Coronavirus response. What about prevention

Dear Editor, 



Dear Editor,

Klain and Larie used the word “response” to new outbreak (The Coronavirus has landed. Now what? Wpost 1-23-20) repeatedly (at least 4 times). 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-coronavirus-has-landed-in-the-us-heres-how-we-can-reduce-the-risk/2020/01/22/afebe9ee-3d53-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html

But never the word ‘prevention’.  The same with the Post’s editorial on the back side of the op-ed.  Prevention is looking increasingly ‘unAmerican’.  Both the media and our dysfunctional political system continues reacting to problems instead of seeking and addressing the systemic causes of any problem (terrorism, climate change, health care spending…).  No wonder our nation’s financial debt and problem solving deficit continues to grow.  As well as the number of problems that are ultimately all interrelated.   

This indisputable fact of our interconnectedness adds to the insanity now of so many unsustainable problems before us.   Yet “Independence” is the fundamental organizing principle of our government, it’s departments, and the United Nations system and structures.   Our westernized human thinking likes to keep things separate but this has a profound cost when everything is interdependent.  

Listen to any Cspan program detailing solutions to any problem and the experts will suggest the need for -- a comprehensive, wholistic, whole of government, or whole of society -- approach.  Then they urge policy makers to build resilience.   They instinctually or consciously know interdependent problems cannot be solved by independent political systems that we have engineered within our government, our nation, and our world.

I’ve found at least 88 unsustainable trends over the last few years.  More each month.  Yet there is zero mention in newspapers or congressional hearings regarding the need to fund and meet the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030.  At this pace and procedure humanity will be lucky if civilization is sustained untill then.  The evolution of weapons, war, and pathogens appear to be a far greater threat than climate change.

 Things change!  Can we?

Education: The missing link in the 2020 election.

Can we put Education at the top of the agenda as we head into another Election season?

We know education is vital to understanding the likely inevitability of our species of either threat, but appropriate and sufficient preventive action must follow.  And education for action should be the top topic in the 2020 elections.

Every democratic presidential candidate is missing a vital fact capable of motivating any voter to lean in their direction. It’s the link between the education and our national security.

National security can be viewed in many non-military-centric ways, but most voters value the levels of defense dollars, investments in new weapons systems, the protection of U.S. troops, and those who have served and suffered the most.  While rational minds can question if these investments actually improve U.S. security, no well-informed mind can say with certainty that our nation is safer today than after 9-11.  Or, that we can actually spend enough to ensure our security as the evolution of war and weapons evolve beyond any existing controls.

Before the 2000 presidential election,  President Clinton foresaw that the acceleration of technology was having multiple unpredictable consequences in all aspects of our lives — especially in our nation’s security.  This wisdom led to his creation of a bipartisan “Presidential Commission on National Security in the 21^st Century”.

https://publicsafety.wikia.org/wiki/US_Commission_on_National_Security/21st_Century

Its final report (third over two years) released March 2001, just months after Bush defeated Gore and nine months before Sept. 11, 2001, we were warned to prepare for a catastrophic attack.  A history chancing attack came just six months later.  (Please note: the reports are found embedded at the bottom of this post.)

And it, in hindsight, resulted in the most flawed US foreign policy decision only two years later – the invasion, occupation and destabilization of Iraq with national security implications still accelerating today.

In truth, neither political party really abides by expert findings in most prestigious reports.  Such reports are called “dust collectors” inside the beltway if they are not shredded.  Read any Presidential Commission, National Academy of Sciences report, or think tank policy paper — on any issue over the last four  decades if you doubt this.

In truth both ‘we the people’ and the government are responsible.  We have always known what to do.  We just don’t do it.   Who among us doesn’t know the value of the Golden Rule?

