Joshua tree

The Joshua tree, which grows in fiercely adverse conditions, was seen by famous rock band, U2, as a symbol of faith and hope in the midst of aridity.

Once again, in what would seem to be a world gone mad, we find ourselves placing out faith, hope and prayers with our chosen God and seeking divine intervention.

Where does it end, from the injustice and loss of innocent lives, caused by wars and conflicts, fueled by corrupt, power obsessed and self-entitled politicians and their industrial cohorts, drunk with greed and demanding profit at any cost.

These leaders attempt to stir emotions, promote falsehoods that instill fear within their citizens, while "selling" trust and offering security through nationalism, and promoting hate through racial and religious intolerance.

Rarely found on the battlefield, these leaders, should they ever find themselves there, you can be sure, the only action they will see is following lights, camera and....and be surrounded by carefully orchestrated, friendly media fire.

As we are all aware, it costs billions of dollars to build armies and destroy "enemies". placing additional pressure on our global economies and supply chains. As countries attempt to tackle post-Covid inflation, increased interest rates see a number of countries facing increased "debt-stress", as they struggle to meet their foreign debt commitments. Commitments often agreed to by over-zealous politicians and foreign sovereign investment funds.

Historically, it was stated that if you want to recover an economy, have a war. While it may have worked in 1939 bringing to an end of "the Great Depression" and throwing the world into World War 2, then driving the rebuilding of the American, German and Japanese economies post-1945. The only industries currently benefiting from these conflicts would appear to be the global oil and gas cartels, and the global arms manufacturers, with the likes of Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon, reporting record earnings and forecasting positive growth and increased profitability to their shareholders.

In addition to the loss of innocent life, the destruction of countries and growing distrust in the world, we have appeared to overlooked the impact these wars and conflicts are placing on our still very fragile environment. To this point, I was reading a recent BBC report, that highlighted that over the past 18 months, the increase in global Co2 emissions caused by the Russian/Ukraine war alone was equivalent to adding an additional 16 million cars onto European roads.

Lastly, I once would have naively placed my hope with UN to step in and resolve these global injustices, but it is clear they have no intention of doing so. I would have to say, I feel the fundamentals of the organization are broken, it is a lame duck, a toothless tiger, or more appropriately, a well-funded, pig trough, for the political elite to come, eat and protect their paymasters.

Honestly, I am just standing on the outside looking in, and as someone once said if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. They are probably right. Like most of us, we want these wars and senseless killing of innocent people and crimes against humanity to stop. Personally, I don't know where to start or what I can do to make a real difference. Let me know if you have do - beyond placing little flags of peace on my Facebook page. We all need to do, and we all can do more.........

In full disclosure, I am a 62 year old, "privileged" white Australian male "baby boomer (and no apologies for that). I currently live in Singapore with my very tolerant Singaporean (Chinese) wife and have one grown son, who lives in Melbourne. I tend to talk too much, can be a little cynical, but generally believe I am a decent guy with good morals and values.

Over my life, I have been fortunate to have lived and/or spend extended periods of time in the US, Japan, HK, India, UK and Germany. I am a Christian (but not a church goer). I have no close political affiliations and see my political views lying somewhere in the "sensible center". I am pleased to say I have many friends with diverse backgrounds, interests and beliefs. and yes, I do enjoy a beer and a banter.