Troubles: Ebola and the Islamic State.

My one loyal reader – Archie – asked me the other day why I had not written anything since July. This is not easy to answer as there is always SOMETHING to write about but, no excuse, I just felt like a break. Not that I have been entirely inactive. I also write letters, principally to our Australian politicians - some of whom seem in need of guidance in ethical conduct!!

My Blog is about “Ethics and Life”, which covers just about everything – this is why I chose the name. Now, today, there are two major issues (events) that need addressing – Ebola and Terrorism. 

Neither is easy to explain or to cure – if that is the correct word to use for terrorism. But both have a similar root. In the case of Ebola – poverty, lack of basic facilities and poor education, in other words, injustice. In the case terrorism, in this instance the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) – injustice, both perceived and actual, and historical precedent.

Firstly Ebola. Fear, leading to inaction and helplessness is/are the main concerns with this truly awful disease. Fear – knowing that there is no cure; helplessness and inaction – knowing that there is nothing that can be done except wait. The speed with which the virus attacks its victims is astonishing – the incubation period is between two and twenty-one days. Once it strikes the victim is dead within about ten days. The only glimmer of  “light” is that not everyone who contracts the disease actually dies – victims have about a 1:4 chance of surviving, even without treatment.

But the reason for the rapid spread of this frightening virus is the common factor of poverty – poor standards of education and a lack of basic hygienic facilities (appropriate housing, clean water, piped sewage) – all of which relate back to poverty.

Why this poverty prevails is complex but ultimately stems from a reluctance by the “developed” world to provide the means to help the local population root out corrupt and inept governments and to improve their living standards.

This is why there are so many people trying to gain entry into Europe, the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia by "illegal" means – to escape the impoverished conditions in their own countries. And we (the developed countries) blindly turn them back – a VERY short-sighted approach. 

My imagination fails me when I try and envisage what it would be like to know that I have a 75% chance of dying because I came in contact with the “bodily fluids” of someone who had Ebola – my wife, child or other family member, or a friend, or someone I was trying to help. Then what about the emotional and psychological effect of watching someone you love die, because nothing can be done except comfort them as best as possible.

Truly shocking. But we, in developed countries are part of the problem – and the solution.

Secondly - the BIG ONE – terrorism. Let me state at the outset that what the believers in, and the followers of, the Islamic State (IS) are doing is absolutely appalling and casts them into the outer fringe of what is generally considered as humanity.

My understanding is that the IS – and their various off-shoots - has an agenda that is driven by an idealism that is not, and cannot, be matched by those who oppose them. For instance I do not believe that even the professionalism of the men and women in the Royal Australian Air Force (or any of the coalition forces cobbled together by the USA) is a match for the idealistic (and ostensibly religious) fervour that drives these extremists.  

These people – the IS – are driven by a combination of deep resentment at their treatment by the Christians over the thousand years since the first Crusades; by what they (the Muslims) see as “Western customs” which they consider as profane and which violate their understanding of what it means to live a life according to the Law as divulged by God/Allah to the Prophet Mohammed and by what Muslims experience as marginalisation and diminished “status”. This is evident in the manner by which the rest of the world treats them, hence their avowed intention to re-create a Caliphate which, they firmly believe, will give them cause for pride and status in the world.

So, we in the developed nations, are part of both  the problem and the solution.

The IS see themselves as re-creating something “good”, by whatever means, however obscene and barbaric these may be to others. But they are also trying to make a point for disaffected Muslim youth – “See, we are strong and people fear us. Come and join us and you too will be seen as strong.” This is attractive to disaffected and marginalised youth.

This is what may be considered as a Crusade – in reverse. These “new” Crusaders (for Islam) want to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs – what they had in the first Caliphate. This reversion to the “old” Caliphate which would comprise all of North Africa, Portugal and Spain in the West, Jerusalem and the entire Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East and as far as the China border in the East, plus Indonesia and (possibly) the Philippines, which are more recent additions to the Muslim World.

This, for the IS, would be a start.

Whatever means the USA and their allies use to combat the IS it will take a very long time to achieve “victory”. Remember that the Crusades of the Middle Ages extended over a period of nearly two hundred years – from the First Crusade in 1096AD to the Ninth and last Crusade which ended in 1272AD.

It took this long for Christian Crusaders to reclaim most of the lands overrun by the Saracens or “Moors” in their initial expansion – but, note carefully, they never defeated Islam; they never killed the ideal. An ideal, a goal, a promise or religious fervour can NEVER be defeated. It lives on in the hearts and minds of the believers no matter what. Look at what the might of ancient Rome did to the original Christians – yet they survived.

The USA and their “coalition”, unfortunately, will never defeat the ideals and the fervour of the IS. The only way is through negotiation, however unthinkable this may seem. Unless there is negotiation the IS may be driven underground where it will fester for generations, before resurfacing somewhere, unexpectedly and with unforseen results.

This is a "new" world scene that we are entering.