From the pulpit of Detroit’s Second Baptist Church on Feb. 28, 1954 Martin Luther King Jr. never once mentioned racism.  Instead he talked about lost values and our need to recover them.He said then that the problem we face is not that “we aren’t good enough.” It’s just that our scientific genius has outpaced ‘our moral genius”.  He noted that the greater danger facing us then, wasn’t “the atomic bomb that was created by physical science” intended to kill millions, but “that atomic bomb which lies in the hearts and souls of men, capable of exploding into the vilest of hate and into the most damaging selfishness”.

We could still destroy ourselves in a nuclear war, but our selfishness is damaging the most important thing on God’s earth, our environmental life support system as a result of our worshiped economic system devoid of any value except profit.

We know education is vital to understanding the likely inevitability of our species of either threat, but appropriate and sufficient preventive action must follow.  And education for action should be the top topic in the 2020 elections.

The fundamental value of education in clear to all Americans. Especially those who home school their children. It’s safe to assume the motive of any true educator is honest and honorable. Even if all they teach from the Bible, Torah, or the Quran. But we/they must also learn that technology will continue to have an unpredictable outcome when the hearts and minds of anyone is contaminated by real or perceived injustices.  And profoundly, controlling how technology is used will be impossible without learning and acting on the fundamental principle that our cherished freedoms and security can never be sustained unless responsibility and accountable are codified into all of our policies and actions.

And ignoring the findings and recommendations of the seven Democrats and seven Republicans in Clinton’s unanimous bi-partisan Commission was enormously irresponsible.  In a press conference on the public release of the final report (March 2001) policy makers were clearly warned that Americans should prepare to die in large numbers on American soil from terrorism — the greatest national security threat according to the report.

But the second greatest threat was stunning.

The bipartisan recognition that it was a lack of education in US schools and institutions of higher learning was a serious nation security threat.

Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich, who a decade earlier had proposed the elimination of the US Department of Education, publicly apologized for this foolish ‘Contract for America’ priority he created.  After the apology he admitted, not only should we be “paying teachers more”, but we should also be “paying students to learn”!  

Why?

Because there was irrefutable evidence that we didn’t have the number of students coming out of our educational institutions that had the engineering, science, math, and language skills our nation needed to maintain, fund, evolve and manage our traditional national security defense systems. We still don’t.

According to the most recent the US National Science Board “The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2020 report “U.S. national assessments of mathematics show little to no growth in scores over the past decade. At the same time, for higher education, the United States remains the destination for the largest number of internationally mobile students. Foreign-born non-citizens make up a considerable proportion of Science and Engineering doctorate recipients, including half or more of the doctorate recipients in engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, and economics. Many of these students stay in the United States after graduation. As such, foreign-born individuals account for a sizeable share of U.S. S&E employment, particularly among workers with graduate degrees.

The Superintend of Schools of Montgomery County Maryland gave a talk to county parents in the 1990’s that is even more relevant today. He said ‘when my father applied for a job, he competed with everyone in his community for it.  When I applied for a job, I competed with everyone in the US.  When your children applies for a job, they will be competing with everyone in the world.’    Today’s youth have it harder.  They will be competing with everyone and every robot in the world, not to mention every algorithm and Artificial intelligence — if the world’s debt burdened economy hasn’t collapsed before then.

Our cherished freedoms, security, and prosperity depend not just on the education of our youth, but the education of our nation’s policy makers and their courage to look beyond party purity and the next election.  Somehow we must get them to understand that everything vital to these cherished factors is dependent upon irreversibly globalized economic, communication, information, dual use technology, and environmental forces.  And without US policies being responsible and accountable with these irreversible interconnections and our local/global interdependence on them, our freedom, security and prosperity will NOT be sustainable.

Our reactionary form of government will continue to be dysfunctional and debt burdened. Without a more responsible domestic and foreign policies in every arena…not just education…things will not end well.  What sustainability requires for any system and structure is fact-based policies based on fundamental principles.  Not the political party principles that both political parties persistently ignore.

