For the first half of this letter I was reading with pure horror. I guess these are some points of hope:
— “Independent voters, who tend to swing US elections that have become so close, don’t buy into the Trump line. You don’t see support for this unhinged view that the justice department and the FBI are somehow corrupt. There’s not suppo…
For the first half of this letter I was reading with pure horror. I guess these are some points of hope:
— “Independent voters, who tend to swing US elections that have become so close, don’t buy into the Trump line. You don’t see support for this unhinged view that the justice department and the FBI are somehow corrupt. There’s not support for that except in the fringe of the Republican party." - Larry Jacobs, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota,
— "A new group called Win It Back, tied to the right-wing Club for Growth, which has ties to the Koch network, will run anti-Trump ads starting tomorrow. Americans for Prosperity, linked to billionaire Charles Koch, will also run ads opposing Trump." Alex Isenstadt, Politico
I'm glad the Rs are starting to turn on each other but it's a really uneasy feeling to have to root for anything Koch does.
This uplifted me a bit, from the NYT this morning: Conservative columnist Bret Stephens retracts his former bullishness on DeFascist after seeing that twisted anti-LGBTQ+ video:
"I guess my main takeaway is that DeSantis isn’t going to be the next president. He makes Trump seem tolerant, Ted Cruz seem likable, Mitch McConnell seem moderate, Lauren Boebert seem mature and Rick Santorum seem cool. Not what I would have expected out of the Florida governor six months ago, but here’s where I confess: You (journalist Gail Collins) were right about him, and I was wrong."
Do you have any plans for making this journalistic platform your focus as a writer? You seem to have the tools and experience and youth working towards becoming an iconic force in contemporary American Journalism. With your philosophic balance weighing decidedly towards progress your alliance with mainstream thinking makes you a candidate for bridging some of the chasms as we move forward. Fifty years from now will a student reach into the cloud and pull out Alexandra Sokoloff the iconic writer who’s work illuminated American political discourse and use it to enhance her doctoral thesis?
That's absurdly flattering, Pat Cole! I hang out here because the level of dialogue amongst the commenters, including you, rises to the level HCR is achieving with her historical analysis. I used to be able to talk politics and political action with friends and readers on Facebook but the Zuck has shut down any amplification of political posts (at least leftist political posts). I've been so grateful to find that political analysis here!
And I'm here listening and looking for more ways to engage social and political action (and simple compassion) through my fiction. I have way more training and tools to reach people through novels and film. And that's my living, so there's that!
As my plane descended into Binh Hoa in 1971, I witnessed the marvel of grass huts surrounded by sandbags. From then to now I have been in this forum. While I had nothing to say as I hid in the darkness for years, HCR appeared on my Facebook. I had no idea who she was but she made sense. When I dumped “Zuck” I got the bright idea to search the ether. There I found this enclave. The people here are the Americans. Jan. will make two years. The voices here on LFAA reassure me of the survival of the American intellect.
Pat, agree! Reasoned dialog with intelligent, thoughtful folks….maybe of nuanced or differing opinions, but willing to share, listen, learn and amend ones’ stance if the evidence so indicates. Love HCR’s Substack, but equally love the dialog of the commenters in response/and in reply to listed comments. Maybe a sort of internet ‘Salon’ of the type held in days gone by.
To my friends whom I am yet to meet, Alexandra, Pat and Barbara, I most enjoyed your little colloquy as I cruised through Heather's excellent post this evening and the comments thereafter. I agree with all of you, and wish you all a good night!
You couldn't have said it better, Jen: "the dystopia of Florida," where I live as well. I am deeply grateful for HCR and this group of people who remind me that I am in a sane world, after all.
I begin my day at 5 AM by walking my dog through a still sleeping midwestern neighborhood. Then I come home, open my laptop, and read HCR's posting for the day, which wakens my mind. Then when I read the comments, I feel my blood begin to stir: the lively, intelligent, back and forth discussion of the day's issues. Finally, I am fully awake, glad and grateful to be present among others with bright minds and good sense.
Same process here in New England. Dog on chest at dawn. Face licks. Best alarm clock ever. Walk her, appreciate the quiet, feed her, pour coffee, open Chromebook. Right to LFAA.
And this forum has indeed become my "social media". Grateful I am.
Thankfully, my cats don’t need a morning walk. I arise between 5 and 6, brew a short pot (2 large cups consumed in an insulated cup) and read LFAA. This has become a community, one which has been a lifeline of information, thought, humor, and knowledge.
I often read Dr. Richardson first and then walk my big dog in my Midwestern city. Your approach makes more sense. I would get more of the excellent comments that way.
