Have you noticed that when things are going relatively well everyone switches off and gets on with life. When things go badly, like Bank collapses and high mortgage rates everyone naturally gets very agitated. These ups and downs seem to happen about once every fifteen to twenty years. We wallow in success then panic in adversity.

Some believe that what also happens is that a new generation of very successful entrepreneurs who seem to have milked the good times come to the fore, some more by luck than judgement. There is little doubt that the crooked opportunists had a good bite of the Covid 19 supply proceeds. The politics of envy resurface. It appears that there is much more the focus of the voluntary sector. Government and central bank solutions become unpopular and political change of Governments become the norm.

All the Western Governments extol the negative results of unparalleled issues like Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine. Yet, had we listened to the harbingers of reality (like Bill Gates) we would have been ready for both. Today, as far as this writer knows there is little preparation for the next pandemic which will surely come, and President Xi’s declaration that he still believes Taiwan to be part of his China is being met by interventionist drum beating. . Both issues are being addressed as they were before.

All that seems to be happening is the Western Alliance are making aggressive comments about defending Taiwan: supplying planes, missiles and guns etc.. Will we never learn that military intervention does not work. The problem of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is exacerbated by the fear of nuclear war has made the West wary of direct intervention. Russia is being exposed as a Imperial agressor. In some ways the boot is on the other foot.

All these errors cost lots of lives, and the Taiwanese problem is a Taiwanese/Chinese problem. Yes, it is a meeting of libertarian sometimes called Democratic Government and a Totalitarian Government. How far does one ideology go to oppose another? In Vietnam is there a slow coming together of an authoritarian and democratic system, despite the ghastly and ill judged war where the USA intervened militarily.

Now as the world discovers that resources are short ,interest rates in Western democracies are high , it has turned the eyes of politicians inward. Toward healing the financial ills and improving economic competitiveness. It has turned our eyes away from the future pandemic. Alas, the defence (attack) industry remains vibrant. The climate reform industry is growing but is it fast enough. Climate change, will it be a cause for unity or will governments democratic and totalitarian come together to help what is surely a common interest?

The one party state in China must sooner or later turn away from fossil fuels, Mr Xi has huge world responsibility, but will he turn away from coal and toward renewables at the expense of China’s financial competitiveness?

When we recall that the major democracies have made such enormous errors, that Russia in particular has been so meddlesome and destructive, what hope is there?

A little, we must hope that all governments turn to what is our common good, climate change is a no brainer, but so is peace and co-existence.