2007-P Geopolitics 101
The kid was 23 and I was 65, so it was surprising that we had as much in common as we did. We could talk easily and effortlessly. We did a little business together and that was our initial connection. But soon we developed a friendship that transcended the decades. There was so much going on in the world and we both enjoyed talking about it.
Topics were available in abundance and we jumped with ease from North Korea to Iraq and on to Iran. We also delved into American history and Western culture. The kid was brilliant beyond his years and I had to strain myself to my intellectual limit to keep up with him. This was new terrain for me, usually I had to wait for others to catch up to me. The thing was that he was good at analyzing nuances. Things that I hadn’t noticed despite my prodigious reading. If I picked up a new book on terrorism, World War 2 or Islamic History he had already read it and his critique always had an incisive new slant that I had not even considered.
The kid was also precocious at business and I could sense that soon he would leave me in the dust in that area. Almost without realizing it I was verging on becoming his acolyte. I could see myself sitting at his feet asking about the meaning of life as well as where to buy the best cigars. The way things were going soon I would be asking him for personal advice and I didn’t want to go there. Collecting Social Security and having a 23 year old kid for a mentor all in one year was a bit to much for my aging and decaying ego to contend with.
The kid was becoming too big of an entity for me to handle. This was amazing in and of itself, since I had been dealing with my impending appointment with the grim reaper and had aced that one. Besides I sensed that to him I was becoming a bit of a bore and a predictable one at that. Soon he and all of the talks that I cherished would be gone. I could take that to the bank. I knew that I had better refine my questions because the minutes were dwindling fast. So I decided to cut to the heart of the matter. It was time to stop micromanaging Iraq or Iran and to go for the gold. To throw one dead center into the heart of the strike zone and to see how far he could hit it.
So I looked him dead in the eye. My aging failing eye directly into his eye vibrant with wisdom and youth.
“We have been talking about the titanic struggle Islam has been waging with the west”, I said.
“You mean the little thousand year plus tea party”, he quipped.
“The very same”, I answered.
“We are going to lose”, He said.
“Can’t you even wait for me to ask the question”, I said.
“You know you are getting a bit predictable”, he said.
I felt like telling him that he was an intellectual punk and that I was doing serious geopolitical analysis while his grandmother was breathing heavy with his grandfather. But the deck was stacked in that debate ,so I stifled my anger. “Are you saying that with all of our sea power, air power and nuclear weapons we are going to lose our civilization to a pack of street thugs”, I said.
“Exactly”, the little bastard replied smugly. Then he went on almost in a whisper, ”did you ever consider where the foundation that supports Wall Street, The Mississippi River and Hollywood came from?
“ What do you mean”, I asked.
“ The supports were forged at places like Bunker Hill, Gettysburg and Iowa Jima”, he continued
“ I understand that”, I said ,but what’s your point.
“I have been on college campuses all over the country”, he went on.
“And your point is“? I replied.
“It’s just that I mingle and I talk constantly with my generation”, he said.
“And you do not“.
“Of course I do not”, I said, “your 23 and I’m 65”.
“Precisely”, he continued, “they’re my peers not yours”.
“What is your conclusion”, I asked.
“I’ll be leaving America within five years”, he answered. “The future is elsewhere”.
“With all of our military might”, I said.
“In the final equation all of our wealth and our weaponry will not save us’, he went on.
“Because as I said I know my generation. They worship at the shrine of negotiation. They’re too soft and to used to the easy road. They will not fight, it’s as simple as that”.
I walked away and I knew that I would never see the kid again. I also knew that yet again he had nailed it.
