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According to a recent article in Der Spiegel, “the U.S. is in the process of forfeiting its position of economic supremacy” (September 11, 2017). At the same time that American economic influence is declining, the EU and the euro are growing in the world’s estimation. “It [the EU] is certainly in better shape than the United States.

Several million people lost power as a result of the devastation brought about by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Across the Caribbean islands and the southern United States, people suffered the loss of electric power. This might be a relative inconvenience compared to those who also lost their homes and possessions, but the effects are nevertheless profound.

New research on drinking water demonstrates that microplastic particles are found in tap water all over the world. “The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%... Lebanon and India had the next highest rates. European nations including the UK, Germany and France had the lowest contamination rate, but this was still 72%” (The Guardian, September 5, 2017). Microplastics have been found in well water, bottled beers, honey and sugar.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the move toward world peace appeared to take a positive turn. Although there have been conflicts around the globe since then, the major world powers have been at relative peace with each other—at least until very recently. According to the head of NATO, “The world is more dangerous today than it has been in a generation” (The Guardian, September 8, 2017).

In the past few weeks, thousands around the globe have been traumatized by powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific that have caused tremendous devastation and suffering.