Is it just me, or does the world seem to be going to shit a lot more than usual lately?
I mean, it's not like I just turned the news on for the first time yesterday; nor am I an angsty fourteen year old only just opening their eyes to the wider world around them. I'd like to think I'm a relatively ardent follower of current events, and I know from this that there's almost always something seriously fucked up going down somewhere in the world at any moment in time. The present certainly does not have a monopoly on suffering, inequality, and fear.
However, in just the last handful of weeks, Russia has to all intents and purposes invaded Ukraine (after annexing the Crimean Penninsula months ago), escalating a civil war in the east of the country to global crisis levels, and causing her and the NATO alliance to square up to each-other at a scale not seen since the end of the cold war. Further afield, ISIS/ISIL/whatever we're supposed to call them now, had made unprecedented gains towards their goal of a Middle Eastern caliphate under Sharia law, having proven themselves a far better organised and equipped force than any the region has seen in decades, fracturing an Iraqi military that took a decade to formulate since the defeat of Saddam Hussein. US airstrikes may have paused their advance, but it's not a long-term solution, and now I'm hearing the possibility of ISIS negotiating an alliance with the Taliban further East. Sticking with the Middle East, Israel and Hamas have just about managed to negotiate a ceasefire after the bloodiest escalation of conflict between the two sides in several years, that dominated the headlines all summer. That might seem like a sign of progress, especially since last I heard, some level of lifting of the siege of the Gaza Strip was in the pipeline. However, I can't help but feel, along with what I'm sure are other international observers, that we've seen this all before, and that it's only a matter of time before the two sides are at it again, particularly after the Israeli government announced another massive land grab in the West Bank just days ago. Last but not least, in Africa, Al Shabbab and Boko Haram continue to be a constant destabilising presence on the East and West coasts respectively, while Libya has deteriorated into tribal anarchy, and an ebola plague ravages several other nations.
I'm a citizen of the UK, a country that conceivably may no longer exist two weeks from now, with a referendum on Scottish independence just around the corner. Now, I'm not trying to equate a fair and peaceful election such as that, to the sort of violent upheaval seen elsewhere in the world; but still, it can't help but add to the feeling that, on the crux of my adulthood, the world is suddenly and unceremoniously changing into something I don't recognise and am not sure I'm comfortable with. I'm about to be thrown out into a world that is more divided, more unstable, and more hostile, than the world in which I grew up. I don't mean to imply that things were perfect before, because they most certainly weren't. However, a part of me still can't help but search for a point where it all started to go wrong all at once. I'm aware I've lived a relatively sheltered life up until now; and, while we each have our own problems, I've never faced anything before that made me feel utterly helpless and alone, always having people I trust to turn to. Now though, for I think the first time in my life, I catch myself wondering how long it might be before all this chaos catches up to me, and whether everything really is going to be okay this time.
Am I simply getting paranoid, or are there others among you who have been wondering the same thing, and what, if anything, are we to do about it all?
I mean, it's not like I just turned the news on for the first time yesterday; nor am I an angsty fourteen year old only just opening their eyes to the wider world around them. I'd like to think I'm a relatively ardent follower of current events, and I know from this that there's almost always something seriously fucked up going down somewhere in the world at any moment in time. The present certainly does not have a monopoly on suffering, inequality, and fear.
However, in just the last handful of weeks, Russia has to all intents and purposes invaded Ukraine (after annexing the Crimean Penninsula months ago), escalating a civil war in the east of the country to global crisis levels, and causing her and the NATO alliance to square up to each-other at a scale not seen since the end of the cold war. Further afield, ISIS/ISIL/whatever we're supposed to call them now, had made unprecedented gains towards their goal of a Middle Eastern caliphate under Sharia law, having proven themselves a far better organised and equipped force than any the region has seen in decades, fracturing an Iraqi military that took a decade to formulate since the defeat of Saddam Hussein. US airstrikes may have paused their advance, but it's not a long-term solution, and now I'm hearing the possibility of ISIS negotiating an alliance with the Taliban further East. Sticking with the Middle East, Israel and Hamas have just about managed to negotiate a ceasefire after the bloodiest escalation of conflict between the two sides in several years, that dominated the headlines all summer. That might seem like a sign of progress, especially since last I heard, some level of lifting of the siege of the Gaza Strip was in the pipeline. However, I can't help but feel, along with what I'm sure are other international observers, that we've seen this all before, and that it's only a matter of time before the two sides are at it again, particularly after the Israeli government announced another massive land grab in the West Bank just days ago. Last but not least, in Africa, Al Shabbab and Boko Haram continue to be a constant destabilising presence on the East and West coasts respectively, while Libya has deteriorated into tribal anarchy, and an ebola plague ravages several other nations.
I'm a citizen of the UK, a country that conceivably may no longer exist two weeks from now, with a referendum on Scottish independence just around the corner. Now, I'm not trying to equate a fair and peaceful election such as that, to the sort of violent upheaval seen elsewhere in the world; but still, it can't help but add to the feeling that, on the crux of my adulthood, the world is suddenly and unceremoniously changing into something I don't recognise and am not sure I'm comfortable with. I'm about to be thrown out into a world that is more divided, more unstable, and more hostile, than the world in which I grew up. I don't mean to imply that things were perfect before, because they most certainly weren't. However, a part of me still can't help but search for a point where it all started to go wrong all at once. I'm aware I've lived a relatively sheltered life up until now; and, while we each have our own problems, I've never faced anything before that made me feel utterly helpless and alone, always having people I trust to turn to. Now though, for I think the first time in my life, I catch myself wondering how long it might be before all this chaos catches up to me, and whether everything really is going to be okay this time.
Am I simply getting paranoid, or are there others among you who have been wondering the same thing, and what, if anything, are we to do about it all?
