Andrei Cornea, Dilema.ro: Oracles

Statesmen of ancient times used to consult the oracles of the gods to find out if and when to start wars. At other times, they consulted various seers who tried to decipher the will of the gods by examining the flight of birds or the liver of some victims. Of course, the oracles were difficult to interpret, so errors were quite often major. Philosophers murmured against superstitions, but to no avail. The advantage was that the people, at least, could console themselves that, whatever happens, the gods are always right, and politicians had seers to blame for the supposed misunderstanding of divine signs. As for the philosophers – exile, silence, or hemlock!

Looking at the wars of today, I believe we could recommend today’s politicians, especially the leaders of the most powerful countries in the world, to revive the practice of consulting oracles and seers, if they are so determined to trigger wars they do not know how to carry out, let alone win. (The term "wars" is used loosely, as, as is known, some of them do not even have the courage to call the endless and miserable conflicts they have gotten into by that name, but resort to various euphemisms.)

It seems that neither ultra-advanced technologies, nor enormous military capabilities, nor even Artificial Intelligence help. What can Artificial Intelligence say when faced with the ideological nonsense, the arrogance of Power, the blatant contempt for truth, and the anti-liberal malice? It is much easier to obtain ovations in the "post-truth" era before the public, bombarded with slogans, than to convince the whole world that the Strait of Hormuz is open, when it continues to be unsafe for the world’s oil tankers. The world oil price does not heed your injunctions, just as the henchmen and sycophants do. How can you know what to do and how, after you have demolished your own administration by driving out competent and honest people, when you have made a chaos of the Department of Defense, when the merits for appointments to positions were merely being an enemy of the former administration, when almost the only thing that matters is flattering the bosses and especially the Boss and showing evidence of ideological loyalty? You have puffed up like a turkey before the whole world, threatened your peaceful neighbors that you would absorb them, asked some of your most loyal allies for support, and refused to give them the trust, as you used to, that you would protect them no matter what. Now it seems you need them and ask for their support. They give it to you, but they do not do it with a light heart and not even convinced that you will learn a lesson.

The immense evil of theocratic fanaticism and state terrorism – an indisputable reality – cannot be effectively combated when the infatuation and arrogance of those who rightly want to destroy it combine with ideological contempt for those who think differently. Propaganda does not help protect oil installations. Flattery is ridiculous, but it quickly becomes a global danger. Resentment against science, poisoning the public with absurd conspiracy theories has consequences, especially when it comes to planning military actions or estimating the global economic impact of such actions. Hatred against liberalism or the so-called "globalism" is counterproductive. Aligning with fundamentalists (Christian or Jewish) to combat Islamic fundamentalism is toxic. Clinging to power corrupts minds and makes you resemble the "others" you are fighting against. A certain head of government becomes permanent in power, despite accumulating errors and serious accusations and the discredit in which he leads his own country, while his great ally would like to follow his example of a similar permanence, even if it breaks the law. Both idolize the most terrible despots in the world, while claiming to fight for freedom. Both (as well as their allies, of course) aspire to remain in history books as saviors and political geniuses. They will not succeed. Books are already being written that will condemn them as models of corruption and intoxication with power, which bring major harm to the world and their peoples.

The spectacle is equally ridiculous and grim. Deadly theocratic fanaticism on one side, foolish arrogance on the other, are warring against each other. To know who will win and how, we would need a true oracle at this moment. Otherwise, no Pythia is needed to know who will lose: decency, reason, and all of us.

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