"Tom Collins: Worried about World War 3? Bad news, it’s
already begun
Twenty years ago I attended a management course at the
London Business School. I was then working in the
public sector, and the fee was high enough to have
excited the attentions of the news desk had it known
about it.
I’m a believer in education, but whether it was money
well spent is another matter.
One of our strands was organisational management,
delivered by a camp Canadian professor who won us over
with his self-deprecating humour. He could have made a
fortune on the comedy circuit.
In one session he uttered one of those killer phrases
which allowed me to make sense of a lot of things, and
which has helped me enormously since.
In a spirit of public generosity I will share it with
you now. It applies not just in the world of business,
but in any situation where a group of people is
gathered.
He said: “A group always resonates at the level of the
most neurotic individual in it.”
How true. Knowing this fundamental truth about the
human condition can be a godsend if you are in a
position where someone is winding you up.
If you know what is happening, you can keep calm,
neutralise the neurotic’s impact, and reach a level-
headed solution to whatever issue you’re dealing with.
On Friday we witnessed neuroticism on overdrive – not
one, but two neurotics operating in concert in the Oval
Office.
In a few short weeks, Trump has demonstrated that the
world resonates at the level of the most neurotic
individual in it.
We can cope if that individual leads a small nation – a
Gaddafi, a Jong Un, a Bolsonaro; but when that
individual is the leader of the only remaining
superpower, it’s a different matter altogether.
In disrespecting Zelenskyy, Trump/Vance sent a clear
message that the United States was now a client state
of the Russian Federation, that the US’s former allies
were now on their own, and that the US has made enemies
of the truth, democracy and freedom.
The United States has turned from being an implacable
opponent of Russian aggression to being its apologist.
The president and vice-president of the United States
are now mouthpieces for Russian propaganda – let that
sink in.
In their eyes, Russia is the victim of Ukrainian
aggression, Zelenskyy is a dictator who does not want
peace but prefers to risk a third world war, and a
‘just peace’ requires the sacrifice of Ukrainian
sovereignty.
What was Zelenskyy to do? Stroke Trump’s fragile ego in
the manner of Keir Starmer?
Zelenskyy’s people have been the victims of Russian war
crimes from the very beginning of the war – in the town
of Bucha, three years ago this month, almost 500 were
massacred; hospitals have been targeted; children
kidnapped; civilians tortured and raped. Zelenskyy
himself has been the target of assassination squads.
Atrocities are still happening today.
Trump, the man who dodged the draft, lectured one of
the most courageous leaders of modern times on the art
of war, and then demanded he sue for peace on terms set
by the leader of an invading army.
Enormous damage was done to Ukraine’s position in the
Oval Office exchange. But the greater damage was done
to the reputation of the United States, and its
strategic position. There will be only one winner from
Trump’s alliance with Russia – Putin.
By resigning his position as ‘leader of the free
world’, by withdrawing support from his allies, and by
ditching the deployment of ‘soft power’ through USAID,
Trump has made the world an immeasurably more dangerous
place.
And rather than Making America Great Again, he has
hastened its decline.
As well as being crippled internationally – who can
trust him? – his acolytes are doing all they can to
dismantle the state domestically. The Constitution and
government infrastructure, the rule of law and the
judiciary, and the economy itself, have all come under
attack.
How then should the world respond? Europe’s freedom
depends on a Ukrainian victory over Putin.
If there is the will, it can be done – Russia sits at
No 11 in the ranking of world economies. Ukraine has
demonstrated the Russian bear can be checked.
We must give up on the United States for now. European
leaders must translate their fine words of support for
Zelensky into actions.
They must recognise that Trump’s America is a foe, not
an ally; and rather than fearing World War Three, they
must come to terms with the fact that it is already
being waged – not just on the sovereign territory of
Ukraine but in cyberspace, in the media controlled by
states and oligarchs, and in our heads.
We must expose the most neurotic individual in the
room, and challenge him head on."
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WwIII started maybe a good 30 seconds after WWII ended.
It wasn't announced, declared or otherwise labeled as
such, so the spoon feeders didn't really notice, it
just seemed like life as usual I suppose.
We could also debate what WW we're actually up to, so
many phases and flavors, chemical, biochemical,
biological, genomic including the Gender X war on
humanity, religious, spiritual etc.
Not going to even bother pointing out the biases and
logical crimes in that article, and as ever, "both"
sides are connubial.
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