Trumpian Apocalypse: The "Unreal" Prospects

'Dipo. J. Akintoye

March 28, 2018

The Prospects of a Trumpian Thermonuclear Apocalypse in a 21^st Century World 

 

It is a popular theory that mankind has always been fascinated, and at the same time, concerned by the worrying possibilities of extinction by means of disastrous events of cataclysmic magnitude. The odds of global warfare involving the utilization of nuclear armaments have undeniably increased, and are now closer to reality since the advent of Donald Trump’s Presidency than at any other era in history including the Cold War period.  

The occurrence of a thermonuclear war in present times would have a cumulative effect on the world on a scale, so devastating that Hiroshima and Nagasaki would seem like child’s play. What makes this so alarming is the sheer quantities and scales of nuclear weapons available to the world powers, which have been designed to do the most extensive damage possible in the event of such a war. A nuclear explosion is typically succeeded by great physical, biological and environmental damages, as witnessed in 1945 during WWII. The bombs generated such immense explosive power, magnetic pulse and heat that reduced both target cities to wastelands. The soil and water were contaminated radioactively, and the air became significantly toxic (Atomic Bomb Museum, 2006). The more troubling radioactive fallout soon followed, whereby the people suffered severe personal injuries from the gamma rays and high-powered neutrons, and then later succumbed to Acute Radiation Syndrome – a group of signs and symptoms emanating from the effects of exposure to radioactivity. Some of the early symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, radio-dermatitis, epilation, petechiae, oropharyngeal lesions, internal bleeding among others (Atomic Archive, 2015). Late stochastic effects such as carcinogenesis and genetic mutations have been observed and are being monitored in survivors. “Tsar Bomba”, the biggest thermonuclear bomb ever made and tested by the Soviet Union in 1961, had a nuclear yield of 50Mt, believed to be the explosive force equivalent of 3,800 Hiroshima’s  “Little Boy” (Army-Technology, 2014).

The total number of nuclear warheads in existence today is believed to be about 16,000, distributed among only nine countries including USA, Russia, France, UK, India, Pakistan, Israel, China and North Korea. Of the quantity of nuclear arms stated, the US and Russia possess over 7000 warheads each, while North Korea owns less than 10 on the other end of the spectrum reportedly. While many of these weapons are either reserved for storage or undergoing disassembly due to disarmament pacts, considerable amounts are currently deployed by the nuclear powers for strategic reasons and are capable of going fully operational at a moment’s notice (Ross, 2016). Surprisingly, the chances of nuclear war are not based on proliferation by the upper powers but are precipitated upon the mysterious and illegal conditions by which DPRK's nuclear programs developed. The USA, as a global superpower in conjunction with the UN formulate policies in order to rein in the diplomatic and military excesses of South Korea’s most proximal neighbor and eternal nemesis. Over the years, threats of nuclear attacks have issued forth from the ever bragaddocious successive leaders of the dynastic hermit regime towards the US and/or South Korea; such threats had been treated in diplomatic circles in the past, as the uncultured drivel of a rabble-rouser.  

The erstwhile Obama administration and previous Presidents have up till now, dealt with the NK problem with what has so far proven to be an effective combination of economic sanctions, espionage and diplomatic overtures, the dangling of the carrots usually coming before the big stick. Aids in the form oil and food were commonly offered as bargaining tools in exchange for denuclearization and non-proliferation. While it is true that NK has often violated or totally abandoned the terms of such treaties, the fact that past administrations were able to restrain Pyongyang's nuclear overreach and avoid military engagements involving nuclear weapons is regarded as a successful foreign policy in many quarters (Goldman, 2017). Any foreign policy position that stipulates or is geared towards the absolute avoidance of global or regional war is a victory.

