Pedro's Podium: The Best Laid Plans

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) wrote in his poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" a line that relates to the human condition: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry.) The John Steinbeck novella “Of Mice and Men” was inspired by this classic poem. Throughout the history of man this oft quoted line of poetry has proven to fit the times. The current situation in the world reminded me of this poem.

When the industrial revolution started society chose a path that has lead to a standard of living far above anything known in history. The American system of free expression allowed for the release of the human creative spirit which accelerated this prosperity. In the last 100 years the growth improvement of human lives has improved more than in any other time known. With this growth in prosperity, life span, and general welfare of all humans on this planet have come risks.

Human life is risk. One of the most dangerous things you can do is get out of bed in the morning. The act of waking up in the morning and climbing out of your bed is a shock to your system, but no one is saying that everyone should stay in bed. In fact laying in bed is also dangerous the lack of movement of the legs can cause fatal blood clots. It is important that we avoid panic and consider the risk of our actions in life.

Without risk the human race would not exist. If our ancestors had never taken any risk, they would have starved. Without their willingness to not only take risks but make hard decisions the world would be a much different place.

There are many in this world that seems to think that we can return to an agriculture society. The return to an agrarian existence in which we would abandon our cities and return to the land is not based in a reality in which there would be too many people and not enough land. Any attempt to move to such a major cultural shift would mean the death of millions. We have become too dependent on modern technology. Many of those who would have to be force to raise their own food would more than likely face doom. The abandoning of modern medicine would kill many and doom others to slow lingering deaths. The last time a society was forced into such a technical regression resulted in what is known today as the Cambodia Killing Fields. This is the type of thinking that comes from those on the left. They believe that they can build a utopia on Earth. Such thinking does not take into account the human cost of such ideas.

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The natural disaster in Japan that started with an earthquake, then a tsunami, then aftershocks, which lead to radiation leaks and now possible meltdowns in several of the nuclear cores at power plants. These events point to the undeniable facts that life is not perfect and no matter how well we plan we are often helpless when presented with the awesome force of nature. Far too many people seem to believe that life should be without risk. But life and the human condition is all about risk. It didn’t take long for the anti-nuclear groups to start spreading lies about nuclear power and power plants. Even though there have been some control releases of radioactive steam and some hydrogen explosions these power plants are in a controlled shutdown. There have been some deaths from those explosions and some exposure to radiation, but the number of deaths directly related to this phase of this massive natural disaster will be much less than what has already occurred due to the earthquake and tsunami. Much of the hysteria is being drummed up by the media and their lack of understanding of the safe guards in place at nuclear plants.

The power plants that are currently being shutdown are over 40 years old. These plants were built in a way to allow them to survive earthquakes. The earthquake that hit these plants was much stronger than anything being considered with no real consideration for flooding and they survived the shock without leaking radiation. What we are seeing now is the long process of the core cooling and the pile becoming stable. The only real danger would be if the actual containment vessel were to be breached. But at this point that possibility is becoming less likely, but not totally impossible.

The anti-nuclear groups continue to imply that there is a possibility of a massive failure that will result in an explosion that will spread a nuclear cloud that will kill millions. Such hysteria is not based in reality. A nuclear pile in an atomic power plant can not explode. The whole idea of a “China Syndrome” was created by an author and is not based upon physics. Even if such an explosion were even possible, which it is not, the affect would be much smaller than the actual nuclear explosions that were purposely created using actual uranium, plutonium, and hydrogen bombs in the decades of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. These bombs were exploded in the atmosphere in the Southern Pacific, the South Western US, and various other locations across the planet.

All things considered the largest disaster in Japan is not the nuclear power plants, but the things that caused the nuclear crisis. We must accept that fact that when there are huge disasters in first world countries there will be long term dangers. Just as those who came before us, we must be willing to make rational decisions based upon facts, not hype and lies.

In the arrogance often shown by those who seek to plan all aspects of human life we find the idea that human society can obtain perfection. The most dangerous things about people seeking perfection is the definition used to define that ideal society and the means that are used to obtained it. I can not believe that utopia can exist on this planet. We have no way to control the forces that cause hurricanes, earthquakes, or any of the other numbers of natural disasters that plague the Earth.

A FBI agent who infiltrated the Weather Underground in the 60s testified that the member of this terrorist organization thought that they would need to “eliminate at least 25 million people” who would stand in the way of their new social order. The ideas and many of the people who created the Weather Underground are still around. President Obama knows, and some claim that he is friends with, the founders William Ayres and his wife. Such people in such powerful positions do not fill me with confidence.

We must learn to accept the risks that allow us to live our lives. We must overcome the tragedies of our existence. We must stop blaming others and expect someone to pay for our own mistakes. Each of us must look at our life and count our blessings. We must stop listening to those who tell us how bad things are and how they can make it better, when their plans have proven to only lead to death and misery. We must turn our backs on Socialism, Progressivism, Communism, Islamism, and radical environmentalism. The result of each of these ideologies is the end of millions of innocent lives and the end of all human freedoms.

So as we look at the best laid schemes of men we must remember that none of us are perfect and that no matter how well you plan, those plans can go awry.