Base Camp is where visitors go to relax, unwind, and get familiar with an anthology of earlier material.

Tic-Toc…

My economist and business friends are optimistic that world wars are not a real possibility.

The reason? The interconnection of the globe’s various economies.

In theory it’s a promising argument. In practice it’s losing ground, fast. Scarcity is more powerful than both the economy and morality, and my friends’ once-solid optimism is diminishing. The debt crisis digs away at the foundation of the status quo, eroding the credit of financial and banking systems, resulting in the rise of failed nations and angry populists.

As far as technocracies are concerned, they’re super on paper, ideal to have and implement. They’re informed, rational, and in line with the complex times. In reality, though, as they stand, they’re left wanting, or rather they leave many people wanting. They lack humaneness, or should I say, humanity.

Of course humanity is synonymous to human culture. And human culture has been known to be inhumane. Or inhuman, I forget which is which.

Bottom line, the threat of global armed conflict and financial turmoil is a clear and present danger. The Middle East is a gunpowder keg waiting to explode. Latin America has been mismanaged and agitated for centuries. China treats its human resources as if they were livestock. And the West has lost its way, inviting fallout by failing to address the slums scarring its cities’ peripheries, giving rise to a modern-day version of “siege the castle, storm the keep.”

Do the terms ‘Paris riots’ and ‘London riots’ ring a bell? How about red flags – do they raise any?

They should. Riots don’t happen on a whim, not on that scale. Something rotten fuels them. Denying it is not doing anyone any good.

The clock ticks. The thunder rolls. Another day, another breath. Have a nice Frapuccino, or a nice day at home, chugging Miller Genuine Draft. Whatever your poison, the clock ticks for everyone. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Here’s what I’m going to do about it. I will continue to develop my plan ‘Citizen Guarantees,’ an initiative that will enable people to sponsor individuals of their own choosing, helping them ride out the debt crisis. Call it ‘micro-financing for the West.’ The idea is to let private citizens step up and plug the holes their governments can’t take care of, enabling those down on their luck to get back on their feet, while pushing back the bureaucrats and their henchmen who’ve been itching to get their hands on the livelihoods of everyman and everywoman in the name of institutionalism. Take the initiative away from the pretentious. Instead of a bigger mess, how about we make a difference for a change?

Tic-toc…