The Story of a Death Foretold

Some historians theorize that warfare of the 20th century had a singular cause. Thus, these collective epochal conflicts fell under the nom de plume, the Long War. Like earlier epochal wars, 20th century warfare was fought over a fundamental constitutional question: which sort of nation-state (communist, fascist or parliamentary) would lay claim to the legitimacy previously enjoyed by the imperial nation-state of the nineteenth century (Bobbit, 2002:19).

As the 20th century progressed, time and key victories ostensibly declared parliamentarianism as the ideological victor.

It did not take long, however, for leaders of our global community to discover a new reason for which to eradicate one another.

"The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world."

Thomas Malthus,

An Essay on the Principle of Population

Thomas Malthus, British Economist, authored a number of economic theories coined Malthusianism. These theories, like the cited quotation above, state that population tends to increase faster, at a geometrical ratio, than the means of subsistence, which increases at arithmetical ratio, and that this will result in an inadequate supply of goods supporting life unless war, famine, or disease reduces the population or the increase in population is checked (OED).

Originally, Malthus and his prophetic writings alluded to the eventual depletion of the world's food supply. Due to post 18th century agricultural innovations, food supplies have, to a limited extent, met the demands of an ever increasing world population.

In this Malthusian formula, if one were to remove the "subsistence" variable and replace it with the oil variable, a new picture begins to form. In the inaugural decade of the 21st century, warfare rages onward. Arguably, the present conflicts were initiated, or precipitated over the issue of oil.

Ironically enough, Global Warming has opened a new frontier in the global competition for natural resources. As layers of ice melt away from the Arctic ice cap, countries vie for position to tap into this resource rich lands. In the 1970's, the United Nation's addressed the issue of territoriality as it pertains to the seabed and ocean floor.

In the United Nation's Resolution 2749 (XXV) [of 17 December 1970], the General Assembly solemnly declared inter alia that the area of the seabed and ocean floor and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, as well as its resources, are the common heritage of mankind, the exploration and exploitation of which shall be carried out for the benefit of mankind as a whole, irrespective of the geographical location of States.

Some twelve years later, the United Nations offered a somewhat different perspective on exploration and exploitation of resources through Convention on the Law of the Sea (issued 10 December 1982). In this 17-part document, the United Nations addressed this and similar issues by defining boundary principles and allowable usage of waterways and the land beneath.

The Russian research ship Akademik Fyodorov is a member of an ambitious Russian naval expedition that is currently exploring the bottom of the Arctic Ocean and staking [Moscow's] claim to oil and natural gas riches under the seabed ground.

"The Arctic is Russian," Chilingarov, a member of parliament and Russia's most famous explorer, told state-controlled NTV before setting sail. "We must prove the North Pole is an extension of the Russian coastal shelf." (V. Isachenkov, Associated Press July 25, 2007)

While the Russians labor to stake claims and repatriate the aboriginal Tufted Puffin, Denmark is also exploring the Arctic nearest to Greenland and laying claims. Three other claimant countries; United States, Norway and Canada, have yet to make an impression in this resource race.

In Sudan, Chinese officials continue to turn a blind eye toward the Darfur region's atrocities and genocidal actions contained therein as they continue to profit from the area's pipeline and growing refinery industry. Clearly, their indifference to the human suffering is, in part, due to diplomacy and not wanting to strain a tenuous relationship with the Arabic-backed government.

Even the United States is finding it exceedingly difficult to extricate their interests from the middle-eastern conflict and, more aptly, the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline and related profiteering.

We are now settling into a new era wherein an epochal conflict, whether through policy or warfare, is taking shape. The Long War of the 20th century, fueled by the issue of constitutionality, has been transposed by a new fuel; depletion of natural resources.

Thomas Malthus was fairly accurate in his estimation of the fate of humanity. Today, we are witnessing the death of human compassion, the end of the human spirit. Our parasitic nature feeds unendingly from our host, the Earth, depleting its resources at an exponential rate. As we collectively regress into a primitive state (improved technology will allow this passage to take place with much greater rapidity), the Orwellian nightmare of the 20th century will soon appear as a Paradise to which we aspire.