Desperation causes desperate people to do desperate things. There are millions of desperate people worldwide who are looking for a new place to call home.

Never mind the desperate people within our own borders who do desperate things just to survive. Hopelessness that leads to recklessness that leads to cessation of effort is a cancer on any nation.

Loss of hope for tomorrow is enough to lead some to violence, and a sure way to gain a headline or two.

This faithless nation, with its desperate devices that blind people into believing in myths and legends, and unkept promises where hopelessness abounds, is ripe for the harvest.

Life expectancy is growing shorter all the time, not by some outside source, but from within, where desperation abounds to one conclusion: violence that leads to evil will be our own epitaph.

Michael Boom, Lisbon