The Spread of Evil

It’s been a while…

Yes….  I had an idea for another picture about two months ago.  I passed on it, so I had to wait for the next inspiration. It took longer than I thought.

So what have you been working on?

This picture is called The Spread of Evil. As I have been watching events unfold in the Middle East.  I was moved by the unraveling of the political structures and the role of the US in undermining the countries that supply our oil and the countries that were, in some cases, once our allies.  So, I created this picture of a very small child who, for some reason, has ventured down this dark and dirty alley.  Perhaps, he was playing with the kitten and he had no sense of where he was or the approaching stranger.  However, at some point, he encounters a man.  It is not clear whether this man is good or bad.  The boy, in his innocence, has covered his eyes.  Is he playing a game of hide and seek or is he seeing something that he does not care to focus on.  It is not clear, although the cat seems to be afraid. Perhaps the cat possess those animal instincts that some pets seem to have.

How does this relate to the Middle East?

The experience of the boy seems to be like our experience in the Middle East.  Our US President is leading the country down the alley of the Middle East and the area has become dark and dangerous.  Our President seems a bit naive or at a minimum a bit distracted by the NCAA Basketball tournament.   For example, we are supporting freedom fighters; however, no one seems to know who these fighters are or what they stand for. I read today that some of them have terrorist ties.  The larger question for the US is who are these people we are supporting and are they good or bad.  It is not clear.  We don’t know any of their names or the organizations that they represent.

I understand how the President got to this point.  He started from a very noble idea which was to defend those who are suffering from genocide or other state sponsored atrocities.  However, to implement this principle he should have asked a few key questions like:

1.    Is genocide really occurring in the Middle East?

2.    Are we overturning stable, yet imperfect governments, so that worse governments can be installed?

3.    What do these Freedom Fighters stand for?

4.    How do our actions support the goals and objectives of the US?

5.    We are now fighting three wars, are we becoming global tyrants?

6.    Are we setting the stage for the implementation of fundamental Islam?

We have all seen fundamental Islam.  We saw it when they blew up our embassy and when they put a hole is the side that Navy ship.  We saw it when a military officer shot up a military base and we saw it when the World Trade Center came down.  So, what happens if we set the stage for the mixture of expansionist political Islam with fundamental Islam?  It cannot be good.

So how do you see things unfolding in the Middle East?

It is not clear.  Who can tell?  We do not know who we are supporting.  We have to trust that our President does, even though he has not explained this war to anyone’s satisfaction.  The real question is, can we trust our President?  Does he know who he is supporting or are his ideas so lofty that he cannot foresee the impact of their implementation.

I do not have a crystal ball, but I would not be surprised to see some of the smaller countries in the Middle East absorbed by some of the larger countries.  I also would not be surprised to see a total rejection of democracy and the people of the area asking for kings to rule over them. Kings have a far longer history then democratically elected leaders.

If you look at the history of the Middle East, I would say that we have a reason to be concerned.  Our President is creating a vacuum.  He is pushing out the old leaders and not leading the people towards anything better.  Fundamental Islam may not be a big force immediately.  However, once the President brings his brand of MTV style freedom to the area, it will offend the very core of the people in the Middle East allowing Fundamental Islam to widen its appeal and thereby lay the foundation for the spread of political Islam.

Is this what you mean by the spread of Evil?

Yes, there is a quote that says this perfectly.

“The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum, whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.”

Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 1966

It seems that our President has forgotten the basic principles that made the US great.  Instead, he wants to export a very generic form of democracy, absent the moral foundation that made this country thrive.  Establishing a Democracy is far easier than maintaining one.  Soon our leaders will discover this in the Middle East.

This picture was made from other pictures.

Boy: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/stockart/?q=baby%20crying&order=9&offset=0#/d1oacch

Background: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/?q=alley&order=9&offset=24&offset=24#/d1w26gf

Cat: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/stockart/?q=cat&order=9&offset=144#/d23lggl

Stove:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/smerikal/5510105672/

Book: http://www.flickr.com/photos/untums/533215239/

Evil Shadow: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/stockart/?q=man%20cape&order=9&offset=24#/d1sgktn