HERE BE DRAGONS

     Centuries ago people were afraid to sail too far from the coast lest they reach the end of the world and fall off, into the mouths and hands and claws of the monsters and dragons that awaited them. Yet there were brave and intrepid souls who dared the 'wisdom' of the day and who challenged the common thoughts of the time. Through them mankind made progress, opened up lanes of exchange and ever increasing and growing boundaries provided mankind with the resources to advance.
     Today, I think we need to redraw some of our maps, for indeed, here be dragons! We have reached the ends of the world, the cliff edges of the earth, in our mad rush to nowhere or to where exactly? No one seems to know  the answer to that question even as more questions arise.
     George R. R. Martin has been accused of hiding the fact that he has written and completed Books 6 and 7 of the Fire and Ice saga - winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. He vehemently denies that, claiming that he has not even finished Book 6, the story is still mired in Winter and Spring has no hopes nor dreams yet. I believe that that is an accurate description of the state of mankind right now.
     Need a crazy ruler a la Caligula or the Mad King? Simply look around today and take your pick. There are plenty to go around, including the Mad President, otherwise known as the Demented One. Crazy rumors, lies disguised as facts? Hey, no problem, so here a few for you. A la the Bay of Tonkin with North Vietnam where an attack never actually happened, we now have a supposed sabotage on four tankers in the Gulf, yet satellite picutes show no major damage to these ships so...sabotage? Worthy of saber rattling? Worthy of getting us and the world mired in decisons and actions that will lead to death rattles, the death of the world as we know it? Where are we going and what the hell are we doing? 
     We have insane threats and actions being taken, The Demented One is reviewing plans for war with Iran so here we go again? He swore that he would end entanglements and yet we are entangled even more, our soldiers are spread around , including on our border with Mexico where they are not supposed to be. We are welcoming dictators to the White House, a la Orban from Hungary, and all I hear now is the ticking of that Doomsday Clock, the ever growing fear and possiblity of Apocolypse. And no, not the zombies, but us - we will have allowed this to happen. Us. No one else.
     We have leaders of the world, including our own, who refuse to recognize the rule of law, deeming themselves above it all. The laws of the country, of mankind, do not apply to them. Just ask them and they will assure you of that ugly fact! Trump interferes with everything and everyone. The Judge is asked not to fast track the court case involving his tax returns, following his lifelong habit of using the courts to delay his comeuppance. The Supreme Court has begun to overturn precedent, very dnagerous tactic and behavior. Haters and misogynists are screaming how we need to return to the past, they should be able to harass women and minorities and indeed anyone who displeases them, and screw the world!! The very atmosphere reeks of the era of the Nazis but we all do nothing.
    We have protectionists bringing us to that dangerous edge of the seas. We have China holding our Treasury Bonds and these tariff disasters will seem like child's play should the Chinese sell our Treasury Bonds. The world is so crazy that our enemy truly owns us even as Trump screeches out his threats to them from his bloated mouth and sick mind. Even as the Republicans lay down and let him walk all over themselves, having lost any slightest remnant of courage, of morality, of sense, as they allow themselves to be turned into jokes, terrible tragic jokes. And we, the people, are the butt of these jokes, the receiving ends, you might say.
     So where can we find hope? Perhaps in the children, the teens, the toddlers who have the sense to recognize wrong when they see it. They are the ones who are standing up against dangerous lack of gun control. They are the ones who will refuse to turn against humanity and join Trump's own stormtroopers who grab up children, separate families and throw people into cages! They are the ones who have the brains to call 911 when they are left in a broiling car. They are the ones with the knowledge to pull us back from the jaws of those waiting dragons.
     No, people, we do not have to wait till next week to understand the ends of the world. We do not need to think that there is a gap between the reality of the world and the reality of Westeros, for there we see the consequences of mad rulers, a la Caligula, a la Trump, who make the decisions to take revenge for imagined misdeeds, who think they can do whatever they wish, whenever they wish to whomever they target.
     Winter has long been coming here on and to Earth and is now in full bloom. Will we allow the riders of these dragons to turn into monsters that rival these very same dragons or will we have the brains to step forward? Will we continue to swear allegiance to dangerously turned leaders, or will we have the courage to do what we must, to turn away from spoiled loyalties and stand up to protect our own. Will we? Or will we return to the edges of the world, look at those monsters awaiting us with hungry and growling stomaches and refuse to do what we must, turn away from the hopes and dreams of Spring and lose ourselves and the world even as we stand there and do nothing or too little.
     Our own Game of Thrones. Whodda' thunk!!