Recently I went to see the movie “Troy,” admittedly more because I was interested in the actors than in the well-known plot.

And as always, whenever the battle scenes came on the screen, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of despair at the idiocy, arrogance and self-absorption of humankind, and the incredible waste – of lives, of property, of culture – that accompanies our foolishness.

Of course, it was just a movie. But what’s going on in the world today is real.

When will we ever learn?

Linda Hertell, Auburn