Goodbye to the Ice covered Arctic Ocean And Hello to Cold War II

It seems that the Arctic Ocean is losing its ice much faster than was expected. That means we can say goodbye to polar bears, to several species of seals, and to the last Inuit who try to live in the traditional ways.

It’s goodbye to something that countries like Canada celebrated as a true national treasure– the great Arctic Wilderness where three continents came together at the top of the world. Soon the ice will be gone and the Northwest Passage–that great fabled passage which sent many men to their graves– will be open. The Great Game that has been restarted between the a new Russian Empire and the United States will probably expand into the Arctic Sea.

These developments should scare us all. It seems our fearless leader, with his 24 percent approval rating, is gung-ho for starting another war with Iran, calling it “World War III.” He continues to spout utter nonsense, even though it’s obvious such a confrontation will probably destroy the global economy. Even worse, he’s willing to do insane things to the Russians, if they continue their antiwar stance.

I should say that I don’t much like Putin, but he’s right on this particular issue. He’s also using oil profits to sure up pensions in Russia, which is why he’s so popular these days among his own people, who were driven to such penury during the Yeltsin regime. This populism may explain why he so universally hated in the West. He’s not Yeltsin. He’s not a progressive of any kind, but he’s not engaging in the total free market system that global capital wants. And his stance on Iran isn’t helping things either– keep in mind that Iran isn’t bending its whole agenda to global capital either.

Bush fears a potential Russian challenge to US hegemony, so he wants to place a missile shield in Poland, I think. He says its about protecting Europe from “Iranian nuclear weapons.” (Why no one laughs at this is beyond me. Can you imagine Iran nuking Europe? If you can, you must be a neocon!) Really, he’s doing his best to start a new confrontation with Russia, because he knows that a Cold War type economy is what the men behind him want and the war on terror is horribly discredited. He is being told that he must start a showdown with Russia to cause even more spending on the military– into the hands of the defense contractors.

It’s the same way Harry Truman started the Cold War all those years ago. And for the same reasons.

So as the Ice disappears in the Arctic Ocean, watch the chill that suddenly descends upon humanity. A new era of paranoia, a new era of brinkmanship. Not based upon a fear of triumphal socialism, but based upon fear’s utility alone. Fear to keep you in line. Fear to keep you from questioning power. Same shit, different assholes.