An election draws near, our beloved land is badly torn, and the world seems a cloud of flammable gas begging for the winds, the sparks of war.  Reading Euripides’ Plays from 122 score years past,  at least the sorrows of the play are given causal voice, and solutions that we may abhor.  For us, causality seems specious, irrelevant.  It is action we require, even though it be against a phantom or some deviously blamed foe.

Does not Agamemnon rule in favor of Hecuba, enslaved queen of Troy, when Polymestor is blinded and his sons are killed by the enslaved Trojan women for justice sake after Polymestor, king of Thrace and ally of both Greece and Troy, killed her son whose safekeeping and fortune Troy entrusted to Thrace, for the gold.   Agamemnon surely does rule for Hecuba, and it’s more complicated, but even in 410 BCE people understood that positions change depending on circumstances.  We often lack that wisdom.  We want absolutes, digital resolution.  Digital is nothing but an approximation of the world, growing ever better, but it will never be the same.

We humans and our communities have always had a lot of problems and today is no exception.  As the breadth of our understanding improves, so, too, the problems that come into view increase.  We don’t solve problems as quickly as they come into view creating backlog, angst, stress, and a sense of being overwhelmed resulting in anger and conflict, even armed conflict.  Sometimes this backlog and apparent stagnation leads to war which, if nothing else, creates urgency that staves off our frustration at the pile of problems by putting one problem at the top of the list and giving us a bizarre sense of “doing something about it” as the death toll rises.

While war and threats of war are effective in containing, even removing, real threats to the peaceful coexistence of humans, such enormous suffering is often insufficient to dislodge the base ideas and disagreements that led to the conflict.  For instance, the fact that 28 nations do not recognize Israel or the right of Israel to exist remains the core issue causing conflict in that region.  A two state solution cannot solve any problem if the two states do not agree in full measure and not some time limited stance that each other have the right to exist.  This was a problem with the PLO whose charter called for the destruction of Israel, and it remains a problem in many parts of the region with quite a few of the 28 states refusing or removing recognition in recognition of the importance of partnerships with other states who overtly seek the destruction of Israel.  Hamas, one may recall, offered a ten year truce in about 2008.

In such matters, which are legion among us, one hears that there are two sides.  Would that this were so, however, our problems are often an agglomeration of woes with many factors and resolving one problem may be nearly impossible if the fundamental ideations remain unchanged.  You see, an ideation, a mindset whence springeth forth ideas and ideologies is abstract and not subject to violence.  We know this, but we still behave as though we can extinguish such flames by the Cherem – the ban – total destruction, the extirpation – the exile and shunning, imprisonment, even torture and execution.  Hard though we have tried, history shows us that ideas cannot be thusly silenced.  And the more our understanding grows, the more we know or should know that our fundamental ideation is flawed. 

There is no superior race and there is no superior gender.  Sexual orientation and Gender identity have always been a spectrum in the Human population.  I believe strongly that this is so, and I also believe strongly in Christ Jesus.  Yet many, perhaps most, do not agree, especially my Christian peers.  In conflicts like these, it is essential that governance permit the freedom to disagree without fostering the freedom to oppress.  It is a hard task, a balance is so very difficult.  Even with my notions, I am still very troubled by gender altering or affirming care before a person has reached the age of brain maturity, perhaps 25.  Medical changes do not alter the being albeit they may provide comfort in outward presentation.  At 63, I hardly know who I am albeit my gender is quite comfortable.  How does a child really know who they are, make permanent changes at a very young age?  As I wrote above, the world is analog with infinite variability, not a set of defined platforms that everyone will agree to.

Some things are not analog, however, no, things contrived by man, such as nations, exist or don’t.  I will always support the right of the nation of Israel to exist as a sovereign nation and homeland for the Jewish people.  That does not mean that I will or do support everything that Israel elects to do, but it does mean that I will be biased against those who disagree on that fundamental point of national existence.   The lack of opportunity for diplomatic engagement caused by refusal to make progress on this single issue is the root cause of many security concerns for Israel and the middle east in general.

The problem remains that here, as in other areas, we deal with not only ideas but ideation within the context of a world view.  If a group has a world view that all problems, or most, are caused by a race or some group then their ideas and policies will follow that normative behavior within the worldview, reinforcing it with as much gusto as those in power counting on that view can muster.  Hate, you see, can be a stronger binding tie than love.  Much stronger in short spurts, the lynch mob for instance.

That being said, it seems fairly clear that our approach to persuasion, particularly using economic force, is a failure.  For such a force, like sanctions, to be effective, it must impact the leadership of the country being persuaded or given that “from twisting” in Latin is Ex Torsion, being extorted.  This notion fails the test if the leaders of a country are not concerned for the general welfare of their citizens and also gives those same leaders ammunition to demonize those imposing sanctions steeling the policies and issues even more strongly. 

We should know this well.  After all, one of the major causes of World War II was the treaty of Versailles, a virtual economic death penalty, imposed on Germany after World War I.  They of course did not abide by the agreement, no one did anything about it, and well, the rest is history except that the agreement was completely unreasonable to begin with which made any thought of compliance specious.  Germany found friends, they found resources, and they found a fake boogie man to blame things on, just as Christians had done since about 300 CE.  

Economic pressures can result in a lot of suffering and death with no change in policy, much less a change in world view, ideation, or ideology.  And when measures are left in place for a long time without relief or progress, it is inevitable that the sanctioned party will find friends, resources, and the camaraderie of suffering against a demonized opponent who persecutes them.  Consider the Gaza strip blockade in place since Hamas took power in 2007.  It may have slowed things, but it did not stop them.  Even more wisely crafted limitations on technology exports are but a reduction in the pace, not a full stop – consider North Korea, for instance, or Iran which (we are told) supplies technology, drones, to Russia.

And for economic pressure to have impact, it must restrict that which exists, not that which has not existed for many years.  Where assets have been seized, I suppose economic hostage taking has its place in forcing negotiations, however, that’s not a basis for a long term solution to anything.

Regardless of our selection in November, or whom other nations choose (or are forced to admit) as leaders, the existential crisis remains that of parties unwilling to discuss their care-abouts largely because primary, core differences remain intractable and insoluble.  Trade dependencies, such as oil or natural gas, between parties in significant disagreement further tie diplomacy in virtual gordian knots, perhaps only undone by the sword slicing it in twain, one of the legendary solutions found by Alexander the Great.  If we continue to fail, I have no doubt that the sword will come out but I doubt it will provide any long term solution; the knot will prevail.