Sharks dive deeper before hurricanes. Wolves howl when a storm is approaching. Snakes slither away from earthquakes. Something’s happening here, and definitely, what it is ain’t exactly clear. Unfortunately, our intellects don’t provide us the instinctual early warning system our animal cousins possess.
Almost every era of human history since the nation state arose, has been filled with human engendered catastrophes; wars, plagues, massacres, political repression. Did people before us have a sense of foreboding that now seems to permeate all sectors of society?
Maybe the closest prescience came before World War II that was marked by the rise of fascist dictatorships and their bellicose leaders who threatened to do what occurred. With wars in Palestine, Ukraine, and Sudan, and threats of nuclear weapons, there is an eerie, similar, 1939 feeling to our era.
Radicals then, including anarchists, warned of what was impending in the near future, but the madness of the leaders, often echoed in the populace, was ignored. In another era, the Cuban Missile Crisis marched the world to the brink of nuclear war, but that time it was averted.
Those who realize that such crises are an inherent part of civilization and the nation state can do no differently regardless of what may lie ahead.
Organize. Disrupt. Refuse. Resist. Offer solidarity. Put forth a vision as an antidote to nationalistic insanity.
You haven’t missed an issue; we have. This issue follows our Fall 2023 edition.
This Issue’s Cover: “Gathered, but why?” by Richard Halprin