In 2020 I mentioned to then WAMC News Director Ian Pickus that having reached 85, I was retiring from essay-writing, and not planning to submit any more. Very kindly he interviewed me in November 2020 and said that if I wanted to make any further submissions I would be welcome; so now, at 90, I submit ‘just one more.’
A common misconception about retirement is that one might kick back, read books, and/or travel. For many, especially homeowners, that may not be the case. Looking after home and health become more time-consuming - increasing medical and dental issues, failing appliances, car repair, and so on; yet as I watch the news I obviously form opinions. The world, AI, space, politics.
Concerning the latter, I see politicians making statements that are sometimes flat-out (and verifiably) untrue, so I enjoy hearing statements from truthful people like former astronaut Senator Captain Kelly, Minnesota’s longtime Senator Amy Klobuchar, or reporter Kaitlan Collins - a one-time chemistry major who in her journalism clearly respects science and facts. As a retired scientist I empathize.
Now, I am neither registered Democrat nor Republican, and I have for the last six decades voted as an Independent. For me, independent thought is crucial, and when I hear people say ‘I’m a lifelong such-and-such’ I am sad because it means they’re closing the book on assessing things objectively.
As I mentioned in the interview with Ian Pickus, my background is in physics, with an obvious interest in just facts. When Senator Mark Kelly refers to Donald Trump’s ‘gang of corrupt lackeys... who must be replaced by patriots... who take on corruption... and uphold their oath to support and defend the Constitution,’ I have to applaud.
Right now we have re-elected leaders like Putin and Trump, plus unelected billionaire Musk, who is pouring money towards people he would like to sway - hardly what the Founding Fathers had in mind. Our Constitution is a well-thought-out document that many nations - from the Philippines to Mexico and Japan to England - praised.
As for the re-election(s) of Putin, opposition candidates are either poisoned (Navalny), imprisoned, assassinated, or fall from hi-rise balconies.
Since 2024 something has gone wrong; to hear Trump’s consigliere Witkoff refer to Putin as a ‘humanitarian’ is Orwellian double-speak, or to have anti-vaccination RFK Jr. in charge of the CDC, are all absurd, and I add here that for a decade now I’ve had suspicions about Trump’s support for aggressor Putin. Indeed, could that one just be related to money?
Briefly now, what about those other topics – warfare, plus the dangers of AI?
Concerning war, a global desire for peace is not a ridiculous idea. As early as 1795 Emmanuel Kant wrote of the concept of a community of nations in his “Perpetual Peace: a Philosophical Sketch.” In 1899 and 1907 major nations met at the Hague, in what became
known as the Hague Peace Conferences. President Teddy Roosevelt played a leading role in the 1907 Conference, together with the Tsar of Russia. In 1902 the Permanent Court of Arbitration had been established, and in 1918 President Woodrow Wilson’s “14 Points” was presented to Congress, becoming the blueprint for the 1920s League of Nations. The UN was formed in 1946 after World War II, but suffers from the self-defeating absurdity of vetoes for major powers.
Humans are ingrained with war and love watching fights. We observe that the animal world is competitive and involves killing, but nevertheless I’m convinced, like Emmanuel Kant, that humanity can do better. Yes, an alligator in Florida drags a man to his death because he was fishing in the animal’s territory; a spider will catch an insect in its web and eat it; a tiger will kill for food; and that surely is how all life has always been. But do mankind’s efforts at civilization have to be the same? Can emerging humans ever transcend this and begin to develop a world at peace? We don’t know.
Well time is up. In my view neither Putin nor Trump should ever have been leaders. The latter is not only seriously incompetent, but is not representative of who we are as a decent nation.
Finally, in case it be thought that in 2028's general election I might vote Democratic, certainly I’m not able to support anyone like the ineffectual former vice president [Kamala Harris]. My humble suggestion would be Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
David Nightingale’s first essay on WAMC aired in 1999. The topic was Y2K.
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