Interestingly, the article differentiated between belief in an afterlife and belief in a religion. Our youth may even believe in an afterlife more strongly than previous generations; they just don’t put as much stock in their parents’ religious institutions.

Again, this is hardly surprising. As we learn more about how the world works, it seems only natural for religion to appear anachronistic. The earliest religions were little more than superstitions created in a desperate effort to explain a mysterious and frightening the world. Today, with the benefit of various technologies and, more importantly, with the benefit of the Scientific Method, we have been able to objectively explain many of the natural phenomena that vexed us as early hominids.

But the benefit of science over religion is not just about better explanations. This week we were also reminded how religion can hurt its own adherents. America is going through its worst case of measles in over a generation, in large part due to the bad choices made by one religious community. The latest outbreak seems to stem from the refusal of some religious Jews in New York City to give their children the measles vaccine. Up until now that refusal was legal because religious exemptions were available. But, because of the obstinacy of that community and the danger that their actions pose to the rest of the population, New York State is now poised to rescind those exemptions.

The queerest part of this story is that the the New York parents don’t seem to be refusing the vaccinations on religious grounds; it seems to be a result of the spread of bad information. But there is still a religious angle here; the isolation of religious communities makes it easier for bad information to take hold in such an insular setting. And it is the religious exemption that is providing the community with the excuse to ignore a law that is meant to protect everyone.

As a society we have to decide how much we want to protect the right of our citizens to live in ignorance. Future progress can really only come through the objectivity of the sciences. Science is not necessarily truth but, by definition, so long as it is rigorous it is the best approximation to truth that we have at any instant of time. For religious groups to deny scientific evidence on the basis of their faith may be fine for adults who choose to do so. But if their actions threaten the rest of the population or, some may argue, if their actions threaten their own children, then that is where the line must be drawn regarding religious freedom.

We will probably always have the deniers: those that think the world is flat, that the space program was an illusion, that modern medicine goes against the will of a supreme being, that there is a world banking conspiracy, that vaccinations don’t work. But with improved education and a refusal to indulge those who would threaten the lives of others, we can better progress as a civilization and as a species.

When humans lived in caves everyone was probably, in some sense, religious. Today the percentage in the West is well under 50%. As we learn more about the world and as we demand solid evidence for the important decisions we make in life, that percentage is destined to trend toward zero. For the population at large and for the future of those communities that today refuse to accept scientific fact, that can only be a good thing.

So what to do?  Politicians and diplomats may say that arguments over trade should not spill over into security arrangements.  But that just doesn’t make sense.  One thing that this President has made abundantly clear to everyone, including allies, is that he cannot be trusted to honour agreements.  So how can allies trust that America will honour its security agreements?

It’s time for a new world order in the Western world.  Like minded countries, like those in Europe, along with Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, should combine together in a political, economic and security bloc.  Time for Europe and Canada to leave NATO.  Time for Canada to leave NORAD.  Time to give the United States the cold shoulder and leave Mr Trump to his new-found friends like Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin.

If the United States ever re-discovers its moral compass then, by all means, let’s discuss including it within a new global order.  But, if not, let the US fester on its own.  In the short term it will be a costly exercise for Western countries to pay for an expanded military and to live with reduced trade with the United States.  But it will make the world a better, stronger place in the long term.

It’s a shame.  But it’s necessary.

It is a shame that the United States has become a nation hostile to children, women, minorities and the disadvantaged.  Trump and the Republicans seem to be interested only in factual misrepresentation and the reduction of support for America’s most needy citizens.  That is why this New York Times opinion piece is so important to take seriously.  It’s a concrete warning to Americans that the great country they have always believed in is no more.  And that the solution is to start looking to the rest of the world for answers.

Film maker Michael Moore’s 2015 documentary “Where to Invade Next” offers yet another wake-up call to Americans.  He also argues that the US can learn from other countries.

There are still good things about the United States, but it is no longer the greatest nation on earth.  The time has come its citizens to recognize the deficiencies.

Why should patriotism, or any belief, enjoy blind support?  Would anyone think patriotism in Iraq under Saddam Hussein was reasonable?   Or in South Africa during apartheid?  Or in Germany during World War II?  A blind support of one’s own country is just that, blind.  Reasonable, thoughtful people don’t give blind support to anything because nothing is perfect and nothing is static.  This outlook doesn’t mean that support for one’s country cannot happen.  But should it happen just because it’s the country in which one is born?  Everyone is born as a citizen of some country and that choice of country is not a choice; it is a happenstance.  There is no reason why the country into which each of us is born should be the best in the world or even that it should be satisfactory.  So there is no reason it should deserve unqualified support.  That doesn’t mean that it can’t earn our support; it just means that we should always look at our own countries with a critical eye.  Yesterday might have been different and tomorrow might be different still.

