Global Perspective

According to Machiavellian power politics if you want to get your way its better to avoid the direct confrontational approach and instead use subtle manipulation techniques, for this will enable you to get your way without the other side actually realizing that they are being played. 

If you ask me God is an admirer of Machiavelli… Here we humans are with all our machinery and technology, claiming to be masters of our surroundings, yet over the last week all our toys were grounded.  Billions of Pounds, Dollars and Euros have been lost as the skies above Europe became no-fly zones as dust and ash blew over from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. 

The English of course have celebrated this by printing T-shirts emblazoned with the words “we said send Cash not Ash” in reference the huge sums that were owed to them by Iceland before the country defaulted and declared bankruptcy. On the other hand I received an email claiming that it is comeuppance for the British Advertising Board banning an Israeli Tourist Ministry’s advertisement that was geared towards boosting tourism, for being misleading since it showed pictures of the Western Wall with the words “Itinerary in Israel” nearby - of course the Western wall and Har Habayit are not in Israel but in annexed East Jerusalem! So under the eye for an eye principle God banned all tourism to the UK for a week. 

Regardless of the take on the situation one fact remains, Life is Fragile and we are fragile. We may think that we know what we are doing and that we are in control but ultimately we are not. This was reinforced to us at the branch this week as a friend and colleague got hit by a bus as he crossed the road right outside the building.  That he survived a head on collision with a bus is only due to Gods benevolence.  As the Yiddish saying goes - Mench Tracht und God Lacht (Man tries and God laughs.) 

As we forget about Earth day that passed by almost unnoticed this year, and as the ash clouds from Eyjafjallajökull dissipates, we will naturally regain our swagger and feel in control once again.  But this time let us try and remember that this is merely a Machiavellian type of allusion, we may be in the driving seat, but we are not in control of the car!

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