My love affair with HCR started the afternoon I chanced upon her Facebook talk, early in the pandemic shutdown. There she was, backed by shelf after shelf of old books - primary sources? Then I found her daily LFAA, then I discovered this forum. I don’t often comment, but I read every word written here and, for better or worse, you have become my invisible friends. Thank you.
After watching this ad I was struck by the lack of any kind of policy position, other than “beat the Dems”. It’s as if policy is unimportant, but you all know what we want *wink wink*. With no GOP platform what exactly are they supporting? Some vague “anyone but the other team/party” emotion? Sadly I live among many of them.
The GOP has not written a party platform since 2016 and then it was one to favor tfg, so it’s no wonder republicans never mention any policies they want to put forward. When did they ever say what would replace the ACA once they repealed it? How can the party develop any cogent plans for the country when it’s in a constant state of internecine war?
I was baffled by this ad, too, and tried to write something about it, but couldn't pin down my unease enough to explain it. Your words come close. It wasn't "beat the dems": that was him explaining his initial feelings about Trump and his chaos. Then a vague segue to after the election and realizing that we need someone who is will work on the issues. "If we vote for Trump, we'll lose all that". I think it is a low-key way of reaching Trump supporters with doubts without coming out and saying vote for Dems. Or maybe it is a low-key way of saying let's find some body other than Trump to run. "Issues" were not defined, just alluded to. You never win hearts by hitting somebody over the head. Just feel something didn't quite jell. But I guess it's a start.
I wouldn’t further the distribution of this 'we've got to win' crap. Win what? No policies, no direction, no moral underpinning of any kind, just Trump's too distracted to win, so (implied) let's find someone who can. What kind of shit is that? Koch coke for the ambivalent.
Alexandra, I was surprised and also uplifted to read Stephen’s apt description of my governor…sigh.
Thanks for the link. The ad provides great opportunity for Dems to counter ➡️ “ Build teams to solve issues. Focus on the issues that really need to be fixed”.
As I read, Alexandra, the expression “circular firing squad” leapt to mind. Koch is part of the reason we are at this lamentable point in our history…..yes, a very uneasy feeling. He will support DeSatan if he and his ilk believe that buffoon can install fascism, lock, stock and barrel (sorry for the gun allusion….).
Elisabeth, I've been using "cage fight" but I like "circular firing squad" — so much more definitively lethal! DeFascist DeSatan is tanking, but I'm basically not going to breathe until the election.
While the Koch network may run ads against Trump, those people are anti-democracy to their core. Who is helping to fund that No Labels bs. The enemy of our enemy is NOT our friend.
The facts are against all of the above Republican groups (not talking about the independents, who indeed have their own issues).
The Trumpers are just crazy. The Growth-ers and Prosperity-ers are all science deniers, and probably even support off shoring if it benefits the uber wealthy short term. These people can't grawk things like the Inflation Reduction Act. Nor could they possibly understand if I ran for office and campaigned on a carbon-fee to combat global warning and speed the transition to renewable energy and electrification! (Not going to happen, though :-).)
Matt, exactly. The level of ignorance makes it simply impossible to argue with them. But maybe, hopefully, those anti-Trump ads might peel off some of the less completely insane.
Peter, almost took issue with “but the Earth can wait”….my immediate impulse was to scream “no it can’t”……took me a nanosecond to get back into my body and realize, of course, the Earth CAN wait….it is patient, we humans are not. As I understand it, the Earth as we know it (allowing for shifting continents/tectonic plates/etc) is good, give or take, for another 5 billion years….so we’re about 1/2 way through our shelf life. You’re right, we cannot wait to act lest WE be no more….and, increasingly, I fear that will be so. Oh, I have images of pockets of Homo sapiens (to evolve into what next over the few millennia if any of us survive?) adapting to the loss of critical habitats & species (our fellow Earth inhabitants). First & second world society members want our “stuff” and conveniences & ease & consumption w/o regard to what the final bill will be….I don’t think we have the means to pay what is due. Maybe, just maybe, if we get on a massive global (with first & second tier countries stepping up big time) cooperation, throwing our best & brightest & best (thoughtfully considered) technology to mitigate the harm already in the pipeline, we might have a chance. The stories our decedents will tell of the marvels of the past will be stuff of legend…I just hope it is not going to be “rinse, repeat”.
I remember seeing a cartoon of Earth at the doctor. Doc said “Oh, you’ve just got a case of the humans. That will have to run its course; there really isn’t a cure for that organism.”