The United States is a case in point.  I can’t think of another country today with a greater sense of patriotism than the United States.  A generation ago that patriotism may have even been deserved on a limit basis.  But today I see little good coming out of America.  The two party system is now completely broken, with the population highly polarized in outlook.  The latest President, Donald Trump, is self-serving, cruel, bigoted neanderthal with a contempt for the truth.  That doesn’t mean that there is nothing good to take from his Presidency, just the there is not much good.  So how was he elected?  Firstly, the American people have been ill served by an inward looking educational system that is little concerned with the rest of the world.  Many Americans therefore seem wholly unaware how heartless their society is to the poor, needy and even the middle classes.  There is no guarantee of health care nor is there a decent country-wide social safety net.  I’m not suggesting that there are not serious problems in other countries related to the provision of these services, but the US is the outlier.  Yet the average American continues to be patriotic, to the point of dismissing other countries as inferior, without even understanding how far behind the US is in terms of the global progression of basic human values.

Instead of Patriotism, we should be encouraging personal intellectual growth.  Each person should be encouraged to understand his place in the world, his country’s place in the world, and how he and/or his country could be improved.  Each person has to understand his country’s political, economic and electoral systems in order to make the best possible choice for his country’s future.  It’s no longer enough for each resident to cast a vote for his own personal interest; rather, everyone needs to push for the future improvement of the country as a whole.  And this is not necessarily an altruistic vote for the welfare of strangers; this is a vote for the future of our children and their progeny ad infinitum.

Returning to America as the example, it seems clear that Donald Trump was elected on a wave of frustration against the political classes.  On that basis, his election is understandable.  But he was also elected to improve the lot of those who voted for him at any cost.  His supporters appear to support a lashing out at immigrants (and immigration in general).  They don’t seem to mind racist slurs against other cultures or races, even when they are their neighbours.  They don’t seem to mind bashing other countries and their products if that will preserve American jobs.  Yet this support is made without an understanding of the basic economics of trade.  Block others’ products and American goods will be blocked too.  Block others’ products and American goods will become more expensive.  Block others’ products and the American economy will contract.

The supporters of Donald Trump also seem to be taking a long time to understand that the White House and the Republicans are not in fact helping the hard working people who elected them but are, rather, simply lining their own pockets.  It seems clear that the latest tax cut proposal will hugely benefit the rich at the expense of everyone else.  (Although there are now provisions for a small tax cut for the middle classes, a cut which at best can best described as bait-and-switch, since over the life of the legislation the middle classes will not benefit financially.)  Again, this goes back to a poor educational system and a lack of understand of the way the system works.

Time to stop being patriotic without cause.  Most countries are a mix of good and bad.  The best countries educate their populations so that they can understand what they are voting for.  The worst keep their populations in a swill of fuzzy clichés.  It’s time to change that status quo by standing up as an individual, not as a citizen blinded by fallacious patriotism.

After reading the review, I couldn’t help but think how barbaric we, as humans, are.  Since humanity has hardly evolved physically since the 17th Century, that means this barbarism is still an innate characteristic of us all.  Nazi Germany is another, more recent, example of this barbarism.  And there are yet other more modern examples.  Kosovo, Syria and ISIS are three cases in point.

I have met those who truly believe that wealth, fame and/or notoriety are all achievements worthy of respect.  I have also meet those for whom honesty, integrity and humility are more important.   Unfortunately, I have met many of the former and few of the latter.

Very recently I had a conversation with an acquaintance who landed a very good job by lying about his career history.  Actually, he went further than that.  He enlisted an accomplice to play the role of his previous supervisor in order to embellish a recommendation.  Not only did he think that was a reasonable approach to procuring a new position but he felt that, without this misrepresentation, he would be at a serious disadvantage.  If everyone were to take this viewpoint (as many do) then we are doomed as a society.

One good friend of mine refers to most people as monkeys.  When I first heard this description I thought it was funny, but I now believe it’s quite accurate.  I think it is time for those of us who truly believe that society has lost its way to join together in a fraternity to work towards a better set of core values for our society.  We need fewer but better laws.  We need to hold not just our leaders, but also anyone in a position of authority, to account.  I believe we need to enshrine basic Christian values of honesty and goodwill in our laws and our constitutions.  We need to give prosecutors and the police incentive not just to enforce the law, but also to work towards justice.  And we need to teach our children these values, instead of simply coddling them.

I am a small, anonymous, voice but I’d love feedback on this or any other blitherings I put in this blog.  Positive or negative.  It’s all helpful.

But with all of the commentary about Greece concentrating on its position as a European anomaly, why do I think it isn’t so atypical? Because virtually every other democratic Western country has the same fundamental issues as Greece. And, of those issues, the most obvious one is its handing of its public service.

There have been many articles about Greek civil servants’ compensation, specifically their pensions. But inappropriate public service pay is a problem in most democratic countries. In the United States, cities have gone bankrupt because of public sector pay, pensions and health care costs. In most other Western countries, it is common knowledge that public servants are underpaid and under worked compared to their private sector peers. In many countries public sector workers are unionized and are permitted to strike against the government. But all of the original reasons for unionization, including the need to protect workers from employers’ unfair safety practices, no longer exist. And, besides, what can the argument be to strike against the government in a democratic country? In a way, the workers are striking against themselves.