Enter Donald Trump, the 45^th President of the USA, a man whose only foreign relations experience was either in business or beauty pageants. Trump’s absolute lack of experience in governance is only overshadowed by his inadequate temperament and obvious character flaws. A lot of worries were expressed prior to his election as President regarding whether he would be able to effectively discharge the highly demanding duties of the office. As the figurative leader of the free world, a lot of responsibilities rest upon the shoulders of the one who bears the mantle of that office in: ensuring the peace and prosperity of the Homeland; being able to adapt and educate himself on all matters of governance; and providing impeccable leadership in the global sphere. Mr. Trump has failed woefully in all of those aspects, as his antagonistic and narcissistic attitude threatens to drive the U.S and the rest of the world to the brink of a nuclear apocalypse with North Korea. He has engaged Kim Jung Un in highly untenable rhetoric, promising to unleash the full force of the US Armed Forces in an infernal hail of “fire and fury” upon Pyongyang, and lackadaisically referring to him as “Little Rocket Man” (Trump, 2017). It is a clear indication of Trump’s international outlook: the belittling of other foreign leaders, as inconsequential in world matters, which suggests his ignorance of policy and lack of exposure to its significance to world peace.

Pyongyang has replied in kind by conducting several tests of a nascent miniaturized hydrogen bomb, causing the heightening of tensions and nuclear preparedness standards in the region, and openly threatening the pulverizing of US territories of Guam and Hawaii by ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), warning that such an attack would be precipitated by reckless military moves or exercise of power by the US (Ripley, 2017). The people of Hawaii woke up to emergency warnings of “ballistic missile threat inbound…” on January 13th, 2018, creating major panic and great unrest among the populace. Although, it later turned out that the alarm was false and was only due to human cum operational errors in the emergency warning system, the fear of being the target of a nuclear attack was too real for the people (Wang; Lyte, 2018). The relative proximities (about 2000 to 7500 miles over the Pacific) of both American state and territory to Pyongyang must have further exacerbated their perceived terror.

As far as the USA is concerned, the greatest, most consistent threat of a nuclear attack against the country has come from North Korea, the reclusive, extremely isolationist regime in Pyongyang dubbing itself a giant killer by means of nuclear destruction. The rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang has heretofore been based on threats of the annihilation of South Korea, and by extension, America. The then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Mattis, reportedly referred to North Korea's nuclear program in 2017, as "the greatest threat facing the U.S today" (Martin, 2017). 

In light of the nuclear importance of North Korea, it is alarming that the President of the US has chosen, whether by design or gross ineptitude, to maintain the posture of antagonist and instigator with regards to the possibilities of global nuclear war. Saner heads must prevail upon Trump in order to bring him back to the path of “strategic patience” (Obama, 2015), and approach the North Korea issue with better temperament, better judgement and qualitative analysis. The goal is to avoid a military engagement unless absolutely necessary. While it may be true that the Mad Dog of Pyongyang might initiate attacks on South Korea and American territories on a whim, current events suggest it would be more than likely President Donald Trump’s incompetence as a world leader that might actually push the world off the precipice of a thermonuclear endgame where there are no winners (Fischer, 2018).

References

 

Fischer, J. (2018). Why Trump still threatens world peace. Retrieved from https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/trump-still-threatens-world-peace-881948.

 

Goldman, R. (2017, August 17). How Trump’s Predecessors Dealt With the North Korean Threat. Retrieved August 17, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/trump-north-korea-threat.html

 

Martin, D. (2017, October 29). Defending the U.S. from North Korea's nuclear threat. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/defending-the-u-s-from-north-koreas-nuclear-threat/

 

Radiation Injuries. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp22.shtml

Ratnam, G. (2015, February 5). White House Unveils Call for ‘Strategic Patience’. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/05/white-house-to-unveil-call-for-strategic-patience-russia-ukraine-syria-iraq-china-asia

Ripley, W. (2017, October 15). North Korea revives Guam threat ahead of US-South Korea drills. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/asia/north-korea-guam-threat/index.html 

Ross, E. (2016, January 6). The nine countries that have nuclear weapons. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-nine-countries-that-have-nuclear-weapons-a6798756.html

THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMBS: "Little Boy"and "Fat Man". (2006). Retrieved from http://atomicbombmuseum.org/2_firstbombs.shtml

Wang, A., & Lyte, B. (2018, January 13). ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII,’ the alert screamed. It was a false alarm. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/01/13/hawaii-residents-get-ballistic-missile-threat-messages/?utm_term=.5bea7a8ec05c

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamlet: A Philosophical Treatment

'Dipo J. Akintoye

21 September 2013

Hamlet: A Treatise on the Philosophy of Purpose and Meaning.

