“Usually in history, when two nations have contested for the same markets, the nation that has lost in the economic competition, if it is stronger in resources and armament, has made war upon its enemy.”—Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage

  Will Durant wrote that line in 1934. He had just traced the varied roots, the slow agricultural growth, the cultural assimilations and adaptations, and then the great nineteenth century Meiji restoration and transformation into the industrial powerhouse of Japan. 

  Why did the island nation of Japan undergo such a wrenching social, political and economic revolution back in the 1860’s? Because it had just witnessed at close hand the humiliation and partitioning of its once powerful neighbour China at the hands of Western powers, and because in 1853 those Western powers in the form of an American naval fleet led by Commodore Perry were banging threateningly on its doors. 

  By 1934 Japan was in direct competition with the Western nations of Europe and especially the United States over crucial markets for its goods and colonial access to vital industrial inputs such as rubber, steel, and oil. 

  By the way, Durant’s quote could have equally been used in relation to Great Britain and Germany around the years 1900 to 1910. Germany, not ruling the waves, lost the economic competition and went to war… twice, resulting in the near suicide of Europe and the passing of the world hegemonic torch to America which had just pulverized Japan in the 1941-45 war Durant presciently prophesied. 

  Why do I bore you with this stuff? 

  Because I read yesterday that the ‘US confirms weapons in space,’ and ‘China warns US space weapons could fuel arms race.’ 

  See the pattern here? 

  Anyway, the Omphalos Cafe is not about negativity, despair or resignation. It’s about perspective, humanity, Life and the courage to act in our seemingly insignificant but ultimately empowering way. 

  Life Flows on…

  Sometimes placidly…

  Sometimes turbulently…

  Towards Oneness.