The whole world is watching the Hamas and Israel conflicts that has recently escalated to casualty not only of thousands of civilians, but also booming the hospital, schools, mosque, killing hundreds, killing hundreds of, if not thousands of little children and homeless refugees. When we see the blood, and the atrocities is obvious. But there are many things in our era that are just as violent, but is much obscure, not as noticeable.
The unfortunate situation in Gaza is very complex because of globalization, industrialization, historical hangover, religion, and politics tanglings. It is horrendous to learn about the huge suffering of the Middle East, but we do not know enough about the history, religious and culture of that area to make objective comments. The article The Global Consequences of the Israel-Hamas War by Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out that the expectation that Israel could normalize ties with the Arab world without addressing the Palestinian question, was an illusion. Israel may need to possibly rethinking its strategy toward the moribund Middle East peace process entirely. There is urgent need for Muslim speaking nations and Christian nations increase communication and mutual accommodation of each other, through systematical bridging of religion, culture and governmental agency.
Another recent article from Project Syndicate War and Dollars by Harold James, Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University, sketches a more clear picture of the underneath struggles. Professor James wrote: ” Today, however, the dollar is increasingly vulnerable to financial turbulence, readily apparent in bond markets that scrutinize long-term US public debt. These problems are partly technical, of course; but they are also political. Without uncertainties about America’s long-term fiscal position, markets would remain calm. But President Joe Biden’s administration has deployed large public investments at a time when the US Congress has become completely dysfunctional, casting doubt on its ability even to keep the government running and the debts paid ……. The dollar is also vulnerable because the rest of the world is connecting the dots behind the US strategy to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression; Middle East diplomacy, which Hamas has now derailed; and efforts to preserve the peace in the Taiwan Strait. The dots, of course, are dollars. As Juan Zarate, a former US deputy national security adviser, noted a decade ago, sanctions work extremely well against small and relatively isolated states; but the bigger the target, the more sanctions will hurt those imposing them.”
I want to add that the problem is not just because of Biden, it is the accumulation result of four decades of capitalism running into dead end since Reagan Administration. U.S. Debt By President had specific data.
Industrialization and urbanization post great challenges when the fiat money is used. As the central banks all over the world and the Fed can just print money out of thin air, the create huge wealth gap because of tax reduction as well as the compound effects. For example, during the pandemic covid-19 in 2020, Fed pump trillions of money into the system to help government handle crisis. While the household get some relief check of couple of thousand dollars, The total wealth of the U.S. 1% reached a record $45.9 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. Their fortunes increased by more than $12 trillion, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.
I also want to point out that violence is not just what we observed in human casualty. The nature, the environment, the water, air, earth are all in shabby shape, desperately need for maintenance and protection. Take the example of the space: Space junk is out of control – the directly affect the global air quality and radiation I would assume. About 25,000 are pieces of obsolete satellites, rocket parts and debris — space junk orbiting out of control and posing a threat to the satellites people need.
Not to mention, the violence of American medical/insurance system, the consequence of weaknesses in fractional reserve lending (The monetary system , Macroeconomics ) of central banks, the dominance in finance as parasite of national economy, the frauds in money creation like scam of crypto currency, and numerous frauds like recent cases in FTX/Bankman Fried, and many other financial fake guru who exploit the loop holes of tax law, bankruptcy laws (such as: How do Rich People File Bankruptcy and Not Lose Anything ), and the lack of accountability in public accounting. There is no blood (except medical system) involved, but the violence is no less pungent.
Our era is marked by chasing after capital/wealth that without pay its due for either social costs or environmental damages. How will the Middle East refugees be settled eventually ?