There abound in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, an array of philosophical doctrines and questions that pique the conscious to enquire of the essence of man’s very existence. What the Bard of Avon has done with “Hamlet” is offer the world an elaborately scripted dramatic portrayal of interconnected idiosyncrasies including moral necessity and existentialism, and the characterization of Prince Hamlet himself being an allegory for,  perhaps, the greatest question that has ever plagued mankind. 

[Hamlet as an existentialist enquiry] Shakespeare may have established his genius as a master playwright and his pungent knack for exploring philosophical themes through the usage of soliloquy as a literary device in the play. It can be positively argued that the chief proponents of the existentialist school of philosophy including Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre may have been directly or indirectly inspired to draw inferences into the purpose of life from Hamlet’s statement in his fourth soliloquy, “To be or not to be, that is the question…” (921; 3.1.56). 

In the book “The Cambridge Companion to Existentialism”, which is a collection of critical analyses on the philosophy, Kierkegaard is said, by writer, David Cooper, to have described individuals as “infinitely interested in existing” and “constantly in the process of becoming” [and]…these remarks were to become central to the existential understanding of human being” . Heidegger would tackle the question by opining that “a creature with our kind of existence…is “distinguished by the fact that, in its very Being, that Being is an issue for it”. Another notable philosopher, Sartre, would later propound the theory that “existence precedes essence” (qtd.in 34-35). To paraphrase, what that essence might be is left to the individual to find as a matter of subjectivity, since there is no absolute answer. This is the very same question that Shakespeare asks in “Hamlet”.

[A matter of moral necessity] The Prince’s existential angst is treated as the most significant theme of “Hamlet” in the wake of his father’s murder by his uncle, Claudius, who also becomes his step-father through his sudden marriage to Gertrude, the Queen and Hamlet’s mother. The immediacy of said marriage right after the burial of the elder Hamlet, the former King of Denmark, is regarded as a most vile and despicable act of treachery and infidelity by the Prince, prompting questions of moral responsibility in his first lamentable monologue:

“She married, O, most wicked speed to post

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is not, nor it cannot come to good.” (887; 1.2.156-158)

Having encountered the ghost of his dead father, and been charged in earnest to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (897; 1.5.26) by killing Claudius as a matter of retribution, Hamlet will find himself vacillating between a burning fervency for revenge and melancholy procrastination whenever the opportunity arises. He contends within himself the existential issue of the morality of revenge and whether it serves any real purpose to kill Claudius. Ruth Nevo writing in “William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging” describes this problem that besets Hamlet, as “the problem of being what he is not, or not being what he is…” (58).

[Quest for freedom] In grappling with the issue of revenge and morality, the Prince realizes through his personal situation, that life is indeed a conundrum; there simply is no solution in sight for the human condition. Here is a man who seeks to set himself free from the moral responsibility of justice. According to Joshua Scodel’s essay, “Finding Freedom in Hamlet”, the protagonist “dramatizes the lived, felt connections between external constraints on freedom of action… and internal states that inhibit or foster such freedom… (164).

“Hamlet” is a well written and expertly dramatized play that evokes very strong existential elements. It exudes a preponderance of themes that convene upon the singular character of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, to ask the grave question of the essence of man’s existence. Whether encountered as a book or staged drama, the reader and/or audience are induced into a state of personal reflection upon the subject of purpose and meaning. It may well be prescribed as a commanding text on existentialism as a philosophy.

 Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet”. Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. 10^th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 867-992. Print.

Cooper, David. "Existentialism as a philosophical movement." The Cambridge Companion to EXISTENTIALISM. Ed. Steven Crowell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 34-35. Print.

Nevo, Ruth. "Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging." Modern Critical Interpretations: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 58. Print.

Scodel, Joshua. “Finding Freedom in Hamlet”. Modern Language Quarterly. 72.2. 2011. 163-200. doi:10.1215/00267929-1161301

 

 

 

 

On the fly!: Of Color, Racism & Power

I'ma say it like this:

Certain politicians sell fear to their racist, white base in exchange for political and economic power. They give them something (whatever it is) to fear - and of course, people hate what they fear - in order to maintain control and power over both racist base and oppressed "other". The end point of this callous game is for the politicians to amass wealth unto themselves and their corporo-fascist overlords. Nothing else matters more. 

