It may have been who I’ve been talking to this week, or just that I’m sick of hearing about Stepaside Ross’s proposed reforms of the judiciary and the ongoing rumblings about the appointment of the former Attorney General to the Court of Appeal, but my mind has been focused on a more global perspective. Believe me when I say it hasn’t made me feel any better. Instead the anxiety meter has just clicked up a couple of notches.
Let me start with North Korea. Within the next 18 months the dictator, who looks like he has had too many cheeseburgers for breakfast, will have an inter ballistic nuclear missile capable of hitting Los Angeles. No wonder Obama told Trump that would be the biggest problem that he faced. However, if it could hit the west coast of the USA it could also strike any number of locations in Europe. The question is how do you deal with such a problem ? At this stage do the Americans even have the option of a military solution ? The use of conventional artillery between North and South Korea alone would involve the slaughter of millions of people. It really is a nightmare scenario.
The most obvious solution is to persuade the Chinese to intervene. Can they really continue to support what is in effect a ruthless mediaeval tyrant seemingly willing to use inter ballistic missiles to keep himself in power. More to the point, North Korea’s subjugated people are right on their border. Frankly one can only hope the Americans can cajole the Chinese to take action. The alternative is too horrific to contemplate but the situation is rapidly reaching a crisis point.
Having thoroughly re-activated my childhood anxieties about nuclear bombs, I decided that I needed a little distraction so I started thinking about the confidence that people are expressing about our economy. My sense of elation didn’t last long. A different kind of bomb rapidly entered my consciousness. Debt. Where do I start ? The Italians seem to be bending all the EU rules to shore up their banks. Yet again, the taxpayers will pick up the tab. In the U.S. the Fed are starting to raise interest rates. Quantitative Easing is coming to an end. The debt bomb in China seems incomprehensible. To be honest folks, by this time I was starting to feel utterly drained.
So there are some merits in thinking about the Blue Shirts and the Soldiers of Destiny and Leo and Micheal. At least you can sleep at night.