Any jackass can kick down a barn...

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a closed system remains same or increases---it cannot decrease. There are many definitions of entropy, but the one easiest to understand is that it is a measure of disorder in the system. So, left to itself, a system becomes increasingly disorderly. To create order, on the other hand, requires work.

It is because of this law that it is easy to mix cream in coffee, but to separate the two out once mixed, is almost impossible. Ice melts in water but a glass of cold water does not separate into ice and warm water. And, as all of us know, a house always becomes messier and dirtier, unless a positive action is taken to put order and clean it.

Also, because of this law “any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one,” to quote Sam Rayburn, an American politician.

I like this quote a lot, because it is applicable to so many things going on today. It takes a lot of effort to build an orderly society and make it function. Any group of anarchist can tear it down. The Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, took tremendous effort to carve out, but a bunch of hooligans put a few sticks of dynamite and destroyed them completely.

The current discourse on the Iran Nuclear treaty reminds me that the second law of thermodynamics is alive and well in this great country of ours. It was a team of “carpenters” who took years to develop this treaty. One of the key architects of the treaty, Energy Secretary Earnest Moniz, an eminent nuclear scientist (who I had the privilege to meet when he was at MIT), spent a lot of effort to identify all different pathways to nuclear weapons and device ways to block them. John Kerry and his team negotiated their way to get the best deal that they could get. I for one am convinced that this is the barn that is well constructed and serve its purpose.

Now jackasses are out to tear it down.

It is very easy to do so. One such jackass, Senator Jim Risch told John Kerry that he was bamboozled by Iran. Has Senator Risch every negotiated a treaty? What proof does he have to produce to back up his claim? Chris Christie says in a new ad, “This deal was negotiated so badly that you would not let this president buy a car for you at a car dealership.” Makes me bristle with anger.

But so it is. It is easy to bomb a country as a way to address a conflict, but very difficult to use diplomacy to solve it. Left to itself, the world will end up in chaos. Civilization is difficult to develop and maintain.