There is a 21st century case study in “might makes right” playing out at the Unites Nations lately. This, you will recall, is the slightly outmoded formulation of justice from a time of serfs, fiefs, and superstition. It had been thought to have been succeeded by “the People,” the concept of fairness, recourse to justice, etc.

That’s what we tell the children, anyway.

Every now and again there are sprouts of it, proving the existence of some old, crumbled rhizome left over in the strata. A little sunlight… BLOOP! Interesting to see and ponder — and then … ?

120± nations, many of them dues paying well adjusted etc. etc., have signed a draft ban on nukes. That’s like … all of them. Except the nine countries what actually pile, aim and strategize around them don’t want to hear about it. Their collective defiance of the greater will is astonishing in its obstinance. The behavior runs exactly counter to the purported purpose: no one ought use them, so while they exist we make it unthinkable for any one to do so.