The terrifying accident at the Russian weapons and ammunition warehouse in Achinsk, Russia, not far from Krasnoyarsk, is a grating metaphor of what is happening around the world. And, it is still perfectly avoidable: the accumulation of ammunition and weapons, in hazardous security conditions, near a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, ended up producing an explosion equivalent to that of 40,000 shells.
Looking at the world, it appears that something similar is being prepared, on a completely different scale: in a senseless typical junkyard manner, we are accumulating many flammable materials without any precaution, all of which can trigger a global upheaval: Beijing can shoot at Hong Kong demonstrators, which would lead to a violent reaction from the Americans and China’s neighbours; North Korea’s production of nuclear weapons and launchers will eventually lead to a reaction from South Korea and Japan, who will also want these weapons as well; which will push Iran to go much further in enriching its uranium.
Similarly, the catastrophic destruction of one of the world’s last primary forests vital for humanity in Brazil, and similarly senseless accumulation of waste in the oceans, are other examples of the suicide of every man for himself.
In addition, there are the threats of the United States’ trade war against China, Germany or France; the imminent exit of Great Britain from the European Union without an agreement; and above all, the world’s financial situation is getting more volatile every day and is only being maintained by a slow spoliation of savers, which will not be sufficient to finance the demands of the richest for long.
All this leads to an accumulation of contradictions that will soon be unbearable: the more the wealthy classes plunder the middle classes, the more populism will rise; the more the poor classes emerge from their misery without changing their way of life, the more the environment will be looted and massacred.
All of this is absolutely untenable. And it is the expression of a carefree attitude on the part of everyone, mostly concerned about their own interests, without wanting to consider the global consequences of their actions. And, with leaders and the global elites convinced that what has made the west happy since the end of the Second World War can make the whole planet happy tomorrow—deadly illusions.
In these circumstances, someone will soon have an interest in lighting the fuse, to divert attention from their own turpitudes, or to try to take advantage of a crisis to impose themselves on their rivals. And everything will explode, into a crisis much more serious than the previous one, because it will be financial, commercial, environmental and military.
Unless we realize as quickly as possible that no one, in their personal lives (as consumers, producers, and savers) and in the community (as citizens), has an interest in ruining the lives of others, and in particular not those of future generations. May everyone understand that nothing is worse than the loss of awareness of the interdependence of everything and everyone, the fragility of our civilization, and our species.
And that, calmly and slowly, we ought to begin, in our settings, to defuse the bombs that we have manufactured; and finally learn to live without making power the raison d’être of humanity.
Having always fought against unbridled liberalism, and in favour of global governance, if not global government, as well as for strong decisions on financial controls, taking into consideration the interests of future generations, and for the establishment of what I call a “positive economy,” I know that it is possible. It requires that a country or continent sets an example and show that the interest of the future and democracy are not incompatible.
j@attali.com