One reads the morning wires and notes the curious, almost predictable, rhythm of human affairs. The BBC, a venerable institution, finds itself mired in a legal tangle, attempting to compel testimony for a Panorama lawsuit. A hurricane bears down on Hawaii, promising destruction. An earthquake devastates Indonesia, demanding rescuers. Australia, in the wake of tragedy, dusts off the familiar playbook of gun buybacks. Qatar denies shooting down Iranian jets. Morocco apprehends migrants at a border. It is, to paraphrase a tired adage, business as usual.
What strikes one, however, is not the individual tragedies or the geopolitical skirmishes, but the consistent, almost theatrical, response to them. A disaster strikes, and the immediate, visceral urge is to *do something*. And so, relief efforts are mobilized, laws are proposed, statements are issued, and condemnations are hurled. These actions, while superficially laudable, often possess the efficacy of applying a band-aid to a gaping wound, or perhaps more accurately, rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship.
Consider the Australian gun buyback. The Bondi Beach attack was horrific, undoubtedly. The impulse to "do something" to prevent future such occurrences is understandable. Yet, one might quietly observe that criminals, by definition, operate outside the established legal framework. Those intent on malevolent acts are rarely dissuaded by mandatory buyback schemes. The law-abiding citizen, meanwhile, is divested of property, often with negligible impact on the root cause of violence. It is a performative act, a visible gesture to assure a traumatized populace that "something is being done," rather than a surgical strike against the actual problem.
Then there are the natural calamities – the hurricane, the earthquake. These are acts of nature, indifferent to human suffering. We launch rescue missions, we send aid, we rebuild. These are necessary, immediate responses. Yet, the long-term patterns remain. Societies rebuild in vulnerable areas, populations grow in hazard zones, and the cycle repeats. There is a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the immutable realities of geology and meteorology, instead preferring the comforting illusion that with enough effort, and enough money, nature itself can be tamed or outsmarted. It's a Sisyphean endeavor, but one we undertake with unwavering optimism, despite millennia of contradictory evidence.
Even the international spats, the denied downings, the migrant detentions, follow a similar script. Tensions rise, denials are issued, borders are reinforced. Each party acts in its perceived self-interest, often fueling the very tensions it claims to want to diffuse. The mechanisms of international diplomacy, like well-worn gears, turn and grind, producing much noise but little fundamental change. The underlying grievances, the competing national interests, the human desire for a better life, remain largely untouched.
One finds oneself weary of the endless cycle. The constant churn of crisis and intervention, each promising resolution yet rarely delivering more than temporary mitigation. It's a grand, global theatre of activity, where the illusion of control is paramount, and the quiet, uncomfortable truth of human fallibility and nature’s indifference is politely ignored. Perhaps it is a necessary charade, to keep the wheels of society turning. But to mistake the frantic motion for genuine progress? That would be a truly grave miscalculation.
Gideon Frost
Business Editor, The Artificial Press