"Pandora’s Box"
by William Schryver
"In Greek mythology, Pandora’s Box (it was actually a jar) is the story of how suffering entered the human world. After the Titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, Zeus determined to afflict mankind with trials and tribulations. He ordered the craftsman god Hephaestus to fashion the first woman. The other gods endowed her with gifts: Athena taught her various practical skills, Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes instilled cunning. They named her Pandora, “all-gifted.”
Zeus sent Pandora to Earth as a gift for Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus. Despite Prometheus’ warning never to accept anything from Zeus, Epimetheus welcomed her. Along with Pandora came a sealed jar that Zeus had filled with every kind of evil - sickness, old age, unrequited toil, war, and all manner of other miseries.
Zeus commanded that the jar must never be opened. But curiosity overcame Pandora. She lifted the lid, and the evils flew out into the world, forever afflicting humanity. When she saw what she had done, Pandora rushed to close the jar. But it was too late. Only one thing remained inside: Hope.
Rumors abound this evening that the masters of empire have set in motion a plan to severely punish the Iranians for their perceived impudence in defying imperial decrees, and challenging the imperial order of things upon the earth. Many interpret these rumors to suggest the Americans will unleash thermonuclear fire upon a nation and a people they have pronounced enemies which must be destroyed in the interest of the common good.
But it is no longer 1945. Promethean fire has proliferated upon the planet. Iran possesses this knowledge and power, and the means to exercise it. Other more powerful countries will stand aghast and outraged if the Americans were to again release the nuclear genie from its bottle.
I remain thoroughly convinced that Russia, China, and North Korea will interpret such an action as an existential threat against all of them - for it will demonstrate that the still very dangerous but rapidly declining empire has completely lost its mind.
It is a very small step between attacking a military target with a nuclear weapon, and attacking a city wherein military activities are believed to take place. That was, of course, the path of rationalization that led to the targeting of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Have the masters of fading empire arrived at the desperate state of mind where they are willing to set fire to the world with the aspiration to rule over the ashes? I sure hope not. But I fear we are racing to the point in time where hope is all that’s left."

No comments:
Post a Comment