Our best chance of maximizing our nation’s security is with policies that are just and based on the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.”   Our best chance of maintaining our freedoms is with responsible policies based on the “Laws” of “Nature’s God”.  That would be “Liberty and Justice for all” for those who confuse their view of God as being separate from the “Golden Rule”.

Only a fool would expect all the world’s nations to make such a fundamental shift in thinking and action, and put the protection of human rights above the protection of their national sovereignty and ‘national interests’.  But only a fool would expect to keep their nation secure, prosperous and sustainable without somehow raising the protection of inalienable human rights above the protection of their own government.

Fortunately, there is a comprehensive approach available that is capable of preventing much of injustices driving the accelerating global chaos – government and corporate abuse of money, technology and political power.  This one option has been approved by most of the world’s people who know of it.  The 17 Sustainable Development Goals approved in 2015 for the year 2030.  You may not have heard of them. Our governments, foreign policy institutions and even many public non-profit organizations have failed in educating the public regarding their functional value in preventing more crisis. And new taxes are not needed. The money exists that should have gone to basic human needs and services for decades.  But nations have continued to protect the free flow of currency to offshore accounts as well as protecting the privacy of those who moved it there.  The enormous wealth of kleptocrats, oligarchs, drug cartels, real estate moguls, wealthy capitalists avoiding taxes, and even violent extremist groups funded by wealth attached to oil profits, put their money (approximately $32 trillion according to 2014 stats) where government controls refuse to go.

Another bipartisan Presidential Commission summarized 40 years ago warned that unless we put “ending world hunger” by the year 2000 ‘in the context of national security’ it probably wouldn’t happen.  And, if we failed, what we would see after that is more wars, terrorism, pandemics, environment degradation, refugees, and genocides.  We obviously didn’t listen. And they were right.

It’s hard to imagine what the world will be like in 2030 given the growing list of unsustainable national and global trends now before us.  But without sufficient and urgent investments in their prevention its rational to say that catastrophic outcomes will occur.  From debt, to global warming, to the evolution of weaponry, war and WMD proliferation, and the continued emergence of nature’s biosecurity threats — none can be prevented independently of the rest. MLK would say “no justice, no peace’.  If he were alive today he might say, “Liberty and justice for all- or freedom, security and prosperity for none.”

MLK Day 2020

What would MLK want us to remember him for on this day and every day.  Would it be six words “Life, liberty and justice for all” or one word, “justice”.  This one word rings out in many of his speeches and quotes. It’s the word many other wise souls have used and the basis of ‘the Golden Rule’.   


"Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. ... No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream." MLK


He is also known for his “arch of history bends toward justice” words. It appears it doesn’t do it on its own, but requires the force of human will and action. 


President Obama’s farewell address three years ago referenced our Declaration of Independence.  He said, “these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing.”   It appears now that our optimism that the arch bends on its own has failed us.  Obama did mention “justice” three times, but not in the context of ‘justice for all’ globally.  I don’t remember Trump ever mentioning it except in the context of flawed reasoning in defending against his own impeachment.


I don’t believe either party or Presidential candidate will make ‘justice for all’ their highest priority in the coming election.  It’s not hard to predict the costly consequences this will have on virtually all of unsustainable trends heading away from justice.  Obama did reference George Washington’s final farewell address and his warning regarding the dangers of hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars.  These are only 3 of the seventy unsustainable trends I’ve identified so far.   Any one is a caustic factor capable of toppling democratic principles when the voters and our constitution ignore what Washington advocated in his address “justice towards all nations”.  


The injustices in our streets, our economy, our foreign/military/intelligence policy, our environment, or our increasingly and irreversibly interdependent world, will not end well.


Most unsustainable trends exist because of the gap between the flawed American principles we now have and the fundamental principles our nation was founded on.  Pride of patriotism, national borders, and a political party instead “liberty and justice for all’ is our greatest flaw.  This misplaced pride has weakened the very foundation that our government’s systems and structures that depend on our trust in the media, science, our election process, and the promises of candidates.


