Trump might have done Europeans a huge favor by reminding them they have to fight for their own future themselves

Sir, today, May 29, is Memorial Day in the US. That is the day I walk down to the World War II Memorial in Washington, to try to thank those Americans who rescued my polish father from the concentration camp of Buchenwald more than 70 years ago. Had they not done that, I would not be, it is as simple as that.

But today I read Patrick McGee’s and George Parker’s “Europe can no longer rely on US partnership, warns Merkel” all the result of “a new transatlantic rift that has emerged after two days of international summits with President Donald Trump last week.” 

Is that true? No! Even when the partnership in World War II depended on very few, in my mind on Roosevelt and Churchill, any long-term partnership of this nature cannot really depend on what temporary leaders opine. If it did, it never existed.

There are of course general concerns. Like should I ask the Americans in the Mall to forgive Europeans for not showing the same interest in carrying their fair share of the defense load? Like, in these times of outsourcing, are the European and American manufacturing sectors able to respond somewhat similar than America did when it built up what Roosevelt called the Arsenal of Democracy, and that without it would have given the war a totally different outcome? Like, in these times of drones doing more and more of the fighting, are our soldiers capable to keep sufficiently of that fighting spirit that at the end of the day will be needed? And there is more… like the huge public debt loads and other minutia.

Sir, and if Chancellor Angela Merkel is sort of indirectly excluding the UK from the European defense, does that mean perhaps Britain should begin thinking about the need of promoting some English Language Empire as a substitute?

I do agree though 100% with Ms Merkel when she says: “We have to fight for our own future ourselves.” That is always the case, no matter what partnership or alliance you find yourself in. Merkel should reflect on the irony that Trump might have done her and all Europeans a great favor of reminding them of that simple fact of life.

@PerKurowski

More safer drones now- less risky feet on the ground. That’s great for now… but what about tomorrow?

Sir, Simon Kuper writes: “Every society tries to make the trade-off between security and freedom… According to Google, mentions of “freedom” exceeded mentions of “security” in English-language books every year from about 1830 through to 1985. In 1985, mentions of “security” surpassed “freedom” in books… We entered an era of compulsory seatbelts, bans on public smoking and laws against drink-driving.” “Safety first: the new parenting” October 1.

To which I would add that we also entered into the era of the risk weighted capital requirements for banks (1988 Basel I); with which regulators cared more about the short term safety of banks than about the long term safety of economy.

So when Kuper writes: “Every society tries to make the trade-off between security and freedom”, I would hold that de facto more often that represents a trade-off between short and long term security. That is because unfortunately, c'est la vie, security weakens and freedom strengthens. Simon Kuper, having cycled alone to school at age of eight, and comparing that to his daughter’s (perhaps even supervised) walk of one block to the bakery, knows what I mean.

And one major security issue is that security measures are not all equally applied. Out there, in the real world, there are still “savages” living in strengthening freedom, while we subject our young to suffer debilitating security. What that is going to mean to their future no one really knows… but while our kids are more comfortable [and “safer”] in their rooms socializing on computers, the “abandoned” are perhaps getting stronger and making the streets ever more insecure.

Don’t we wish we had the strength to allow our kids to be more savages? That strength can only come out of fully understanding and accepting the implications… we must allow them to take more risks. But it is so hard to gain acceptance for the concept that there’s nothing as risky as excessive risk aversion… especially when so many nannies are in charge.

Here we are, soon 10 years after a crisis that should have laid bare the stupidity of bank regulations that only lead to dangerous overpopulation of some safe havens (AAA rated securities and Greece) and equally dangerous under-exploration of risky bays (SMEs and entrepreneurs)… and the issue of the distortions it produces in the allocation of bank credit is not even discussed.

Sir, I do fret we, as a society, are slowly drowning ourselves in oceans of imagined security. Even our war capabilities are security driven… more safe drones - less risky feet on the ground. That’s great now… but what about tomorrow?

If our sons are not allowed to lose themselves, how on earth will they learn how to find themselves?

PS. I just refer to “sons” as I had only daughters, and both my grandchildren are girls, and you know it is not easy to live as you preach.

@PerKurowski ©

What happens with the fighting spirit of humans, if you outsource soldiering to robot soldiers and drones?