One of my faves is an old Gary Larsen where God is in his laboratory creating the Earth…there it sits on the lab table, almost complete, and God is holding a container like a salt shaker tipped above it. The caption is something like “to make it more interesting” and the label on the shaker says “jerks”.
Barbara, this summer in New England has been unreal. And brought home to me that we really have less time than even the experts predicted: because we thought people would pay attention, governments would act.
The best- the *best*- we can hope for now is that enough gets done in the next decade that we can slow global warming down enough to give us time to adapt to it. Even if we stop pretending now and start really doing the things we can, it is going to keep skidding for a long time.
And yet there are people who are still pretending that pipelines are part of the solution, that we can continue driving our personal vehicles, that there will be enough electricity to both fuel EVs and cool our homes- which means only those of us who are wealthy enough to afford those things, and live where we have access to it. The reality: most Americans won't. And most of the people in the world won't, and most of them have it worse than we do. We are looking at massive changes in how we live, and we are not ready.
Vermont just had ANOTHER 1000 year flood. We were lucky in that no one died. But our farmers have lost crops again. It's not clear we have time to replant. Our roads and infrastructure are going to need rebuilding again.
And it will happen again. I agree with your statement "I don't think we have the means to pay what is due." I am so deeply sad that we are leaving this for our grandchildren, and embarrassed that we can't force our elected officials to do those things we know CAN be done and COULD make mitigate what is happening. Democracy makes a difference, because we know from generations, centuries, millenia, that autocracies do not and cannot, because their priorities always become doing what tains them power, not what is right and good for people's lives.
I guess that is the only thing that keeps me going. Knowing that our best bet for everything is a truly functional democracy. I hope to hell that somehow that's what we emerge with.
Annie, I hear you. It is not just the consumer or the governments (those count), but the corporations and businesses that are so powerful & that thrive on our over-the-top consumption of what they sell-sell-sell. Looking back at critical, societal/health issues and to know that those in the industries KNEW, they knew!!! the truth, the impact, and kept mum for the profits (a vindictive part of me hopes that this ate at their souls for the remainder of their lives….tho’ probably not…). This is now playing out on a global scale. I fear we’ve come to the dance too late…and probably don’t have the necessary moves to reinvigorate it all. But what do I know!? I never sought fame or fortune….but, just “enough” to make it through while doing my part to lend a hand to the effort. Probably not enough to make a difference….I’ve done what I can (ill) afford to lessen my impact & might be able to do more if resources were there (I think there are many people who would make significant changes if they could afford to change/upgrade their personal infrastructure). All in all I gather the Universe wastes nothing….and that somehow, someway we will all be recycled into whatever is created next (yeah, the recycling meme is not lost on me!)/
The issues you've gone on to outline call for a proper response, Barbara, but they're so vast that they don't lend themselves to ready discussion in a forum like this.
I'll come back to you but it would be wonderful if readers could take up the challenge of considering or imagining how we humans -- ourselves for a start, then those who'll have to face far worse -- are to face the chaotic transition we have already entered.
Expressed baldly, my view is that we are obliged to fall back on our innate resources.
So now I'm asking you to ask yourselves, what could that statement mean?
Even if 99% of humans perish (not likely all at once, but maybe in waves or fits ‘n starts….really who knows?) that leaves, based on current (rounding down) estimates of 8 billion currently on Earth, some 80 million left. Depending where on Earth they are, how habitable & resource (food/water) rich it is, our species might get a do-over. We’re adaptable as our evolution has shown. That said, and I’m just riffing here, perhaps a competing species will evolve and crowd us out and we will dwindle away to nothing (could happen regardless). Brings to mind Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe in CA to be living “free”—he was in his own world w/in another world when he was discovered as an adult and brought to “civilization”. Certainly a thought-experiment of uncertainties…tho’ curiosity, intelligence (sometimes I wonder) and creativity have carried us along and brought us to this point….a cosmic roll of the dice?
So Barbara. Almost with complete assurance we can see that 99% of humans alive today will be gone by the end of this century. Without any enhancement whatsoever there comes an end to the current crop about every century or so. That is all of us. The good the bad and the hard to look at. If we amended the constitution along the lines of originality as defined by our current desires rather than original content we might engineer a new subset of humans to carry on with perhaps vastly diminished numbers extracting less of a toll on Mother Earth. I would propose we seek improvements in physical properties as well. For instance, brown skin is much nicer to look at and my own white skin is a pain in the ass when exposed to the sun. Also your expertise coming from California would be invaluable in choosing a glamorous but functional line of sun glasses. The possibilities are crazy. Just crazy. We could accessorize the human condition with gmo’s. Such as replacing fingertips with claws so that just about everyone could build their own homes by burrowing. We could add thicker fur to our nearly hairless bodies. Perhaps not even needing clothes. Imagine leathery pads on our feet negating even the need for sandals as we walk the expanding hot beaches. I’m going to quit here but really I haven’t been this excited since the new colt was born last spring and will replace my pickup soon.
Pat, sometime ago I saw a cartoon….a riff on the meme of evolution with a line of “beings” represented, each an advanced stage over the prior one….starting out with a chimp, then an ape, then Neanderthal/Denisovans, then modern human….in this one the final human iteration has turned back and walks toward those in line behind him with, as I recall, saying “go back, we fu*ked up”…. I think I cut it out of the comic page and stashed it somewhere. Really rang true!
“I don’t think we have the means to pay what is due. Maybe, just maybe, IF…”
Well… what do we do when we suddenly realize we are in danger? Do we just ignore the warning and keep on doing whatever we were doing?
Maybe that will depend on what we are doing or not doing.
Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe when the Spanish Armada hove in sight. He kept playing till the end of the game…
Samurai took tea together—the chanoyu ceremony—before going into battle.
The English played cricket on the eve of the battle of Waterloo.
In every one of these three instances men used the occasion to mark a pause and gather themselves together before going into action. Tea ceremony was quite clear: a last enjoyment in peace of life’s fleeting beauty… before letting go of all that.
We would do well to heed these examples. To stop. To make a pause. And, before turning our minds in all the usual directions—up, down, left, right, 360° in every conceivable permutation—to remember and go to the one place we always forgot. To look into ourselves… Who am I? What am I? What brought me here? What do I think I’m doing? To ask with humility the most basic questions, and in so doing, to prepare the ground for all the secondary ones that follow, the what-am-I-to-do-now? And what are we to do?
After all, when, Barbara, you speak of the bill, “the final bill”, that could fairly be said to represent the cost of all the key questions neither we, our contemporaries nor our forebears ever addressed, all the factors ignored or deliberately suppressed over centuries, even millennia, along with those men and women who raised them and were killed for their pains, whether at the dictates of religion or rulers or thoughtlessly… or out of plain ignorance. And now we face issues so vast and complex that we cannot hope to get our minds around them—the fate of all living beings on the surface of planet Earth.
What faced the builders of the Tower of Babel is as nothing compared to the confusion we now face, the chaos of stratagems and technical solutions, quickfix and “improved”, that claim to address this or that fragmentary symptom, almost never the whole. All this, without counting the host of saboteurs and misleaders and the millions they draw down with them into the abyss.
How are we to tackle the challenge of saving mankind and all those beings with whom we share our miraculous planet unless we first take stock of ourselves and question our place in the order of things, now that the balance of life is so deeply disturbed that our world is turning against us and other life forms?
I had a similar reaction, Pat. I wondered if decedents" meant those deceasing (rather than living). As for Barbara's "jerks" -- sounds like a huge overdose of divine monosodium glutamate, and horribly close to the truth... Just observe today's antics of leading misleader Ted Cruz...
I agree. The anti-Trump ads will at least prevent Trump from being elected again, which would be a disaster for our country, including even the future of US democracy. Let alone policy.
I've often contemplated infiltrating these groups, in order to engage and enact change with reason. But I think that is just a fantasy. It probably isn't possible to join the Federalist Society without financial contributions, for example.
I’ve tried reason with MAGAs and even some less bat**** crazy Rs and have failed miserably (and for a while drove myself into a depression I had trouble getting out of). I’m a liberal and a woman and it’s not going to happen. I think it has to be from their own people in their own language, like those ads.
Brava, sister. Your experience is the same as mine. Nothing short of deprogramming is going to work. They believe with all their hearts in the lies, and I don’t see a cure.
Matt, interesting spelling of 'grok' (programmers would understand). Even more special: Grawk is listed in a baby name book - though I can't imagine someone actually naming their child with it.
For the first half of this letter I was reading with pure horror. I guess these are some points of hope:
— “Independent voters, who tend to swing US elections that have become so close, don’t buy into the Trump line. You don’t see support for this unhinged view that the justice department and the FBI are somehow corrupt. There’s not support for that except in the fringe of the Republican party." - Larry Jacobs, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota,
— "A new group called Win It Back, tied to the right-wing Club for Growth, which has ties to the Koch network, will run anti-Trump ads starting tomorrow. Americans for Prosperity, linked to billionaire Charles Koch, will also run ads opposing Trump." Alex Isenstadt, Politico
I'm glad the Rs are starting to turn on each other but it's a really uneasy feeling to have to root for anything Koch does.
