World War III?!?

Today I had CNN on television (yes, I know, of all the 'news' sources....). The headline at the bottom of the screen read in large, bold, red, hard Roman font 'Is it World War III?' The segment was a poll on the street (a weekend reporter) asking folks in New York if they got the impression that this is World War III, and what is the world coming to?

The responses (at least those that were seen fit to air), were an overwhelming vote to the favor of carnage that is ripping the Earth up. Apparently, New Yorkers feel that Israel attacking Hezbollah/Lebanon, represents a global battle.

I find it ridiculous and sad that this war on the other side of the world is to be considered a 'World War.' I don't know whether the station simply aired the affirmative responses in order to try and make things seem more interesting, or if the denizens of the Empire State actually are so fargone from struggles of yesteryear that they actually feel the world is about to return to mass strife. I suspect the former. Either way, the fact that a single person would view this as a war on a massive scale frightens me about our country.

The most horrifying response was that of a man who was nearly in tears, asking 'What is this world coming to? Of course this is World War III!" Is he serious? I mean, what IS the world coming to? No superpowers are even NEAR war for the first time in nearly a hundred years. Did this inept individual not learn about, well, history in school? Perhaps he would like to hear of the fall of Troy, Alexander's conquest of the then-known world, the rise of the Roman Empire, Ghengis Khan's take of Mongolia, the tribal Russian wars of old, the invasions between the Germanic tribes into north Saxon, the Visigoth seige of Rome, the Crusades, the Dark Ages, the Spanish Armada, the rise of the British navy, the wars in the New World, the takeover of America, the Russo-Japanese war, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War.....to name some major events in Western culture. But what IS the world coming to?

It seems that in the wake of the Greatest Generation, we lost something with the coming of the Baby Boomers and their descendents. We were doing so well throughout the fifties and into the sixties. What happened that everyone decided that peacefulness was the only way the world could be, and anything further was madness? I'm not advocating war, but in the history of earth, the skirmish between Israel and Lebanon is par for the course.

World War III - what a ridiculous conjecture. When France surrenders or major cities in more than 2 countries fall under conflict, we will then discuss a world war. Until then, report the flipping news.