Food for Thought in light of Current Events — A Brief Reflection

Some food for thought in the midst of this world crisis that US “leadership” (I use that term loosely) has created.

Our weapons dictate what we are to do. They force us into corners. They give us our living, they sustain our economy, they bolster up our politicians, they sell our mass media, in short we live by them. But if they continue to rule us we will also most surely die by them. For they have now made it plain that they are the friends of the “preemptive first strike.” They are most advantageous to those who use them first. And consequently nobody wants to be found dead using them second. Hence the weapons keep us in a state of fury and desperation, with our fingers poised over the button and our eyes glued on the radar screen. You know what happens when you keep your eye fixed on something. You begin to see things that aren’t there. — Seeds of Destruction, pp. 265-266 (New Year, 1962)

Merton was writing in the context of the Cold War and little did he know that the USSR and US would stand off in the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16-29, 1962) before the end of the year. Or perhaps he saw it as an inevitable consequence of the madness that was the Cold War.

Once again we find ourselves here… Lord have mercy on us all.