Racism is not about color; it is about greed and the political power that fuels it. It is about Mammon, and nothing else.

Slavery was about money. Social Darwinism was about money. Jim Crow was about money. That "We will not be replaced!" trope is about the fear of being overrun or overtaken by the potential explosion of minority socioeconomic prosperity, if left uncurtailed, and then, perhaps, the ultimate exchanging of social statuses also. Republicanism and the Southern Strategy are about money.  That whole Tea Party movement... even that too was about the mullah. 

FOX NEWS' entire business plan is based on outright and/or partial dissemination of propaganda along the lines of anti-other rhetoric. Why? For the reason of garnering ratings, which in turn brings in the dough. FOX NEWS is not even registered by the FCC as a news broadcasting organization, but as an entertainment company. What this means is that their modus operandi runs off of  misrepresentation and misinformation. Long-term viewers watch the channel religiously, believing every word and everything. I have witnessed otherwise educated and intellectually sound folks who only would watch their channel for fun, become inundated with so much mind-numbing propaganda that they gradually lose some, if not all their capacities for reason. They basically target a certain class of the citizenry who are too intellectually lazy to verify the news for themselves; who reject the facts because they are considered to be too onerous, but embrace alternative facts because "It's on FOX", and so willfully, but ignorantly choose to be mined for ratings. 

The latest approach to perpetuating power and influence in the hands of the oligarchic kleptocracy in the form of Trumpian kakistocracy, IS about nothing but MONEY. 

"For the LOVE of MONEY is the root of all evil."

Down Below

        

        The plane hugged the night sky longer than normal, hovering atop dark, electric clouds that seemed to crackle with forewarning before the mad, eventual descent into the great kakotopia that was the City of Lagos. She lay sprawled out beneath us, enshrouded in the cover of night like a pirate’s hidden loot awaiting discovery. NEPA had long absconded its duty of supplying the land with regular electricity — long before I was born, even. Still, I looked through my porthole, somewhat expecting some kind of miracle that one can expect only time to wring out of a most miserly and unyielding contraption.

    “We are here, love. We’re home.”

    I turned to look at my wife as she roused our sleeping kids. I could sense suppressed glee in her voice, curbed only by the toll of the wearying journey from Istanbul.

    “Indeed, we are,” I said, nodding my reluctant agreement. “The darkness bears witness that we are finally home.”

    She gave me a rather stern look (the SMH type), her lips curling with a hint of humor. “Ase e ti poju,” she said in Yoruba (meaning “You are too pretentious”). “Look, you should be happy we got to land. What matters most is that we made it, babe,” she admonished.

    I understood the point of her reproof. The flight to Lagos had been fraught with some interesting events. Our pilot had to delay takeoff by at least 1 hour because of certain mechanical contingencies the engineers noticed in one engine, and simply could not overlook. Also, the Turkish Airlines pilot intimated he could probably do the Lagos trip on one engine to save time, but he’d rather heed the engineer’s advice to fix the other engine. As most of the manifest were Nigerians, the latter choice received overwhelming endorsement.

    Now the thing about Nigerians is that we take flying seriously. The typical Nigerian is deeply spiritual, and that constant spiritual consciousness often informs our important undertakings. Flying is one such undertaking. The decision to even fly at all would have undergone logistical analysis, divined through the eye of the Spirit, the plane and the pilot committed to the tender mercies of God, and our fellow flyers prayerfully screened for ill fortune in the higher realms. So, yeah, we waited until the captain eventually allayed all anxieties.

    Much later, the plane banked toward Lagos.

    IST - LOS/ TOUCHDOWN: ETA - 5 MIN

    The noise of the aircraft unraveling under-carriage unofficially signaled our impending landing at MMIA. The 5 mins had since passed, but the plane remained nestled within the clouds. Complaints echoed through the cabin. A dark, short, middle-aged man with an accent that sounded like a terrible hybrid of Ghanaian and Igbo took it upon himself to explain to the rest of us his thoughts on the latest developments. His opinion thus paraphrased: “The captain is having certain issues with the plane’s landing gear, and he simply can’t land yet. The noise we heard earlier was the under-carriage struggling to come out of the wheel well.” Remember, Nigerians don’t suffer negativity too well, especially when on an intercontinental flight. Therefore, Mr. Ghanigbo’s opinions were tantamount to sacrilege! And so, we let him have it. Long-winded hisses and short bursts of remonstrances flew in the man’s direction for a while. Las las, one no-nonsense Naija guy simply told Uncle Negative to sit his short self down, if he did not have a more educated take on matters arising.

