I was considering the words of Secretary Mattis to the troops: “You just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it.”

As a veteran, I get that. I served with people who didn’t like me, and I didn’t like some of them, but we had a common purpose. A vision. If we all pulled together, we accomplished things – united we were powerful, a force to be reckoned with. We knew we needed each other no matter what religion or culture, no matter what shade of our skin, and no matter gender (and the latter has become more pronounced since I got out). We strengthened weak links in the chain.

You can say many things about scorned women, but a team with a common purpose is exponentially worse. Of course, this is in the interests of one nation, so it is often at odds with similar groups of people around the world, particularly when the politicians do what they’re good at – division. It’s how they get elected, after all, so armed with their hammers all they see are nails.

Humanity lacks a vision that is beyond itself. Sure, you can tell me about religion (it’s not like people seem to need an invitation), but realistically that too is a bit narcissism  – as if we humans matter enough when, in the broad scheme of things, we don’t contribute much other than consuming energy.

How are children not sexually transmitted diseases? How is a growing population that does nothing but grow and destroy what it lives in anything but a cancer?

Seems like we need a vision beyond that to truly survive. Otherwise we’re just rats in a cage looking to escape or eat each other.

Some say that this is already happening.