Accidents rarely happen

 

Charles Montesquieu. Source, Public Domain.

Today (January 18, 2023) is the birthday of the historian and political philosopher Charles Montesquieu (1689-1755).

Montesquieu conceived the political theory of the separation of powers, in which legislative (passing laws),  executive (implementing laws), and judicial (enforcing laws)functions are independent of each other. His ideas greatly influenced the form of government established by the United States Constitution.

Montesquieu also had an interesting view of history. In a work called Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline he wrote:

It is not chance that rules the world. Ask the Romans, who had a continuous sequence of successes when they were guided by a certain plan, and an uninterrupted sequence of reverses when they followed another. There are general causes, moral and physical, which act in every monarchy, elevating it, maintaining it, or hurling it to the ground. All accidents are controlled by these causes. And if the chance of one battle—that is, a particular cause—has brought a state to ruin, some general cause made it necessary for that state to perish from a single battle. In a word, the main trend draws with it all particular accidents.

Montesquieu is suggesting that the nation reflects the general character of the people, or at least of its ruling class. Wikipedia summarizes his view by saying the transition from the Roman Republic to Empire was the result "not [of] the ambition of Caesar or Pompey, but the ambition of man."

This doesn't mean that everyone, or even most people, is ambitious for political power. But where the incentives are, there might be the general character tendencies of the ruling class.

In the United States, the incentive is to cater to the Military-Industrial Complex. 

That's why its leaders, Democrat and Republican alike, have told us for decades that the United States must "lead." That the U.S. is "exceptional." That our government has the right to do what it claims no other national government is permitted to do: get involved in foreign wars (including internal civil wars), invade foreign countries, and topple foreign leaders.

War is a racket, and so are Cold Wars. War is the chief business of empires like America. 

And the consequences are never accidental.

I don't automatically dismiss conspiracy theories about the events, but let's stick to the "official" narrative.

• President John F. Kennedy tried to overthrow Cuba's Fidel Castro. Kennedy was shot by a Castro sympathizer.

• 1968 Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy promised to arm Israel. He was killed by a Palestinian.

• The 9/11 attacks were in response to years of American interventions and meddling in the Middle East.

These tragedies were the blowback of America's assertion of power. The events could not be predicted in detail, nor were they inevitable, but they were not accidental.

Our individual lives can also be like that. 

• If you regularly drink and drive, it's not "bad luck" when you're pulled over.

• If you're caught on video being rude to a restaurant's wait staff and it goes viral, you can't blame the person who posted it.

• If you and your coworker both cut corners and are both caught but only you are fired, that's not "unfair."

The tragedies of a nation are usually the results of its own tendencies, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses that it fails to address.

I'm well aware that accidents do happen to us and to our loved ones. But, as with nations, most of our personal setbacks are neither random nor accidental. 

We would each do well if we became at least aware of our own weaknesses and blind spots. We can't blame the fates for our own actions.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support! You may contact him for your writing, editing, and research needs at jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.