Worst-case scenarios, while statistically possible, are largely improbable. This is unsurprising. Creativity typified by human imagination has led directly to the greatness of high culture. That same restless inventiveness, when applied to frightening scenarios in the real world, can sometimes make the grimmest possible outcomes seem all but inevitable, largely ignoring the realities of a situation or the barriers in place to prevent such horrible occurrences. Occasionally, however, the worst-case scenario happens. Sometimes, the worst-case fails to be imaginative enough, and we gaze on in stunned silence at the aftermath of a tsunami that drowns 200,000 people, a city subjected to flood waters it was supposedly protected against, or two of the tallest buildings in the world reduced to rubble by an unimaginable act of violence. These were sudden shocks to the system. What is happening in Iraq today is a worst-case scenario being played out in slow motion. Iraq is a humbling experience for the human condition. It is the showcase piece in how a society can be induced to consume itself. Continue reading “Perpetually Tumbling”