Germany finds itself in a unique position among the countries of the world, in that it’s gotten rid of both coal and nuclear and now depends quite heavily on renewables. Germany is the world’s third largest economy, behind the United States and China, so there is a huge amount at stake.
These people are extremely sharp, and they’re not known for risk-taking. Yet they’ve made a huge commitment here; renewables (mainly wind and solar) accounted for 59% of Germany’s electricity in 2024, and that figure is headed for 80% by 2030.
Meanwhile, in the United States, we have a president who’s doing everything in his power to destroy the entire renewable energy industry, and, for those concerned about jobs, this is problematic, to say the least. At the end of 2024, more than 3.5 million Americans were employed in clean energy occupations, spanning renewable generation (569,000 jobs), battery and storage, energy efficiency, biofuels, grid modernization and clean vehicles industries. These jobs now represent a significant share of the U.S. workforce—including seven percent of all new jobs added in 2024—and are spread across every state, strengthening local economies.
A quick story: The governor of Iowa, a Republican, was asked by another GOP leader why he didn’t but a spear through the wind industry, as it’s competitive with fossil fuels, which Republicans adore. The reply, “Are you kidding? What you think hundreds of thousands of my voters do for a living?”
I join those who say that the human race has evolved to be tribal and selfish. We are largely indifferent to the needs of others, and the capitalist society we’ve built has only served to reenforce this.
As Tom Waits observed, “We’re monkeys with money and guns.”
Now, are there some extremely decent and kind people spread around the globe? Of course. But they tend not to be the billionaires who make all the important decisions as to the how our culture will conduct itself.
Well, never is a long time, as they say.
Yet imagine this scenario, which is quite possible:
Trump is impeached and removed. Almost immediately, there is an incredible outpouring of information on an additional set of crimes committed by Trump and his administration. Simultaneously, the U.S. morphs into a social democracy, and its people enjoy quality education, access to healthcare, and prosperity, not unlike those in Northern Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
Yes, there will always be Republicans promising mass deportations and whatever else appeals to a dwindling MAGA base, but I would think they will have one hell of a hard time winning a national election.
The GOP can say the American economy is skyrocketing. But then there’s that nasty little piece of reality that people can’t afford groceries and are suffering financially more generally.
Or they can day that people are suffering financially, but it’s Biden’s fault. Oops. Biden left office 588 days ago.
Or they can say that the war in Iran has driven up gas prices, but that will turn immediately because we’ve won the war. Yikes. What can we say about all these bombs?
Or they can say that all the racial hatred and divisiveness is Obama’s fault. No, that’s problematic, since he’s been gone for almost 10 years.
Trump supporters may not be too sharp, but even they are having trouble accepting all this crap.
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