This uplifted me a bit, from the NYT this morning: Conservative columnist Bret Stephens retracts his former bullishness on DeFascist after seeing that twisted anti-LGBTQ+ video:
"I guess my main takeaway is that DeSantis isn’t going to be the next president. He makes Trump seem tolerant, Ted Cruz seem likable, Mitch McConnell seem moderate, Lauren Boebert seem mature and Rick Santorum seem cool. Not what I would have expected out of the Florida governor six months ago, but here’s where I confess: You (journalist Gail Collins) were right about him, and I was wrong."
Also, it's worth taking a look at that first anti-Trump ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXmRng3ZtcM
Do you have any plans for making this journalistic platform your focus as a writer? You seem to have the tools and experience and youth working towards becoming an iconic force in contemporary American Journalism. With your philosophic balance weighing decidedly towards progress your alliance with mainstream thinking makes you a candidate for bridging some of the chasms as we move forward. Fifty years from now will a student reach into the cloud and pull out Alexandra Sokoloff the iconic writer who’s work illuminated American political discourse and use it to enhance her doctoral thesis?
That's absurdly flattering, Pat Cole! I hang out here because the level of dialogue amongst the commenters, including you, rises to the level HCR is achieving with her historical analysis. I used to be able to talk politics and political action with friends and readers on Facebook but the Zuck has shut down any amplification of political posts (at least leftist political posts). I've been so grateful to find that political analysis here!
And I'm here listening and looking for more ways to engage social and political action (and simple compassion) through my fiction. I have way more training and tools to reach people through novels and film. And that's my living, so there's that!
How long have you been in this forum?
As my plane descended into Binh Hoa in 1971, I witnessed the marvel of grass huts surrounded by sandbags. From then to now I have been in this forum. While I had nothing to say as I hid in the darkness for years, HCR appeared on my Facebook. I had no idea who she was but she made sense. When I dumped “Zuck” I got the bright idea to search the ether. There I found this enclave. The people here are the Americans. Jan. will make two years. The voices here on LFAA reassure me of the survival of the American intellect.
Pat, agree! Reasoned dialog with intelligent, thoughtful folks….maybe of nuanced or differing opinions, but willing to share, listen, learn and amend ones’ stance if the evidence so indicates. Love HCR’s Substack, but equally love the dialog of the commenters in response/and in reply to listed comments. Maybe a sort of internet ‘Salon’ of the type held in days gone by.
To my friends whom I am yet to meet, Alexandra, Pat and Barbara, I most enjoyed your little colloquy as I cruised through Heather's excellent post this evening and the comments thereafter. I agree with all of you, and wish you all a good night!
YES! Exactly: "The voices here on LFAA reassure me of the survival of the American intellect."
You just spoke my heart. This often feels like a lifeboat in a sea of absurdity, living in the dystopia of Florida as I do. Thank you.
You couldn't have said it better, Jen: "the dystopia of Florida," where I live as well. I am deeply grateful for HCR and this group of people who remind me that I am in a sane world, after all.
I begin my day at 5 AM by walking my dog through a still sleeping midwestern neighborhood. Then I come home, open my laptop, and read HCR's posting for the day, which wakens my mind. Then when I read the comments, I feel my blood begin to stir: the lively, intelligent, back and forth discussion of the day's issues. Finally, I am fully awake, glad and grateful to be present among others with bright minds and good sense.
Same process here in New England. Dog on chest at dawn. Face licks. Best alarm clock ever. Walk her, appreciate the quiet, feed her, pour coffee, open Chromebook. Right to LFAA.
And this forum has indeed become my "social media". Grateful I am.
Thankfully, my cats don’t need a morning walk. I arise between 5 and 6, brew a short pot (2 large cups consumed in an insulated cup) and read LFAA. This has become a community, one which has been a lifeline of information, thought, humor, and knowledge.
I often read Dr. Richardson first and then walk my big dog in my Midwestern city. Your approach makes more sense. I would get more of the excellent comments that way.
My love affair with HCR started the afternoon I chanced upon her Facebook talk, early in the pandemic shutdown. There she was, backed by shelf after shelf of old books - primary sources? Then I found her daily LFAA, then I discovered this forum. I don’t often comment, but I read every word written here and, for better or worse, you have become my invisible friends. Thank you.
After watching this ad I was struck by the lack of any kind of policy position, other than “beat the Dems”. It’s as if policy is unimportant, but you all know what we want *wink wink*. With no GOP platform what exactly are they supporting? Some vague “anyone but the other team/party” emotion? Sadly I live among many of them.
The GOP has not written a party platform since 2016 and then it was one to favor tfg, so it’s no wonder republicans never mention any policies they want to put forward. When did they ever say what would replace the ACA once they repealed it? How can the party develop any cogent plans for the country when it’s in a constant state of internecine war?
Remember, the 2016 platform deleted support for Ukraine.
That's the entire MAGA platform: "Own the libs."
I was baffled by this ad, too, and tried to write something about it, but couldn't pin down my unease enough to explain it. Your words come close. It wasn't "beat the dems": that was him explaining his initial feelings about Trump and his chaos. Then a vague segue to after the election and realizing that we need someone who is will work on the issues. "If we vote for Trump, we'll lose all that". I think it is a low-key way of reaching Trump supporters with doubts without coming out and saying vote for Dems. Or maybe it is a low-key way of saying let's find some body other than Trump to run. "Issues" were not defined, just alluded to. You never win hearts by hitting somebody over the head. Just feel something didn't quite jell. But I guess it's a start.
Alexandra, I watched the Koch ad. I reposted it on fb to warn people to know what “the other side” is up to. It ain’t good....
I wouldn’t further the distribution of this 'we've got to win' crap. Win what? No policies, no direction, no moral underpinning of any kind, just Trump's too distracted to win, so (implied) let's find someone who can. What kind of shit is that? Koch coke for the ambivalent.
Pick up Kochland. A great expose of the company and how it has pushed its agenda stealthy.
Yes it’s so subtly twisted.
Alexandra, I was surprised and also uplifted to read Stephen’s apt description of my governor…sigh.
Thanks for the link. The ad provides great opportunity for Dems to counter ➡️ “ Build teams to solve issues. Focus on the issues that really need to be fixed”.
Nice house
Thx
As I read, Alexandra, the expression “circular firing squad” leapt to mind. Koch is part of the reason we are at this lamentable point in our history…..yes, a very uneasy feeling. He will support DeSatan if he and his ilk believe that buffoon can install fascism, lock, stock and barrel (sorry for the gun allusion….).
Elisabeth, I've been using "cage fight" but I like "circular firing squad" — so much more definitively lethal! DeFascist DeSatan is tanking, but I'm basically not going to breathe until the election.
Me either. Breathing is not an option...
A circular firing squad also implies either ignorance or incompetence. Both those shoes fit.
No I don't think he will support DeSatan.
While the Koch network may run ads against Trump, those people are anti-democracy to their core. Who is helping to fund that No Labels bs. The enemy of our enemy is NOT our friend.
Jenn, They are funding, wait for it, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. A wacko if there ever was one.
Well, it succeeded once.
The facts are against all of the above Republican groups (not talking about the independents, who indeed have their own issues).
The Trumpers are just crazy. The Growth-ers and Prosperity-ers are all science deniers, and probably even support off shoring if it benefits the uber wealthy short term. These people can't grawk things like the Inflation Reduction Act. Nor could they possibly understand if I ran for office and campaigned on a carbon-fee to combat global warning and speed the transition to renewable energy and electrification! (Not going to happen, though :-).)
Matt, exactly. The level of ignorance makes it simply impossible to argue with them. But maybe, hopefully, those anti-Trump ads might peel off some of the less completely insane.
Fire, Wind, Water speak louder than the loudest "person corporate".
In the end, even the stone deaf will hear, even the purblind will see, and even the insane will feel the heat and begin to get the point.
But Earth can wait.
We can't.
Peter, almost took issue with “but the Earth can wait”….my immediate impulse was to scream “no it can’t”……took me a nanosecond to get back into my body and realize, of course, the Earth CAN wait….it is patient, we humans are not. As I understand it, the Earth as we know it (allowing for shifting continents/tectonic plates/etc) is good, give or take, for another 5 billion years….so we’re about 1/2 way through our shelf life. You’re right, we cannot wait to act lest WE be no more….and, increasingly, I fear that will be so. Oh, I have images of pockets of Homo sapiens (to evolve into what next over the few millennia if any of us survive?) adapting to the loss of critical habitats & species (our fellow Earth inhabitants). First & second world society members want our “stuff” and conveniences & ease & consumption w/o regard to what the final bill will be….I don’t think we have the means to pay what is due. Maybe, just maybe, if we get on a massive global (with first & second tier countries stepping up big time) cooperation, throwing our best & brightest & best (thoughtfully considered) technology to mitigate the harm already in the pipeline, we might have a chance. The stories our decedents will tell of the marvels of the past will be stuff of legend…I just hope it is not going to be “rinse, repeat”.
