Some thoughts on the fifth vial

I don't expect the fifth vial to be poured out upon the seat of the beast as of yet, because the crime that would warrant this punishment hasn't yet been committed.

When Bush went on his phony crusade, the effects of depleted uranium were the punishment, when he spoke of a new era of commercial opportunity, the Deepwater Horizon spill was the punishment, when Obama called out a new era of Muslim democracy, Brexit was the punishment, and when the powers that be decided it should be Donald vs. Hillary, wildfires and rebellions was the punishment.

This doesn't offend my sense of justice. But for Yellowstone to erupt...

All of this is of course not primarily about sin. It is about the fact that the advent of artificial intelligence necessitates the intervention of God. But still there must be a crime to which Yellowstone's eruption would be a fitting answer (or if not Yellowstone's eruption, then something equally severe).

So, what could the crime be?

First off, it must involve the United States. It must be something that, even though people will shy away from it after the punishment, doesn't lose its menacing power, i.e. although people will give it up, they won't condemn it. It must justify not only martial law, but actually to destroy New York through nuclear force.

I think then that it can only be an open and continued refusal to abide by the law, and not just some law, but one concerning basic civil duties, not by some group of people, but by whole states, possibly the refusal to accept the results of the next presidential election or perhaps the authority of the Supreme Court, not only on one question, but altogether, and arrogance and spite must be the motivating forces.

That is the sort of scenario that matches the trepidation of the punishment. It should not come out of a blue sky.