Can ABC Pull the Rug From Under?

 Engraving of great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755

Seeing the news footage of the earthquake coming out of Turkey is strangely reminiscent of the recent Russian bombings in Ukraine. The difference is one was caused by a 120-mile fault creating a magnitude 7.8 level event followed by a series of equally if not more devastating aftershocks and the other is manmade. In one the earth opened up literally pulling the rug out from under cities and the other is the continued result of carpet bombing. ABC Carpet could figuratively service the devastation. The Lisbon earthquake was one of the most powerful of all time (though Pompeii famously caught its population in flagrante) and is the basis of Voltaire’s Candide, throwing cold water on Dr. Pangloss’s rechanneling of Leibnitz with the indelible “all’s the best in the best of all possible worlds.” The difference between Ukraine and Turkey/Northern Syria is that the destruction by the Russians has literally given Ukraine the sense of purpose that the Turks and Syrians may lack. Hate is a cause, but one can’t hate nature whose wrath lacks agency--unless one believes in God.

read "Dr. Pangloss?" by Francis Levy, HuffPost

and listen to "War" by Edwin Starr