A World on Fire?

A sense of historical perspective and responsible rhetoric may be too much to ask of candidates at this stage in a presidential campaign. With fifteen contenders all looking to score points some hyperbole is to be expected. Even so the level of threat inflation and “world in flames” talk last night was troublesome given how at odds it is with fundamental trends in world affairs. Here is just a sampling of last week’s overheated discussion of global dangers: Donald Trump: “The world is blowing up around us. …These are extraordinarily dangerous times that we live in.” Ben Carson: “We’re talking about global jihadists who want to destroy us. …They are an existential threat to our nation.” Rick Santorum: “Yes, they (Iran) are radical Islamists, that’s true. But their particular version of it, which is an apocalyptic version, which is a death cult, they believe in bringing about the end of the - end of the world. If you - if you poll Iranians and Iraqis, Shiites in the region, more than two-thirds of them believe that the end of the world is going to come within their lifetime. …They believe in bringing about the end of times. That’s their theological goal and we are in the process of giving them a nuclear weapon to do just that.” Mike Huckabee: “This is really about the survival of Western civilization.” With the candidates competing to outdo each other’s apocalyptic visions of the threats facing the U.S., it is no surprise that their policy pr...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs