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Introduction The world has many big problems that tend to overwhelm us with their magnitude. It occurs to me that their solutions may be quite simple.
Don't cry over spilled milk. Two children at the dinner table start fussing about who gets the last string bean and accidentally knock over a glass of milk. The milk is wasted. Their big sister gets the last bean. The dog starts to lap up the milk. Daddy gets the mop. Momma collects the broken glass. The two children start to cry out of fear, confusion and loss and proceed to blame each other.
This is a situation we can comprehend The dinner catastrophe we can comprehend. We know the people and the roles they play. We can comprehend the cost of a glass of milk. We can understand the anxiety of the children. We can see the cause and effect.
Other Complications The children could be spanked. The older sister could be yelled at for not controlling the children. The parents could find this to be the straw that broke the camels back and initiate divorce proceedings. The older sister could leave home and live in the street. Someone could cut themselves on the broken glass.
Global Conflicts On a global scale we have difficulty visualizing the situation. I have never see a thousand dollars. What should I do about a trillion dollar debt? I have never seen a person murdered. What does it mean when they say twenty killed and one hundred twenty injured by a car bomb in a market place. What should I do about it? Should I punish those at fault? Who caused the problem? Are there solutions to these problems?
Discernment Can we understand what can be done? When a population ravages the resources too much, the resources are depleted and the population cannot be sustained. There may not be a sustainable stable state. Is it possible to correct the problem?
Cooperation These situations do not require corrective action. Time goes on regardless. However, if we don't like the consequences of standing by and watching, we can change things by studying how things evolve and cooperating with others to define and achieve better outcomes. Waste is waste. Pain is pain. Coercion is coertion. Persecution is persecution. We can feel what is wrong.