We persistently hear about the great value of our nation’s ‘rule of law’.  Its value over the “law of force” should be self-evident.   Any close study of the evolution of weapons and war should make it clear.  This is the greatest trend that now threatens both freedoms, security, prosperity and democracy.

President Lincoln appears to have understood what George Washington recognized and what MLK knew well.   If we as Americans fail to apply the universal standard of ‘justice for all’, to all, we can never protect our freedom and security.  


Arguably, the greatest speech in history, The Gettysburg Address, begins with reference to the fundamental principle used in our nation’s creation “all men are created equal”.   “Four Score and Seven years ago” refers to the Declaration of Independence, not the U.S. Constitution.  More importantly, in his conclusion he said,   We should forever remember what he declared that “the great task remaining before us” is “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…”.   

Even decades after MLK’s assassination our nation’s love and desire for freedom is faltering.  The endless war on terrorism requires increasing loss of our privacy if we are serious in stopping the mass murder of Americans before it happens.  


 The primary task before us is to insist that government, at every level (local, state, national and global) be ‘of the people, by the people for the people’, so ‘we the people of the world, shall not perish from the earth.  That will require a majority of us keeping the pledge that every American has spoken with hand over heart “I pledge”… “liberty and justice for all”.   

I’m confident MLK would agree.  But which candidate in this election year will make it their top priority.  And if they do, will ‘we the people’ elect her or him?

Conservative solutions to Climate Change

The George Shutz and Ted Halstead op-ed (The winning Conservative climate solution. Jan 17, 2020) is a breath of fresh CO2 tainted air!   

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-winning-republican-climate-solution-carbon-pricing/2020/01/16/d6921dc0-387b-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html

But there are a few other essential mechanism conservatives could adopt “to reduce emissions”

in addition to the “three ways…regulations, subsidies and pricing” that they list.  They could stop breathing when they deny global warming exists.  Every word they use spews more CO2 as well as the misinformation and delusional concepts that their colleagues stick to. They could also convert their grass yards to native plant gardens, eat less red meat, help impeach a President 

that fails to accept the climate reality, and do what they can to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that provide the only real comprehensive solution to our environmental problems and most other threats we now face.   

Do the math!  It’s not all about money, markets and votes. It’s about justice, and conserving life as we know it and need it.

My shortest blog! I'm leaving for Haiti tonight ;-).

How hard would it be for N. Korea, Russia, China, or Al Qaeda…to frame Iran for an attack on the US?

Using biologicals or cyber, relatively easy…and either viral attack could take weeks if not months to attribute to a specific attacker… if it can be done at all.

Imagine the US response to even the ‘revenge’ assassination of a high ranking US General using any conventional means (truck bomb, sniper, home delivery of IED by drone…).  Iran could try to deny it…and I’m sure Trump would believe them.  NOT.  Just like they (or most Americans) wouldn’t believe ANYTHING that comes out of his mouth, tweet, or administration’s minions.  

Lets just hope none of the entities that dislike the US “Our way or the death way” tactic is smart enough (or has the capacity) to launch such a provocative attack using Iran’s fingerprint or leaving behind a personal ID.

War with Iran?

Maybe.  If so, prepare for greater losses of our nation’s freedom, security, prosperity, and what little congeniality we have left, than anything since 9-11 nearly two decades ago.  Why?


The personal, local, and global impact of the exponential growth of technology is nearly impossible to comprehend mentally.  So, more importantly, understand that it is literally impossible for our form of government to effectively respond to this profound growth.   The local and global implications of this indescribable pace of technological change should NOT be underestimated.  Nor the commitment and capacity of Iran to use it to their advantage given our unpreceded dependence on technology and our malfunctioning ‘sick care’ system to manage biological or cyber threats.


