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In a recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres gave the following somber warning: “We have started 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any in our lifetimes” (The Guardian, February 6, 2023).

No one wants to be labeled a fool, sluggard, or liar, yet there is ample evidence that those fitting these negative labels cause much of modern society’s conflicts and confusion. As pandemic restrictions wane and folks resume normal activities, it seems that troublesome problems in homes, businesses, and academia have worsened dramatically.

That is how much fentanyl was intercepted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 2022, according to a BBC article. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid designed for use as a pain killer. It is highly addictive and roughly 50 times more powerful than heroin. The DEA has called fentanyl the “deadliest drug threat facing the US.” Just two milligrams of the drug—about enough to cover the tip of a pencil—are enough to kill a person.

In 2011, while she was Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel phased out military conscription. At that time, there was no perceived need to maintain a large military force. Now, German military chiefs are calling for a return to conscription, and the current defense minister, Boris Pistorius, has called the Merkel-era phase-out “a mistake” (The Guardian, February 9, 2023).