Political Tsunami

I didn’t pick the Tsunami metaphor for the political environment just because that is about the worst natural disaster that can possibly happen. Until December 2004, most people had never heard of this phenomenon, this terrible freak of nature. I’m a little different in this regard, because I had done some work in this area during my research in plasma physics for Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

You see I was studying solitons, a mathematical model which describes a peculiar kind of wave that travels undisturbed over extremely long distances. This behavior is most strange since waves typically dissipate as they travel. The soliton doesn’t change an iota – this gives it its great power. Some scientists believe that the soliton is the mathematical model for tsunamis. Furthermore, scientists believe that the formation of soliton/tsunamis is caused by a small number of large forces acting in unison. The reason for this belief is that a single large force, such as an underground earthquake, would result in a typical wave that disperses as it travels, not a tsunami. To form that huge, destructive water column that travels unabated requires the underlying forces to act coherently, a term in physics that translates roughly as, in-unison.

To a person with my background, seeing this convergence of political and social forces translates to only one conclusion: Political Tsunami. You see, we have 2 of the three branches of government firmly committed to increasing government intervention and control, the 3rd branch is hot on the heels of the other two. The media has abandoned its traditional role of watchdog and arbiter over government machinations. Now, the media is in lockstep with government thinking, and even its policy. Instead of bringing people an unbiased assessment of government performance, the media has become the government’s cheerleader.

The Creator has endowed us with great abilities. We can look at the heavens and contemplate the universe and its wonders. We can fathom the ocean depths and understand the raw power of its fury. However, the Creator loves his other creations as much as He loves Man. He bestowed upon His creatures a keen awareness of their surroundings, enabling them to react to dire threats long before humans even have a clue that there’s anything wrong. This was witnessed during the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, as snakes and lizards survived atop of trees , and it was reported of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department that "No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."

The Political Tsunami is raging towards us all, but, unlike the animals, only a small portion of us understand the depth of its force and how we all will be engulfed. But, there is hope in that very tsunami metaphor, as we started to explore in “Alaskan Treasure” and we’ll take up in “Counter Tsunami”.