Cato's Discussion: "What to do about US support of the Saudis in the Yemen Civil War?"

Perhaps, no topic is more deserving of widespread discussion in the US as to how supportive of the Saudis should the US be in the former's pursuit of war in Yemen?    And, I am grateful that the Cato discussion raised the issue, no matter how couched in political verbiage it was handled (in my opinion).  The event took place in Washington, DC at the Cato Institute, December 7th, 2018.

The point could be made in a much larger historical context:  Should the US have become involved in the Medieval war waged by certain Christian states (known as the Crusades) to take over the Middle-East Palestinian peninsula--assuming the US had existed at the time?  But that is precisely what the US is doing today.  It has joined forces in a religious war between Sunnais and Shia'a Muslims in both Yemen and Somalia (so it would seem), favoring the Sunnai Muslims (e.g., Saudi Arabia) in both cases.  Even more outrageous. the US administration apparently never asked us citizens whether we want to become combatants in a religious war that is tearing apart at least two countries and killing countless number of civilians including children in the region?  How dare we become participants in a religious conflict that dates back to the time of Mohammed himself!  What is wrong with our national government!  Hooray, for President's dictum, Don't get involved!

So, now in Sweden, the UN is sponsoring cease-fire talks among the two ever-warring factions in the Muslim religion.  I hope the discussions enter the theological realm, so that there is some final resolve to the bitter hostilities that have marred the history of the world since the early centuries A.D. of the Muslim faith.  It is true the Middle Ages is replete with the bloodshed wrought over the many European Crusades, but cannot the Muslims learn from the horrors the Crusade annals record in Christianity? 

There is no hope until a Muslim unity challenges the option of war and its human annihilation as concomitant necessary effect.  And, please, let not the United States become involved on either side of  forces in some religious war either by supplying weaponry to the combatants or sending up our drones to wreak havoc in support of a particular religious, Muslim faction.




               

Reflecting on recent development: My making friends in DC

I am beholden to any federal agency that has made it possible for me to return to DC.

When I was here a few years ago and thought I was staying but didn't, I experimented with the help of that federal agency to reach out in friendship to groups in the area to get to know them.  It was successful, but I couldn't do much than just meet with a few, very few groups.  This method is available to me only in DC.

Anyway, I'm back!  And just recently, the federal agency sponsoring my final return has apparently made available to me this one-on-one communication once again.  I've tried it on several occasions in the last few days with again good results.

This enables me to add to the blog method of communication with those interested in knowing what I'm about.  So, onward to my making more friends with whom to carry on conversation!  My pleasure.

What purpose can you have in a world of automation?

Up to very recently, a man's identity (i.e., who he was in the community) was tied to what he did as a living.  If he was a tradesman in the Middle Ages, he could be known as one, e.g., John Smith, the town's man who worked with horses.  Then, when man worked in factories, he was identified with the product he made.  Today, automation has taken away many jobs from workers that they used to have, particularly on assembly lines and in maintaining company books. 

On the Washington Journal program aired December 3rd over C-Span, the findings of the current status of the working class was presented by its authors of Opportunity America, headed by Tamar Jacoby.  The statistics mentioned demonstrated that workers are experiencing a wage crunch caused by the necessity for workers to compete against computerized operations, wherein AI machines now make human intervention in productivity systems virtually obsolete. 

Even in agriculture, machinery, I am told, will soon displace countless farmer laborers in such activities as planting and harvesting crops! 

In a world of machinery and humans interacting on a continual basis, how is the human being to count for something?  How can he feel purposeful and his efforts needed and valuable?  Already, the unemployed can become despondent and irrelevant to today's active and productive atmosphere, which is presented him on TV.

This is becoming an ever increasing stark reality:  fewer jobs for the takers.

I think the paths to self-worth can be found in the government offices of unemployment who deal with workers who have not worked for many years.  Re-training isn't the answer for those over prime working age.  They may find themselves doing odd jobs around hospitals, volunteering to work with mentally challenged persons, like doing household jobs for them, and some even volunteer to do non-paying jobs in political campaigns.  The point is they are reaching out to make a contribution to society, in particular, in their community, whether or not they are gainfully employed.  For they are attending to the needs of other humans, which, hopefully, brings about greater happiness for all to share.