Morgan, at “Inside the Movement,” writes: This year’s COP Conference has been hard to watch. Between the record number of oil lobbyists attending and the COP President (an oil CEO) who doesn’t believe phasing out fossil fuels will reduce global heating, we can’t lose sight of the urgency and action that is needed for our planet.
I remember attending a conference on alternative fuels whose keynote address was delivered by the president of the American Petroleum Institute. She pointed out that she was a soccer mom and needed a reliable way to get her kids to and from practices and games, as if only an internal combustion engine could deliver the dependability.
I found the organizer of the event and pointed out the absurdity, but he didn’t see the issue at all.
“If this represents the best of our capacity to think, conferences like these are really pointless, aren’t they?” I asked, as I turned and walked away.
“Inside the Movement” Remains Optimistic on Global Warming Mitigation
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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