I remember seeing a cartoon of Earth at the doctor. Doc said “Oh, you’ve just got a case of the humans. That will have to run its course; there really isn’t a cure for that organism.”
One of my faves is an old Gary Larsen where God is in his laboratory creating the Earth…there it sits on the lab table, almost complete, and God is holding a container like a salt shaker tipped above it. The caption is something like “to make it more interesting” and the label on the shaker says “jerks”.
Barbara, this summer in New England has been unreal. And brought home to me that we really have less time than even the experts predicted: because we thought people would pay attention, governments would act.
The best- the *best*- we can hope for now is that enough gets done in the next decade that we can slow global warming down enough to give us time to adapt to it. Even if we stop pretending now and start really doing the things we can, it is going to keep skidding for a long time.
And yet there are people who are still pretending that pipelines are part of the solution, that we can continue driving our personal vehicles, that there will be enough electricity to both fuel EVs and cool our homes- which means only those of us who are wealthy enough to afford those things, and live where we have access to it. The reality: most Americans won't. And most of the people in the world won't, and most of them have it worse than we do. We are looking at massive changes in how we live, and we are not ready.
Vermont just had ANOTHER 1000 year flood. We were lucky in that no one died. But our farmers have lost crops again. It's not clear we have time to replant. Our roads and infrastructure are going to need rebuilding again.
And it will happen again. I agree with your statement "I don't think we have the means to pay what is due." I am so deeply sad that we are leaving this for our grandchildren, and embarrassed that we can't force our elected officials to do those things we know CAN be done and COULD make mitigate what is happening. Democracy makes a difference, because we know from generations, centuries, millenia, that autocracies do not and cannot, because their priorities always become doing what tains them power, not what is right and good for people's lives.
I guess that is the only thing that keeps me going. Knowing that our best bet for everything is a truly functional democracy. I hope to hell that somehow that's what we emerge with.
Annie, I hear you. It is not just the consumer or the governments (those count), but the corporations and businesses that are so powerful & that thrive on our over-the-top consumption of what they sell-sell-sell. Looking back at critical, societal/health issues and to know that those in the industries KNEW, they knew!!! the truth, the impact, and kept mum for the profits (a vindictive part of me hopes that this ate at their souls for the remainder of their lives….tho’ probably not…). This is now playing out on a global scale. I fear we’ve come to the dance too late…and probably don’t have the necessary moves to reinvigorate it all. But what do I know!? I never sought fame or fortune….but, just “enough” to make it through while doing my part to lend a hand to the effort. Probably not enough to make a difference….I’ve done what I can (ill) afford to lessen my impact & might be able to do more if resources were there (I think there are many people who would make significant changes if they could afford to change/upgrade their personal infrastructure). All in all I gather the Universe wastes nothing….and that somehow, someway we will all be recycled into whatever is created next (yeah, the recycling meme is not lost on me!)/
Thank you, sister.
The issues you've gone on to outline call for a proper response, Barbara, but they're so vast that they don't lend themselves to ready discussion in a forum like this.
I'll come back to you but it would be wonderful if readers could take up the challenge of considering or imagining how we humans -- ourselves for a start, then those who'll have to face far worse -- are to face the chaotic transition we have already entered.
Expressed baldly, my view is that we are obliged to fall back on our innate resources.
So now I'm asking you to ask yourselves, what could that statement mean?
Or have you other views, other answers?
Descendants ? Or decedents? I can live with dead men talking.
Even if 99% of humans perish (not likely all at once, but maybe in waves or fits ‘n starts….really who knows?) that leaves, based on current (rounding down) estimates of 8 billion currently on Earth, some 80 million left. Depending where on Earth they are, how habitable & resource (food/water) rich it is, our species might get a do-over. We’re adaptable as our evolution has shown. That said, and I’m just riffing here, perhaps a competing species will evolve and crowd us out and we will dwindle away to nothing (could happen regardless). Brings to mind Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe in CA to be living “free”—he was in his own world w/in another world when he was discovered as an adult and brought to “civilization”. Certainly a thought-experiment of uncertainties…tho’ curiosity, intelligence (sometimes I wonder) and creativity have carried us along and brought us to this point….a cosmic roll of the dice?
