tether, many resigning – or forced to resign – to show their incapacity to cope successfully with the challenges erupting at times from nowhere and, in a sense, calamities striking in some ‘orchestrated manner’.
We only have to consider the situation here, which to some extent epitomizes the global situation – bleak economic future, rampant poverty, bad governance with dictatorial tendencies, shaky institutions etc -, ‘toutes proportions gardées’. The economic situation, already alarming for a number of years through improper management and awful repeated wastages, has been exacerbated by extraneous factors, admittedly beyond the control of those at the helm. The war in Ukraine is now the scapegoat for all our woes and failures. Already the political cauldron is overheating, the social atmosphere nearly aflame and likely to explode any time, the right atmosphere for Opposition politicians to fire, with full heart content, broadsides at the ruling incumbents with their back to the wall and more often than not with shaky rebuttals, while not forgetting the ‘protection’ of Zorro in the National Assembly. Here I may give the impression that I am taking sides. Hence the need to remind that in a previous note (Forum 26/1/22 – ‘The Final lap of the Rampage‘) I wrote that ‘incumbents and Opposition are on the same side of the fence’, certainly not from a human standpoint, but indeed in the eyes of the Creator who will hold human rulership responsible for most of human woes throughout History as we shall soon see. Today’s Opposition can be the rulers of tomorrow.
Now to come back to that infamous war in Ukraine that has sent almost the entire globe on a hectic scramble and where, according to one Western political leader, Putin has ‘already crossed the red line into barbarism’, and yet another blatant example of the failure of human rulership to promote lasting peace and happiness. Putin must now be biting his fingers, his contemplated lightning victory has turned out to be a major nightmare and that he got it all wrong in the running towards the invasion, with ultimate defeat a real possibility, with numerous countries providing Ukraine with massive military help, short only of direct intervention. The main reason for the invasion, according to Putin, was to prevent Ukraine joining NATO, and thus avoiding having enemy missiles on ‘Russia’s doorsteps’, and at the same time stop NATO’s advance to the East. That invasion, unexpectedly and that must have stunned even Putin, has strengthened solidarity and preparedness inside that military Alliance as never before and, furthermore, two traditionally neutral countries, Sweden and Finland – the latter sharing hundreds of kilometres of border with Russia –, likely to join NATO by June next. Has Putin shot himself in the leg? By this invasion Putin may have attempted ‘to put the records straight with Ukraine’, according to his dubious whims, while he has only succeeded to raise numerous unanswered queries.
And more importantly, one direct consequence of that invasion, Putin never expected, military Germany is back, the invasion having altered, overnight as it were, Germany’s defence policies! What Putin will do next – having already put his hand ‘dan enn nik mouzonn’ -, is hard to guess, but it is safe to say there can be nobody ‘pli dekouyone’ than him. But at the same time sending him wild and capable to go further on the rampage, but still one can maintain his threat to use nuclear weapons must be utter bluff, confirmed by the indifference of the West. Also, he must now be concocting some scheme to be able to back out of this war without having to lower p…, but unlikely to be able to avoid heading for the trash bin of history! That Ukraine war has caused Putin to be thrown under the spotlight for the whole world to know how evil this man is, reportedly richer than Elon Musk!!!
This said, it is clear the fallout of this Ukraine war, and its ramifications, will have widespread repercussions on the global economy, probably to last some time exacerbating human miseries as the IMF has already warned. But at the same time, inevitably, the ‘optimists’ will be vocal as usual to remind that the world has been through hard times often and once more to be able to bounce back. This does not take into consideration the will of the Creator. This time there will be no bouncing back to perpetuate a system God has already condemned, and terminally ill, but has allowed to survive for enough time to demonstrate apodictically that ‘Man’s way does not belong to him, it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step’ (Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 23). After divine intervention, lasting peace, security and happiness. I already see the doubters frown, the sceptics laughing up their sleeves. No hard feelings. Attendons voir!
But let’s end on a more joyous note by wishing our compatriots of Muslim faith ‘Eid Mubarak’.