Of All The Failed Technologies That Litter

What Holds An Arab Leader In Power Is A Mixture Of Violence And Prestige. Both President Assad And King Hussein Were Felt To Have Defended Arab Interests Against The World. That, In The End, Is More Important Than What They Wear On Their Head.

For 50 Years, Nuclear Power Stations Have Produced Three Products Which Only A Lunatic Could Want: Bomb-explosive Plutonium, Lethal Radioactive Waste And Electricity So Dear It Has To Be Heavily Subsidised. They Leave To Future Generations The Task, And Most Of The Cost, Of Making Safe Sites That Have Been Polluted Half-way To Eternity.

Ever Since The Destruction Of Baghdad By The Mongols In 1258, The Muslim World Has Been In Slow Decline Relative To The West. With Napoleon's Invasion Of Egypt And The Creeping British Annexation Of Muslim India, That Decline Took On A Malign Aspect.

The Truth Is, Of Course, That History Is Not Completed In Modern Commerce Any More Than Philosophy Is Perfected In Political Economy. In Other Words, There Is Nothing Timeless Or God-given About Filling Stations And Penicillin And Plastic Bags.

The World Survived The Fall Of The Roman Empire And Will No Doubt Outlast Our Own So Much More Splendid Civilisation.