In the early months of 1914, nobody thought war was on the horizon. Sure, there were dark clouds, but war? No.

All it took was the death of an arch-duke, of a declining power, in an obscure nation, to change everything. Within months, all the great powers of Europe were ranged against each other, fighting on multiple fronts, with armed technology they barely understood. Soon, whole armies were digging deep trenches, defending their supplies against legions of rats, while storms of explosive shells rained down from the skies.

And it didn’t even end 4 years later. There was a respite, resuming 21 years later with an even worse war, that turned whole cities into smoking husks and sent millions to the gas chambers.

I wonder how close we are today to 1914.

Everything is wrong. Fascism and hatred and conspiracy is on the march. Governments and bad actors have weaponised our mediums of communication to spread fear and hatred. The people who can decide things and solve things no longer bother to listen to each other. This can only result in pain and nightmares down the road.

I wonder how close we are to 1914.