Is it a mad bad world?

OK, so reasonable, sane people who don't have a right wing or protectionist agenda tend to loathe Trump, and this week's events in Israel have not helped one little bit. We long for the nuanced, thoughtful, non provocative Obama style. But here's the thing: it seems to be the case that the Trump style gets results. North Korea talking to the USA? (Sure this may collapse if North Korea feels there is too strong a nuclear agenda here), And I reflect on history's bad and powerful people who created stable and peaceful empires (at a cost), and the warring and jealous and feuding factions held in check by them. Is it the case I ask myself, that we need the madder, riskier types in power from time to time, so that a kind of balance of events flows? (Obviously this argument has its limits - Hitler for instance isn't a good advert for the case.) I wonder if the EU will fracture too, for lack of coherent leadership which committees cannot give. Is it the case that we humans just can't co-exist peacefully wherever money, power, resources and influence matter, and that wherever they do, look out?

Moving from all of the above to another story that is international this week, the wedding of Megan Markle to Harry Windsor. The media is feasting on the choicer portions of some aspects of the American cousins responses to it all. I heard one comment refer to the cousins' resentment that Megan had hardly been in touch with them and I wondered how much communication ever happened between them, especially before Megan hit the acting scene as big as she had? Were they that interested back in the day? Communication is two-way isn't it, but we hear the moans only when one of the parties hits the big time, and the others feel ditched, because their sense of entitlement to share the spoils has been ignored.

Ah, that spectre - a sense of entitlement. How that has come to haunt our educational and health institutions. Teachers can be worn down by a small minority of parents who feel entitled to more, health centre appointments are snatched up by the same kind of patient, and our voluntary community organisations can be wrecked by them. Eventually gate keepers are posted, and they become so used to the belligerent and demanding, that the meek and mild are met with the same tone and barrier building attitudes that were put in place for the aggressors.

I don't believe that there are more bad people than good in the world. Indeed I strongly believe the opposite to be the case. It's just that the bad and the mad seem to have so much more impact. And that takes us back to the start of my piece.