    Suddenly, the pilot’s friendly voice crackled over the overhead PA:

    “Ladies and gentlemen, the authorities have delayed our scheduled landing at MMIA, Lagos, because of unexpected high traffic on the runways. We shall recommence the landing process when we receive the ALL-CLEAR confirmation from the Tower. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

    The plane banked left, and my monitor showed it headed toward Ghana. (Happy now, Mr. Ghanigbo?!).

    Wetin dey hapun na? Why ‘im dey carry us go Ghana? (What’s happening now? Why is the pilot taking us to Ghana?). Protestations rang out from Nigerian throats, even as flyers of other nationalities remained calm and mostly unbothered by the changes in proceedings. A Nigerian revolt threatened to break out in the cabin; the Turkish pilot (intuitively?) turned the plane toward Lagos.

    After a short while, we heard the now familiar noise of the landing gear, as Oga Pilot informed we would descend and finally land. The Airbus cut through the dark clouds pretty quickly with the usual gut-wrenching motions, as the airport loomed larger with every meter. The loud scrape of rubber upon tarmac announced our arrival to the sleeping city. Emotions welled up within me. Motherland began her pull like a living, hypnotizing magnet. Nostalgia had given way to feverish anticipation.

Oh Lagos!

To be cocooned in your humid embrace,

And my senses thus again assaulted

By the more familiar fragrance of thine open gutters,

Elated by the cacophony of the morning hustle,

Simply to drown in the night’s sweltering bustle

I have hence returned

Returned for a lungful of this here golden dust

One more time.

          

        

   

     The plane taxied toward the gate post haste, as if to apologize for keeping us in the air longer than usual. It slowed to a roll and came to a stop on the runway. We all sat there waiting, the sound of the Airbus’ engines and the drone of the airport’s generators the only stimuli around us. A faint light emanated from MMIA and pushed against the dark of the Lagosian night. It appeared a stick man pushing against Olumo Rock. We were still at least 1 km out from the gate. The captain came online for the 1000th time: The gates are so busy, officials are resolving the inconsiderable matter of a plane delayed at our designated gate, and things will clear up soon.

Loud groans filled the cabin for the umpteenth time, mine included. I cocked my head at Wifey.

“Se mi o so fun e? Ko s’ina. Gen gan ni airport n lo (Did I not tell you? There’s no light. Even the airport is running on generators). Could you imagine that after so long, the main international airport in the country still relies on generators for its operations? That’s just sad.”

“That’s true. I expected Ikeja to at least have light o.”

“Did you also notice that of all the places we’ve traveled to, only in Nigeria have we experienced jammed runways and overcrowded gates.”

“Ifemi, I think they have just been busy tonight,” she said, her tone somewhat apologetic on Nigeria’s behalf. My wife was still pretty attached to the place, having left only a few years prior. I left over a decade ago, and the strings of attachment and empathy for the nation’s shortcomings had worn rather thin by years of sojourning in other realms.

“No, ma’am... the other airports were busy likewise. The difference lies in the quality of organization and leadership, or the lack thereof in this case,” I lectured, gesticulating at the silhouette of MMIA in the distance. “Does a leopard ever change its spots?,” I asked Wifey, letting the sarcasm drip.

“Wo, iwo lomo. T’emi sha ni pe a ti de’le layo,” (Look, I don’t know what you’re on about. I’m just glad we’ve landed) she retorted, gathering some of our stuff. She was becoming irritated by what she later expressed as my “pontificating” where it concerned Nigeria.

It did not mollify me, instead my indignation stirred. The decay and regression I expected had materialized right from the skies above the homeland. I realized — during that eventual plunge — we might have been time-traveling between civilizations foregone, and what now presented like a rugged and uncharted terrain. Although reluctant to acknowledge it, the uncomfortable truth hit me: I could well need a guide in order to navigate the Fatherland, after all.

A stranger I had become in the land of my birth. That Wifey came with me was comfort itself.