Although it has been true since the pharaohs of ancient Egypt and even earlier, I still find it appalling that pain and tragedy can be inflicted on millions of people purely due to the whims, impulses and vanity of a single man, if that one man happens to stand on top of the power pyramid.
Where once a single ruler might have brought chaos or calamity to one country or one empire, since at least the mid-20th century, we have seen men of power with the means to shake up the entire planet.
American presidents have been called the most powerful individuals in the world ever since the United States became a superpower at the end of the Second World War. They have all done some planet shaking, but, for the most part they have exercised their vast power prudently, if not always wisely. Now, though, we have a president who revels in being the Earth’s alpha male. He has especially grown fond of employing America’s military for his “excursions” across the borders of other countries because there is nothing more macho than being the guy with the biggest guns.
Donald Trump’s impulsive war with Iran is the latest example of one hubristic, careless potentate indulging himself and messing with the lives of people all around the globe. Ignoring long-standing warnings that picking a fight with Iran would be a terrible idea, and with no coherent plan beyond bombing them back to the Stone Age, the president has provoked the Iranians into stopping the shipment of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
The subsequent spike in the price and growing shortage of oil has not just stuck Americans with more expensive gasoline. That is the least of it. In Asia and other corners of the globe, schools and businesses are on restricted schedules, agricultural production has been stunted and national economies are teetering. Even if a deal is reached between the U.S. and Iran tomorrow, it will take months to recover from this economic blow.
The Iranians would not be wrong to say the same thing about Trump.
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