So Barbara. Almost with complete assurance we can see that 99% of humans alive today will be gone by the end of this century. Without any enhancement whatsoever there comes an end to the current crop about every century or so. That is all of us. The good the bad and the hard to look at. If we amended the constitution along the lines of originality as defined by our current desires rather than original content we might engineer a new subset of humans to carry on with perhaps vastly diminished numbers extracting less of a toll on Mother Earth. I would propose we seek improvements in physical properties as well. For instance, brown skin is much nicer to look at and my own white skin is a pain in the ass when exposed to the sun. Also your expertise coming from California would be invaluable in choosing a glamorous but functional line of sun glasses. The possibilities are crazy. Just crazy. We could accessorize the human condition with gmo’s. Such as replacing fingertips with claws so that just about everyone could build their own homes by burrowing. We could add thicker fur to our nearly hairless bodies. Perhaps not even needing clothes. Imagine leathery pads on our feet negating even the need for sandals as we walk the expanding hot beaches. I’m going to quit here but really I haven’t been this excited since the new colt was born last spring and will replace my pickup soon.
You mean (maybe, if we are reading the fossil records correctly) kinda like it used to be?????
Now that you mention it.
Pat, sometime ago I saw a cartoon….a riff on the meme of evolution with a line of “beings” represented, each an advanced stage over the prior one….starting out with a chimp, then an ape, then Neanderthal/Denisovans, then modern human….in this one the final human iteration has turned back and walks toward those in line behind him with, as I recall, saying “go back, we fu*ked up”…. I think I cut it out of the comic page and stashed it somewhere. Really rang true!
GATHERING OURSELVES TOGETHER
“I don’t think we have the means to pay what is due. Maybe, just maybe, IF…”
Well… what do we do when we suddenly realize we are in danger? Do we just ignore the warning and keep on doing whatever we were doing?
Maybe that will depend on what we are doing or not doing.
Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe when the Spanish Armada hove in sight. He kept playing till the end of the game…
Samurai took tea together—the chanoyu ceremony—before going into battle.
The English played cricket on the eve of the battle of Waterloo.
In every one of these three instances men used the occasion to mark a pause and gather themselves together before going into action. Tea ceremony was quite clear: a last enjoyment in peace of life’s fleeting beauty… before letting go of all that.
We would do well to heed these examples. To stop. To make a pause. And, before turning our minds in all the usual directions—up, down, left, right, 360° in every conceivable permutation—to remember and go to the one place we always forgot. To look into ourselves… Who am I? What am I? What brought me here? What do I think I’m doing? To ask with humility the most basic questions, and in so doing, to prepare the ground for all the secondary ones that follow, the what-am-I-to-do-now? And what are we to do?
After all, when, Barbara, you speak of the bill, “the final bill”, that could fairly be said to represent the cost of all the key questions neither we, our contemporaries nor our forebears ever addressed, all the factors ignored or deliberately suppressed over centuries, even millennia, along with those men and women who raised them and were killed for their pains, whether at the dictates of religion or rulers or thoughtlessly… or out of plain ignorance. And now we face issues so vast and complex that we cannot hope to get our minds around them—the fate of all living beings on the surface of planet Earth.
What faced the builders of the Tower of Babel is as nothing compared to the confusion we now face, the chaos of stratagems and technical solutions, quickfix and “improved”, that claim to address this or that fragmentary symptom, almost never the whole. All this, without counting the host of saboteurs and misleaders and the millions they draw down with them into the abyss.
How are we to tackle the challenge of saving mankind and all those beings with whom we share our miraculous planet unless we first take stock of ourselves and question our place in the order of things, now that the balance of life is so deeply disturbed that our world is turning against us and other life forms?
*
Just a few scattered preliminary thoughts.
Now, look into your own.
I had a similar reaction, Pat. I wondered if decedents" meant those deceasing (rather than living). As for Barbara's "jerks" -- sounds like a huge overdose of divine monosodium glutamate, and horribly close to the truth... Just observe today's antics of leading misleader Ted Cruz...
There will be a few. There are a slew of movies that depict their lives.
Pat, now we are “dead men walking”…..omg.
I agree. The anti-Trump ads will at least prevent Trump from being elected again, which would be a disaster for our country, including even the future of US democracy. Let alone policy.
I've often contemplated infiltrating these groups, in order to engage and enact change with reason. But I think that is just a fantasy. It probably isn't possible to join the Federalist Society without financial contributions, for example.
I’ve tried reason with MAGAs and even some less bat**** crazy Rs and have failed miserably (and for a while drove myself into a depression I had trouble getting out of). I’m a liberal and a woman and it’s not going to happen. I think it has to be from their own people in their own language, like those ads.
Brava, sister. Your experience is the same as mine. Nothing short of deprogramming is going to work. They believe with all their hearts in the lies, and I don’t see a cure.
I agree with you on all points.
Matt, interesting spelling of 'grok' (programmers would understand). Even more special: Grawk is listed in a baby name book - though I can't imagine someone actually naming their child with it.
Yes. I just read this.