Today FT-Magazine, published in England and not in the US, included an edited version of the following letter I sent them related to an article that did appear in the US. It is somewhat strange since my letter, as you will be able to see, was foremost directed to the US.

Like drones, robots also present challenges to the national psyche of their users (“Robot soldiers”, July 18/19) – the possibility of a diminishing human fighting spirit hiding behind drones and robots. 

I think it is hard to visualise the same type of national “good feeling”, with homecoming parades and memorials, when scientists and mechanical engineers have done the real fighting. And what will be more important for the advancement of a military career in the future: knowledge about robots or knowledge about your men? Will the traditional drill sergeant just become a figure featured in History channel documentaries? 

What keeps me coming back to these issues is that 70 years ago my father was freed from a concentration camp in Germany by courageous American boots on the ground… not by drones or robots. 

Per Kurowski 

Rockville, Maryland, US

Will drones and robot soldiers send the drill sergeants home?

Here is the short version of a letter to FT as it was published in FT Magazine on August 1, 2015

Like drones, robots also present challenges to the national psyche of their users (“Robot soldiers”, July 18/19) – the possibility of a diminishing human fighting spirit hiding behind drones and robots.

I think it is hard to visualize 
the same type of national “good feeling”, with homecoming parades and memorials, when scientists and mechanical engineers have done the real fighting. And what will be more important for the advancement of a military career in the future: knowledge about robots or knowledge about your men?

Will the traditional drill sergeant just become a figure featured in History channel documentaries?

What keeps me coming back
 to these issues is that 70 years 
ago my father was freed from a concentration camp in Germany by courageous American boots on the ground... not by drones or robots.

Per Kurowski
 Rockville, Maryland, US

Here is the original longer version of that letter:

Sir, I refer to Geoff Dyer’s interesting “Robot Soldiers”, FT Magazine July 18.

It is a comprehensive article, except for, like with drones, robots also present challenges to the national psychic of its users. I refer concretely to the possibility of a diminishing fighting spirit of the humans hiding behind drones and robots. And what about in comparison to the fighting spirit of others who cannot do so? What if these others, by for instance a cyber attack, manage to neutralize the drones and robots and it then comes down to a real man to man struggle? 

And I am not joking when I say that it is hard to visualize the same type of national good feelings with homecoming parades and memorials, when scientists and mechanical engineers have done the real fighting.

Also, when Dyer quotes Mary Cummings with “I don’t think we have enough competent people within the government to be able to set up acquisition programmes for autonomous weapons or anything robotic,” it makes one think about what will be more important for the advancement of a military career in the future, knowledge about drones and robots, or knowledge about your men… and the implications of that. Will the traditional drill sergeant just become a figure featured in History Channel documentaries?

I must confess though that what keeps me coming back to these issues is that this year 70 years ago, my father was freed from a concentration camp in Germany by courageous American boots on the ground… not by drones or robots. And the question that keeps popping up it my mind is; will American or other soldiers still have what it takes to free other future imprisoned fathers, if need be?

@PerKurowski

Any self-respecting serious buyer on the web will surely like to have her own pick-up drone.

Sir Tim Harford writes about “How delivery drones could transform the world” December 6, and I just have to wonder whether it might not as well be “pick-up drones” which could transform the world.

And I say this because, looking only at some of my family´s members, I have an inkling that any serious purchaser on the web who respects herself, would want to have her own drone… at least for the last mile… just in order to be free to buy from anyone… yes even from Walmart.

I can see all those big houses, next to their cars, having a stand for the latest shiny pick-up drone model… and which, as a complementary service, has a built in camera so as to be able to better see what the neighbor is buying… and send that data to the local data-purchasing agent.

We need personal drones more than Amazon or Google, to get spare keys, and to buy anywhere we please, like in Walmart :-)

Sir, everywhere we read reports on Amazon using drones in the future to deliver us goods, like in Tim Bradshaw´s “Amazon delivers boost to drone pioneers”, December 4.

As I see it the real question is whether we citizens should all have our personal drone instead, so that for instance we could send it home for a spare if we lost our car key… or buy anywhere we please… like in Walmart :-)