We live in an age of delusions where it's widely believed that politicians have the power to mange the economy, stop viruses from spreading, control the weather and move mountains. The hubris is on full display everywhere and came to a climax a week ago when a Spanish politician suggested without a hint of irony that the La Palma volcano should be managed by the military.
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| La Palma volcano |
This revealed for all to see how out of touch with reality people can be. The volcano is relatively small as volcanos go, but it is a mountain. No bombs will make much of an impact on it. We are powerless to do much of anything to control it. Any dent we might make in it will soon be filled up again and rendered useless.
For reference, here's a close up of a suburb situated next to a hill the size of the one visible in the lower right hand corner of the above image.
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| Lava flow encroaching on a suburb |
The black patch in the center of this picture is lava encroaching on the suburb to the right. The lava has stopped moving for now, but who in their right mind would believe it possible to stop or redirect any of this?
Meanwhile, politicians are congratulating themselves for all sorts of things over which they have no more control than they have over the lava depicted above. They come together to discuss ways to control the weather, the economy and virus infections. Yet, even a relatively small patch of lava is completely out of their control.
As a curious aside, a glowing spectacle to the left of the hill was moving slowly from right to left, and I couldn't figure out what it was before I realized that the backdrop is not the sky but the sea. The spectacle is a boat reflecting the rays of the rising sun.
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