I solve the world's problems

Date: March 22, 2007
Time: 23:50
Place: Deep in Thought

The famed historian Arnold Toynbee wrote this in his 1970 article "Human Savagery Cracks Thin Veneer"

"We realize now that Hitlerism was not just an isolated aberration. It was an ominous sign of the times. It portended the present resurgence of the savage human nature that is breaking out, through the veneer of civilization all over the world today."
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1103-05.htm

The "thin veneer" is a common metaphor for civilization, a pleasingly finished surface that is not very deep nor strong. When a society is under stress like that created by a depression, tribalism reasserts itself and people will seek a "them" to blame for the problems of "us". The Jews, with their complex religious-ethnic-national identity, presented an easy target for Hitler and his bumper-sticker "Deutchland uber alles" hyper-nationalism.

There is an article in the April 2007 Atlantic by Stephen Faris called "The Real Roots of Darfur". The article identifies the real stress as desertification probably caused by global warming.
What we normally hear about Darfur is that an Arab population is commiting atrocities against an African one is not quite true. The two "ethnic" groups are genetically identical! "Arabs" refers to a group that lives a nomadic, livestock-herding lifestyle. "Africans" refers to farmers. Before the desertification, the farmers tolerated the herders coming across the land. Once the land started to dry up, they tried to block the herders, and the war ensued.

The trick is apparently to avoid such stresses. Fortunately, according to a flood of e-mails I've gotten, all these people have to do is invest in Nanking Telecom (NKT OTC:BB), which is guaranteed to skyrocket! Also, they're right over near Nigeria, and anyone with a bank account can earn thousands on each transaction assisting the former finance minister ...