The War of the Worlds Part II

What if the Martians land? Will this be one way to achieve world peace on a micro and macrocosmic level? Will the Assad regime and the rebels unite against a common enemy? Will Dennis Rodman no longer be needed as the good will ambassador to Pyongyang (as detailed by the Times, (“Rodman Gives Details on Trip to North Korea,” NYT, 9/9/13)? Will the Argentinians finally place the Falklands on the back burner and join forces with the British? Will the Iranians and the Israelis fall into each others arms and was the recent twitter from President Hassan Rouhani a hopeful sign of the future cooperation that might occur if our world were ever attacked by aliens, or was it just a ruse? Will all the warring couples who are about to get divorced live and let live (certainly you’ve seen those heartening situations when the arguing couple takes time out of their struggle to take aim at the unscrupulous merchant) and will the Hatfields and McCoys in all their present forms suddenly heal their grievances? Will all divisions between men and women, between couch potatoes and those who like to live on the wild side, between blonds and brunettes and especially between black and white suddenly fall apart when faced with the prospect of a Martian Invasion? If Orson Welles famed broadcast of The War of the Worlds is a litmus test, then the answer is a resounding “no!” The approach of the Martians will only cause on thing: panic! If history teaches us anything, it’s that faced with stressful situations, mankind, both individually and collectively, seldom “take arms against a sea of troubles/ And by opposing end them.” No that would be to simple. So great is the death impulse that self-destruction and the destruction of others appear to be the road more often travelled when calamity strikes.