The Iranian general murdered by a US drone strike was a leap beyond the recent escalation of non-lethal tactics that both the US and Iran have been waging.  Funny thing about humans.  Killings have consequences.


Some rational for this killing goes back to the last Iraq war.  The targeted general was linked to Shiite elements attacking US forces using “the most-dreaded explosive devise” Americans soldiers encountered there - ‘high-tech IEDs” engineered by Iranian scientists.  These were “complex and difficult to produce” but slightly smaller than a coffee can and easy to conceal.  But they could effectively penetrate inches of armor and obliterate crews inside of our best fighting machines. These explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) “killed at least 196 US troops and wounded nearly 900 between 2005 and 2011.”
  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/01/03/soleimanis-legacy-gruesome-high-tech-ieds-that-haunted-us-troops-iraq/


In 2007 a “senior defense official told the Washington Post “We honestly did not believe that these guys were capable of doing this kind of stuff…we underestimated them.’”

Never underestimate Persians (or anyone, especially those with a grudge).  The most popular sport in Iran is wrestling.  Most Americans think wrestling is about strength or believe its a scripted tussle.  That’s understandable given how little real wrestling is covered within our nation’s sports pages - if its covered at all.  What’s vital to understanding the problem we are all wrestling with called terrorism…is that strength is rarely a deciding factor in conflict.  It’s useful, but more important in deciding victories is technique, tactics, strategy, and commitment.    Iranian’s dominate the Olympics and World Game competition in wrestling when the Russians aren’t doing it.   Neither should ever be underestimated.


Hawkish US policy makers and patriots understandably justify our nation’s assassination of one of their generals.  But if their memory goes back further than our insanely calculated invasion of Iraq, they may remember that during our alliance with Iraq the US provided both biological and chemical weapons precursors to Saddam during his war with Iran.   He used these WMD precursors and our assistance in targeting and inflicting tens of thousands of casualties on Iranian troops.

Why did we do that? Because US policy before that was motivated by the embarrassment of Iranians capturing our embassy there along with 52 American diplomats and citizens and holding them for 444 days.    

Why?  Because many Iranians were rightfully angered by US covert operations influencing the overthrow of their democratically elected Iranian leader, and replacing him with a brutal thug friendly to US interests.


Yes. Nation states often try to influence elections in other states.  (During the US Presidential election in 2004 I worked for MoveOn in New Hampshire.  A week before the election we were inundated with ‘insurgents’ from the surrounding states of Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts.)  Political borders do not stop the chaos that spread between borders (national or global) and narrow interests within any limited political boundary are impacted by all those around it.  Combine this local influence with the global influence of technology, economics, health, crime, and environmental factors and this ‘interference’ is understandable.  Legal?  Yes, within the US federation.  No. within a global confederation where the only real law is the law of the jungle.  The lack of enforcement capacity, or the protection of human rights or the environment, in international law leaves only war, sanctions, diplomacy, terrorism, or assassinations in an attempt to hold any real or perceived aggression accountable.  Revenge?  Yes.  And given the absence of any form of real justice between nations that’s what we are left with.


But in a world where everyone is left with increasing capacity for mass murder resulting in increasing government efforts and technological capacity to invade anyone’s privacy…don’t expect to stay safe or believe your other valuable freedoms will protect you or continue.


When drones or computers can deliver biological or cyber viruses that can catastrophically disrupt human or political bodies…with no affordable (or politically acceptable) means of stopping them before they cause damage, or even identifying their origins with absolute certainty, until after the damage, no one should be rationally optimistic about the future.


Studies show that optimists are more likely to overlook the barriers in achieving their goal.    Again, underestimation can be catastrophic.   Trump’s election is the best evidence of progressive optimism. 

His optimism regarding his assassination policy is unlikely to end well.  

We must urgently make the choice between the global rule of law...or nature's law of force.   If we fail to abide by the Laws of Nature's God...(the Golden Rule) expect hell on earth.