“Civilization Ends, Since Barbarians Erupt from It” by Karl Kraus

When given thought, barbarousness can be stated as a quality which is branched out from the carrying out of any of the cardinal sins. For example, greed numbs your conscience and energizes you to achieve whatever it is that you desire by corrupted means. On a quest to reach self-satisfaction, humans have proved to be able to cross all sorts of boundaries, forget all levels of logical reasoning and etiquettes and in short, become barbaric; exactly the right recipe for massive disorder. Adolf Hitler alone cost eleven million lives, six million of them belonging to the Jews amidst how he is considered by some to be one of the greatest generals of all time. The honorable titles given to him should have fed his pride, yet he brutally carried out the killing of many innocent people out of racism. The World Wars have had their adverse affects. With such a high casualty number, these two wars have been the deadliest known to man. And it all starts when such barbarians struggle to gain power. If a World War 3 indeed erupts, it may be just enough to turn this earth into ashes considering the effect that the rapid advancement of technology has on the creation of deadly weapons such as nuclear or biological weapons. Charles Ponzi was the man who made the Ponzi scheme famous, and hence the name. Meanwhile, it was Bernie Madoft who exercised this fraudulent method of earning money for the longest period of time in the market under the very noses of the investors. He managed to profit 65 billion US dollars, all by false stories. A similar scenario is evident in the public offices here in Bangladesh, where money speaks and every tongue remain silent. The officers in such workplaces see bribes as a ‘legal’ part of their earning. Bangladesh could have dealt with poverty and the million other problems it encounters far more easily if these parasitic and corrupt politicians and officials hadn’t stolen the large sum of money reserved for developmental purposes. Just because of them, the beggars roam the roads, stopping by every car window; traffic congestion is a daily sighting owing to the underdeveloped infrastructure and the poor communication system; the lack of education of the poor children, leading to an illiterate future generation. This list would go on like a bottomless pit. Today, to some extent, people have gained consciousness of the fact that the world is not progressing in the right direction. Hence, many different people and organizations have stepped in. United Nations is working to preserve peace among nations; to prevent wars, promote cooperation between countries. Pioneers like Sir Fazle Hasan Abed contributed greatly to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the people still continue to suffer. Wars keep killing innocent humans. Safety of women remains unanswered. People remain greedy and still they live off others’ wealth. As long as such injustice remains in the society, Karl Kraus’ quote cannot be deemed wrong!